Lena assembled the records in folders marked with questions, not conclusions.

I began to recognize the difference between a convincing story and a provable one.

PART 11

Some nights I still dreamed I was back in Marysville.

The alarm would sound in the hallway of Opal’s house, and I would wake certain I had missed a count.

I kept my shoes lined beside the bed as though I might need to put them on in seconds.

Opal never told me to stop.