Nora and her mother have been living in her father's family mausoleum after they lost their home, and her father, in an apartment fire. They manage, like many others who live in the cemetery, to eke out an existence. There isn't enough money to buy the uniform and supplies needed for Nora to attend school, so she helps her mother do laundry for one family and also makes and sells garlands of flowers. She has good neighbors in Jo and his grandmother, Lola Mercy, and they are very supportive when her mother does not return one night and men associated with loan sharks break into Nora's home and steal the her father's watch and the money she has been collecting to travel to live with her uncle. Because she does not show up to do laundry, she loses that position, and she starts to panic when her mother is still missing. She goes to the mahjong game her mother regularly attends, and talks to some of her mother's friends. Most of the friends can only say that her mother owes them money, but Rosie has some more information. Eventually, Nora finds her mother, who is very sick. Lola and Jo help her tend to her mother's medical needs, and Nora reaches out to the women who employed them, who helps a little. Because circumstances are so dire, Nora attempts to break into the home of the man who stole her watch to get it back, and she finds that there are some issues that have stood in the way of her mother maintaining contact with her brother. Will Nora be able to get her mother the help she needs?