The Crate in the Parking Lot

Here is what running that house actually involved, at eleven and twelve and thirteen.

She was home from three-fifteen until Ximena got back at five, with Bea, the twins, and a toddler on the days Dorcas did not have her.

That is four children under eight for an hour and forty-five minutes, five days a week, and it was not legal and I knew it was not legal and I did it anyway because the alternative was not working.

She did the homework enforcement, all six sets, because Ximena’s English was not up to fifth-grade fractions in 2011 and mine was not up to anything at eleven at night.