The crowd was split. And then the rain came.

“Kari Cachonda! Your mother is a lifestyle and entertainment !”

Kari watched from the sidelines, dripping but victorious. Her mom wasn’t a regular mom. She wasn’t even a cool mom. She was a one-woman economic and emotional stimulus package.

Most kids would have cried or thrown a punch. But Kari Cachonda had learned, years ago, that defending Esmé Cachonda was like trying to explain the color blue to a fish. You couldn’t. You just had to swim in it.