The novel opens with a ring ring ring. It's the voice of a young girl who has just returned from a visit with her big brother. She's been hiding from her father, who's back from China. The girl asks her brother if he's fighting with his dad, and he says no, but that he'll bring her back to the park the next time. He also tells her that his dad loves her more than he loves him, and that he also loves her dad. She begs her brother to let her go, but he won't. She tells him that her dad is going back to China to visit his sick mom, and she's going to bring him back.