One at a time, the newer minivans and four-wheel-drive pickups backed out and left the lot.

The red taillights faded down the street until the school grounds went completely silent.

I sat at the wheel of my old Buick, listening to the engine idle while the other parents drove off in newer cars.

I put the car in drive and took the back roads home so I wouldn’t have to go past the house where Rory lived with Tasha.

By four o’clock Thursday afternoon, Sadie and I were standing in the back aisle of the Howard Thrift Store.