Insignificant Events in the Life of a Cactus

Connor is Aven’s best friend. From the moment they meet in the school library, Aven appreciates how honest and direct Connor is. Connor has Tourette syndrome, which causes him to tic, or make involuntary sounds and muscle movements. Like Aven, Connor receives a lot of stares, but unlike Aven, he is also made fun of a lot. Connor cannot keep himself from making barking sounds—holding in tics is painful for him—and oftentimes other kids cruelly bark back. Connor’s tics get worse when he is nervous. Because they can empathize with each other, Connor and Aven become close friends.

Connor has a negative view of his disability. He thinks he is more limited in his life with his Tourette’s than Aven is with her armlessness. Connor dreads going out in public and is convinced that he is a “freak.” He has a dry sense of humor, but often uses it to criticize himself. Connor also carries a lot of misplaced guilt: he believes his disability caused his parents to divorce and causes his mom to work all the time. He is down on himself and does not see a lot of hope for his future. While Aven tries to assure him that his future is full of potential, Connor thinks instead that nothing is possible for him.

Aven helps Connor realize that he does have a lot going for him. Aven draws Connor—and herself—out of isolation. Attending support meetings for kids with Tourette’s and visiting Stagecoach Pass build Connor’s self-confidence. Connor has a kind heart, and possibly a little crush on Aven. He risks going to the store just to get Aven gummy bears because they are her favorite. Connor is jealous of the attention that Dexter, another kid at the support group, pays to Aven. Jessica, a girl on Aven’s soccer team, thinks Connor is “cute” with his “messy, light-brown hair” and hazel eyes (50). Connor, like Aven, learns that he cannot and does not want to hide from life.

Aven literally stumbles upon Zion when he is hiding alone, eating lunch. Zion is an African American boy who, like Aven and Connor, fears the looks he will get if he eats in the cafeteria, because other students see him as overweight. Zion is gentle, serious, and shy. He stares at his feet while walking down the halls to avoid eye contact with others. His parents are avid sci-fi buffs to the point of naming Zion and his brother Lando after characters after The Matrix and the Star Wars films, respectively. Zion is mildly embarrassed by his parents’ sci-fi obsession, and by his mother’s excitement over his new friends. Aven, however, thinks Zion’s mom, with her sparkly purple headband, is pretty cool.

Aven believes that Zion “needs to find his courage” (145). He balks at the mystery of Stagecoach Pass when he thinks dead bodies, murder weapons, or dead lizards are involved. He has no interest in publicity, but Zion does have a creative side, and thinks he might want to try out for the school play. Aven encourages him, saying it would be a great experience. In his quiet way, Zion is highly sensitive to others around him. Zion’s quiet comments build his friends up: he assures Aven that no one would think she was a circus performer (objectified for her body, not admired for her skills) if they saw her playing guitar. Zion also has a mature understanding of the value of friendship, urging Aven to find Connor and mend their relationship after they fight. Zion, like Connor and Aven, changes his thinking about himself and makes a life change when he decides to take guitar lessons from Aven and to eat in the cafeteria.

Dad goes from being an out-of-work restaurant manager to the supervisor of the shabby Stagecoach Pass. Aven’s dad is her number one fan and supporter. His goofy sense of humor—much like Aven’s—characterizes his loving relationship with his daughter, and helps put others, like Connor, at ease. Dad tried several different ways to bond with Aven in her earlier childhood, including a failed attempt at fishing, before he landed on soccer. Aven enjoys and excels at the sport, and it brings her closer to her dad.

Dad counsels Aven that being just like everyone else would be “a terrible thought” (212). With gentle humor and love, Dad guides Aven to value herself for who she is—and not to sell herself short. By encouraging her to try out for the soccer team, Dad helps Aven face and overcome her self-doubt and demonstrate the determination that both Dad and Mom instilled in her from an early age.

Mom and Dad are on the same page when it comes to their approach to raising Aven: provide lots of love and teach her how to “figure things out on her own” (3). As a psychology major, Aven’s mom knows something about Tourette’s, and is the driving force behind Aven asking Connor to the Tourette’s support group. Mom also helps coax Connor out of his comfort zone, getting Connor to eat with the Green family and taking the friends to a private movie showing. Mom helps both Aven and Connor be their best selves.

Mom’s powerful love for Aven is evident in her “gushy love face” (111) as she tells the story of finding Aven’s adoption picture on the internet. Mom also shows her love and unconditional support for Aven when Aven discovers her birth family. Mom listens openheartedly to Aven talk about her birth mom and makes the effort to clean the turquoise necklace and fix the guitar that once belonged to the older Aven. Mom understands Aven’s desire to know more about her namesake and is not hurt by Aven’s interest.

Josephine, the tough but good-hearted cook and waitress at the Stagecoach Pass steakhouse, has worked at the park since it opened. She moved to Arizona from Texas and has handled lots of different jobs at Stagecoach Pass. Now in her eighties, Josephine is nearing retirement. Aven notices right away that Josephine gives her lots of funny looks, but they are not like the stares she gets from other people. Aven thinks Josephine has some answers to the mysteries at Stagecoach Pass, but for most of the novel Josephine is evasive when Aven questions her.

Aven discovers two secrets about Josephine: first, that Josephine is Aven’s birth grandmother; second, that she is the mysterious owner of Stagecoach Pass, “Joe” Cavanaugh. Josephine loved her daughter, Aven, who was independent and flamboyant—a true performer. Josephine did not believe she could successfully care for the younger Aven, her granddaughter, and placed her for adoption, never dreaming it would take two years for her to be adopted. It was Josephine who offered Aven’s dad the opportunity to work at Stagecoach Pass, to help the family financially and to bring Aven closer to her.

Although Josephine does not expect Aven to want her in her life, she cares about Aven and believes in the importance of family. In her interactions with Josephine, Aven again reveals her self-reflection and empathy. Aven comes to understand that Josephine misses her daughter and “probably truly believed she was doing the best thing for me” (250). Aven comes to value this new branch of her family. Aven releases her feelings of abandonment and plans to visit Josephine in her retirement home.