Summary

Chapter 5, set in 1984, shifts unexpectedly to a second person point of view. The reader is placed in the position of 20-year-old Izzy, who is implied to be developmentally disabled, possibly due to her parents’ past drug habits.

On her way to work, Izzy glimpses two boys climbing a tree, whom she distinguishes only as the taller and the littler. She explains that they are her imaginary friends, who have kept her company since childhood.

Izzy arrives at the sandwich shop where she has worked for the past five years. She likes the familiarity of her hometown and the predictable routine of her job. The shop owner, Stella, is protective of her even when customers are disgruntled by Izzy’s mistakes or give her judgmental looks for some unspecified past transgression which caused her parents to stop speaking to her.

After her shift, Izzy borrows...