Changed the locks while I was still pulling weeds.”

“Why?”

“She said she wanted a clean start.” Elias looked at the curb.

“What she wanted was nobody left who remembers your father’s sayings.”

He dug in his coat and handed me a butterscotch candy in wax paper.

The same kind my father kept in the truck.

“How many people did she let go?” I asked.

“Enough that nobody talks to anybody anymore.” He shifted his weight.