Content Warning: This section of the guide discusses anti-LGBTQ+ discrimination and domestic violence.

Ogle finds his father’s home in Alabama to be clean and pristine. His stepmother and stepsister greet him with hugs. He drops his bags to hug his father, but his father stops him, telling him to be careful not to scuff the floor. He shows Ogle to the guest room where he will be staying, and Ogle cannot help but think of how different this welcome feels when he visits Abuela. 

Ogle works three jobs while in Alabama: a cashier at a grocery store, a clerk at a video store, and a server at a restaurant. He does not make much money at any of these jobs and his father is not particularly nice to him. Ogle cannot help but wonder whether he should have just stayed in Texas.

Abuela and Ogle speak on the phone, and she asks him how it is going. He admits that everything is just okay, but that his stepmom and sister are nicer to him than his father. Ogle asks how things are back in Abilene and Abuela goes quiet. She tells him that she bought a house for Mom and Sam, the one across the street from where Jason used to live.