but Janelle did not go straight there.
“Take me to Mason’s Fresh Market,” she told him.
The driver looked at her through the mirror.
“Ma’am, your father said, I said take me there.
” The driver obeyed.
When the car stopped near the grocery store, Janelle stepped out slowly.
The sidewalk was busy.
People were shopping, talking, laughing, rushing past each other like nothing terrible had ever happened there.
Then she saw him.
Malik sat near the wall, his head lowered, a paper cup beside his foot.
He looked weaker than
