My advocate, Dana Pike, came to see me a week later.
She was a short woman with gray streaks in her hair and a canvas bag full of colored folders. She had been appointed to make sure my wishes were heard in placement decisions. I knew her from two earlier meetings, but this was the first time she had asked to talk without Mara in the room.
"What do you want me to tell the review team?" she asked.
"I want to stay with Mae."
Dana didn't write it down right away. "Do you want a family placement?"
"I want a home."
"Those can be the same thing."
"Sometimes."
"Do you want the Cormacks?"
"I like them. I don't want to go without Mae."
"If we can't find a home for both of you soon, what should we tell you to do?"
"I don't know."
"That's an honest answer."
"I'm not trying to make it har
