He let out a heavy sigh, as though making change were a huge inconvenience to his morning.

He slapped the bills down on the glass and shoved my clothes into a flimsy plastic bag, never once looking me in the eye.

The whole exchange might as well not have happened.

No one in that room cared who the Carters were or what trust I managed.

The protection money usually gave me from ordinary rudeness was nowhere to be found.

Margaret followed me out the automatic doors into the cracked asphalt lot.