Summary

Caroline and Father reach the post office where a single envelope is in their box – Father's monthly check for serving in the military. They travel through the St. Johns neighborhood, a part of Portland. Caroline notes that it is 1999. They pass businesses, including a movie theater. Caroline sees girls on bicycles. She has never learned to ride. They stop at the library. She tells the librarian her name, but Father says “enough.” While Caroline is looking at the shelved books, the librarian touches her back as she passes. At a grocery store, Father uses the ATM to cash his check. They hurry to get the food they need because it is unhealthy to be under the florescent lights. Caroline describes what she sees on the way home, including the cars that pass by and the landscape and buildings in the distance. She...