Selena is a middle-aged woman in New York dying of cancer. Her friends Faith, Ann, and Susan come to visit her and look at her photographs. They see pictures of Selena's ex Max but do not talk about him. They talk about Selena's daughter Abby, who died young in a rooming house far away. After they leave, Ann says they will never see Selena again. They talk about how Selena was raised in foster care. Faith thinks that Abby was not the only child lost to drugs or war or violence. Back at Selena's house, Selena had asked Faith how Richard was doing. Fatih pretended she did not know, that he did not keep up with her, though she knew very well that he was in Spain and she had talked to him on the phone recently. Selena says at least Faith knows where Richard is; when her Abby died, it was almost a relief because for the first time in years she knew exactly where Abby was. Years before, Selena had sat in the principal's office at the children's in protest until he let her help the Puerto Rican students in some way. Faith herself was a tutor though. Finally, the principal relented and let Selena teach the young children how to use the bathroom, since she was a nurse. Faith recognizes Selena's face of stubbornness in the present when she says she wants to be left alone to think about Abby. The women leave Selena and take the train home, never to see their friend again. She dies only a few hours after they leave. On the train, the woman talk about the married man that Susan has been seeing. Faith thinks about Ann's son Mickey, who they all know will probably be dead soon, too, having been arrested for vagrancy or theft or some other crime. Susan begins talking to the man next to her on the train about the Vietnam War and the reparations the United States needs to make for all the destruction they caused in Vietnam. At home, Faith's son Anthony tells her that Richard called to say he is in Paris. He brings up Abby and asks how Selena did not realize what she was up to. The next day, Max flies in and Ann calls to discuss her sadness about their train ride the day before. Faith thinks about her son Anthony's view of the world and reflects on how she and her friends, having bonded over their children, had formed such attachments.