Neither of us needed to pretend otherwise.

PART 26

By summer, Second Ledger had enough clients that I could hire someone for ten hours a week.

The first applicant was a young man named Marcus who had left prison eighteen months earlier and learned payroll administration in a workforce program.

He arrived ten minutes early carrying a notebook and two references.

His voice trembled when he described the background checks that had ended his previous job interviews.

“I don’t want you to hire me because you feel sorry for me,” he said.