Far From the Tree

Joaquin remembers the day he found out he had sisters. He worries that his sisters won’t like him, but he still agrees to meet with them, and when they find him at the arts center, it’s “the first time that Joaquin [looks] at someone who [is] related to him” (78). Maya talks excessively, while Grace barely talks at all. Joaquin starts thinking about his ex-girlfriend, Birdie, and how their time together was “the happiest Joaquin had ever been” (82). Joaquin fell in love with Birdie, but he convinced himself that he wouldn’t be able to give her the things she deserved in life, so he broke up with her. Back in the present, the siblings break the ice over burgers and fries. Grace says that she “[has] to go back to school on Monday” (87) and that she was out sick. As they continue to talk about home, school, life, and relationships, the topic of foster care comes up. Joaquin downplays the bad aspects of his time in foster care, and he is relieved to learn that both of his sisters went to good families that took care of them.