The Garden
- Manny tells us that he kind of likes it better when Dad isn't around. Gee, we wonder why…
- It's not clear how long Dad is in jail for, but he eventually gets out, which Mom is seriously excited about.
- When Dad gets home, everything seems great between him and Mom—but though they make oodles of promises to each other about what the future will look like, Manny doesn't believe a word.
- That night, Nardo comes home late and sneaks in through the window.
- The next day, Dad carts Nardo and Manny off to Grandma's house and orders them to clean and trim the yard. They work hard for a while before quitting to drink Kool-Aid.
- When Grandma wakes up, we learn some history about her house: She's lived there forever, and she and Grandpa had a super awesome garden until he died. They clung to the house in the midst of a road dispute when the city wanted to buy the land to build a freeway, and Manny tells us that Dad hopes Mom will get the house whenever Grandma passes away.
- Sadly, a few months later Grandma dies. Some family visits for the funeral, including Aunt Letty, Uncle Joe, and cousin Rio, but overall it's a pretty simple affair.
- They spend time at Grandma's house together and Manny tells Nardo about a creepy dream he had last night in which he experienced an earthquake while walking among mountains. Nardo has a theory that this dream means Manny will die a cold lonely death. Lovely.
- Manny isn't thrilled with Nardo's predictions, so they get into a tussle, until Dad hits them with his shoes to make them stop.
- After all this anger, Manny looks at the neighboring house and remembers how weak his Grandma was by the time she died.
- At the wake, there's a time for the family members to touch Grandma's hand. When Manny touches her, he thinks about how she'll fade away but get to thrive somewhere new, which sounds pretty cool to our main man.