Crenshaw

The family lived in their minivan for fourteen weeks while Jackson’s parents saved up enough money for a deposit on an apartment. Jackson reflects that “getting out of homelessness doesn’t happen all at once, either” (131). His family was lucky, he says, because others live in their cars for years. A month into it, Tom found a job in a hardware store, and Sara picked up extra waitressing shifts. Tom continued busking.

After the family moved into their apartment, Jackson and Robin were able to return to school. Since their apartment was forty miles from their previous home, the children had to attend a new school, but Jackson didn’t mind. He was just happy to go back to a “place where facts mattered and things made sense” (132). He never told anyone, not even his friend, Marisol, about the family’s experience being homeless. He hoped that by not talking about it, “it couldn’t ever happen again” (133).

Jackson and Crenshaw did not talk much during Jackson’s time living in the minivan; instead, Jackson found comfort simply by being in Crenshaw’s presence. What Jackson remembers most vividly is watching Crenshaw riding the hood of the minivan, “riding the wind like the end of a kite” (136).