The Benefits of Being an Octopus

Zoey watches through the hole in the wall as Lenny berates her mother for buying yogurt for the kids when she could have gotten ground beef for the same price. As Zoey watches the conversation unfold, she realizes that her mother isn’t incompetent, as Zoey previously thought. She sees that Lenny intentionally twists Kara’s words to make everything seem like her fault. Lenny even says that Kara’s crying is a form of manipulation. Zoey vows never to let anyone treat her the way that Lenny treats her mother.

At the Pizza Pit, Zoey has a life-changing conversation with Connor about his tattoo, which he got during a soul-searching trip to Peru. The cross is a chakana, a Quechua concept meaning that an individual is a complete self. Taking this information to heart, Zoey draws her own chakana tattoo on her arm in the shape of an octopus.

Connor offers to watch Hector for the half hour between when Kara’s shift begins and when Zoey will return from the after-school debate team meeting. Kara doesn’t think that the debate team or anything else will make a difference in their lives but allows Zoey to get a ride from