Sam guided Maggie through the clanging and clamoring that filled the kitchen toward the back door. She looked out the screen door and saw a toddler waddling across the lawn.She turned and followed Sam down a set of slightly uneven stairs which descended into the basement. As they carefully moved down them, trying to avoid banging their heads on the sloping ceiling above, she could hear the familiar sharp crack of pool balls knocking into each other and a faint rumble as they rolled across the table's felt surface.

It was obvious that Sam's grandparents had tried to make the dank room a "hangout" of sorts for the grandchildren's benefit, if they even knew what a hangout was, but the effort was haphazard at best. The cement floor was covered with leftover carpet scraps, a patchwork of beige, blue, and green, and harsh fluorescent lights embedded in the ceiling tiles lit up the cousins' sullen faces in an unnatural way.