Counting by 7s

Jairo's ride with Willow had shaken him, and he believed she was “a blinking warning light” for his future (95). She got out of the car saying, “Never let someone tell you that you can't do it” (94), which inspired him to drive to the community college to find out what the requirements were to become a medical technician. That same day, after his session with Willow, Dell thought that “fate had delivered [her] into his life,” and now he had to “take advantage” of it (95).

A week later, Willow requested that Jairo drive her to her appointment again. She noticed that he had an irregular-looking mole on the back of his neck and left him a note urging him to get a biopsy of it.

She chatted with Mai in Vietnamese while they waited, and Willow told Mai that she was her new best friend.

On the day of the accident, Willow's mother, Roberta, found out that she had a tumor in her chest. Sitting with her husband, Jimmy, she silently decided they would not share the news with Willow, as she worried Willow would obsess over the diagnosis. On their way to Roberta’s next appointment, a medical supplies truck hit the couple in the middle of an intersection. Jimmy died on the scene, and Roberta died during emergency surgery. The truck driver was left in a coma.

That same day, Willow did not go in for her usual session with Dell. Instead, Mai told Dell that they wanted him to take them all out for ice cream. Dell tried to assert himself, but Mai quickly persuaded him. Willow was certain that in this moment the dynamic between her, Mai, and Dell had changed, and she thought to herself: “endings are always the beginnings of something else” (107).

Back in the present moment, at Willow's house, Willow tells the police that there are no relatives that can take her in. Her grandmother has dementia and lives in a nursing home, and she is not sure if her estranged uncle is still alive. She cries uncontrollably for a long time and can no longer count by sevens to calm herself down. Mai tries to comfort her while the police make calls to figure out where Willow should go.

While Mai waits for Willow inside the house, she packs a bag with some of Willow's belongings. In Willow's room, Mai notices that she has been reading a library book about Vietnamese customs. In this moment, she decides Willow must come home with her. She lies to the police, saying their families are close. Dell drives them all to the salon, driving right through the intersection where the accident occurred. While the Nguyen's run inside to tell their mother what happened, Dell stays in the car with Willow and awkwardly tries to console her. 

Before her children arrive, Pattie Nguyen is doing inventory at the salon. She is meticulous and cares deeply about everything. Her favorite nail polishes are the red ones, because red is a lucky color. Mai tries to explain the accident, and she brings Pattie out to Willow, who is waiting in Dell's car. Pattie sympathizes with Willow and signs some paperwork which gives her legal custody of Willow for the next 24 hours. Alone in his car, Dell starts sobbing when he realizes the significance of what has happened. His head hits the horn on his steering wheel, “startling him and the world around him into a new consciousness” (122).

Willow follows the Nguyens to their home, which is a garage across the alleyway from the salon. There is no bathroom, and the one room functions as a bedroom and kitchen. For a moment Willow imagines the garage burning up, with her in it, and thinks to herself: “the searing pain of losing my mom and dad would go up in smoke with me...I would be set free” (125). Pattie prepares some food for Willow, but she cannot eat. Willow wonders if she has dysphagia (the inability to swallow)—a kind “that comes when your heart breaks into pieces” (127). That night as Pattie cries with her, Willow thinks to herself: “I know I will remember nothing of this night because I will try as hard as I can to never think of it again” (127).

Quang-ha is upset that he has even less privacy at home now. He reflects on the things in life that make him unhappy and believes that everything is “jammed down [his] throat” (129). The next morning, Mai and her brother leave for school, and Willow stays with Pattie. Unaware of Willow's situation, Pattie assumes that relatives or family friends will become Willow's guardians, certain that “everyone has a network of people in their lives” (130).