“People would ask about my childhood, and I’d tell them I had a sister who braided my hair.

After a while they looked at me as if I was remembering a dream.”

“I remember the braids.”

“You pulled too hard.”

“You never sat still.”

We laughed at the same moment, and the laughter hurt almost as much as the crying.

Mrs.

Alvarez excused herself to make a phone call.