Insignificant Events in the Life of a Cactus

As fall advances, Aven continues to practice soccer with her dad, though she is becoming less interested in the sport. At school, kids have become used to her and ignore Aven instead of staring at her. Aven reads everything she can find about tarantulas, and even blogs about them. She enjoys climbing to the top of the hill and visiting her giant saguaro. There, she looks for tarantulas and collects rocks. On one of her visits to the hill, she digs up a tarnished necklace set with a turquoise stone. She knows she has seen the necklace before.

Connor, Aven, and Zion study the drawing of the necklace in the old sketchbook and confirm that it is the same necklace Aven found. Zion thinks the necklace was on the hill because someone was murdered and buried there. Aven disagrees; she has not seen any signs of a grave, though she admits his theory might be possible. While the three talk, Connor barks, and someone nearby barks back. Aven notices a group of kids grinning. She tells Connor that he should not tolerate their mockery, but he does not know what else to do. Aven stands up and yells at the other kids, saying they should be ashamed. Connor and Zion are surprised at her reaction.

Over lunch one day, Zion announces he wants to audition for the school play, The Wizard of Oz. Neither Connor nor Aven have ever auditioned before, but Aven did write a play for a sixth-grade contest. Her play was about a ninja and his sidekick pig. Aven lost the contest—school officials thought her play was too “gruesome”—but she got to play the part of a cactus in the winning production. Although she thought the play was silly, she enjoyed being onstage. Aven tells Zion that he will enjoy the experience. Aven lets Connor know she can visit him after school, even though their moms have not been able to meet, because Connor’s mom works at night and sleeps during the day. Aven reminds Connor that their next support group meeting is coming up. Connor tells Zion he cannot come—that the group is for “freaks only”—but Aven asserts that nobody in the group is a freak.

Connor’s house is a small, depressing, minimally furnished two bedroom apartment. Because of his mom’s busy work schedule, they have not finished unpacking since they moved in. Connor’s mom, wearing a nightgown and bathrobe, greets them with surprise and embarrassment, since she did not expect Connor to bring anyone home after school. Aven invites her to the next Tourette’s support meeting. Connor’s mom is surprised to learn he attends the group. Connor’s mom returns to bed, and Connor angrily wishes aloud that Aven had not mentioned the meeting. He does not want his mom to have more stress, and worries the support group will cause strain. Aven sees that Connor’s mom clearly loves him and realizes the problem is that Connor does not like himself. Aven assures Connor that she wants to help him because they are friends, and Connor agrees to go to the next meeting.

There are fewer kids at the Tourette’s meeting, but Dexter is there, and he cheerfully calls Aven “armless Aven.” This evening, Andrea will teach the kids techniques to help relax in public and keep their tics from getting out of control. Connor asks if she is teaching them habit-reversal training, which Connor has tried before with moderate success. Connor explains that the goal is to focus on doing something else instead of ticcing. Aven thinks Connor should try it again, but Connor shoots the idea down. Andrea’s attempts at guided relaxation just make everyone laugh, so Andrea recommends other strategies like breathing, meditation, and counting. Andrea says they each need to choose a small, attainable goal. Aven says she wants to learn to use nunchucks, and Connor halfheartedly mentions getting out more. The meeting ends with Aven showing everyone how she uses her feet in place of hands. Dexter thinks Aven is “like a superhero” (160), but Connor is grumpy. Aven realizes she has made Connor jealous.

Aven and her parents decorate Stagecoach Pass for the Christmas season and attract more customers than usual. Connor notices that the park is busier and hopes things will return to normal after Christmas—until Aven tells him that if the park goes bankrupt, she and her family will have to leave. On Christmas Eve, the park steakhouse holds a holiday employee dinner and Connor and his mom attend. Aven helps Josephine in the kitchen, mashing potatoes. Henry sees Aven and calls her Aven Cavanaugh. Josephine is stunned and hurries Henry out of the kitchen. Perplexed, Aven wishes she could find the missing picture of the Cavanaughs. Aven receives silver and turquoise earrings from her parents and thinks it would be great if the Navajo artisan who made them sold her jewelry at the park. Aven and her dad spend time on Christmas Eve hunting futilely for tarantulas.