“Brenda Prescott fired me the week after the funeral.” He said her whole name like it was a bad address.

“Said the grounds contract was void.”

The bus schedule was bolted to the pole behind him.

Seven twelve.

Then seven forty.

The gum stain over the seven forty had been there since I was a boy, and I looked at it anyway.

“She let the cleaning woman go, too,” he said.

“And the man who cut the hedges.