Then She Was Gone

Floyd takes Laurel out on her birthday and explains that he doesn’t know his actual birth date because he was born to homeless teenage parents who left him at a hospital. His parents returned for him a few days later, and even though things were tough at first, his parents made it through the hard times. Laurel realizes that she has been so consumed with her own sad story of losing her daughter that she has missed the sad stories of others. Back at Floyd’s house, she talks to Sara-Jade, who works as a nude model for a drawing class. SJ abruptly changes the subject to Ellie, saying she saw pictures of her on the Internet, and she looked a lot like Poppy. Laurel brushes off the remark, saying, “lots of people look like people, don’t they?” (109) 

Laurel visits her mother, who says she thinks she’s close to dying. She’s been staying alive for Laurel, and now that Laurel is happy, she feels ready to go. Later that day, Laurel takes Poppy shopping, and they talk about Poppy’s mom. Poppy says she hated her mom, who was, “ugly and neglectful” and, “smelled of chips” (114).