Take Care of Them While I’m Gone

As of two hours ago, a judge froze every account tied to his name.”

Shirley did not scream. That was the only thing about that evening I found strange at the time, and I filed it under shock.

She sat down on the arm of my sofa and said, “Where are we supposed to go?”

“Back to Ohio,” I said.

And she looked at me, and Walter looked at the carpet, and neither of them said anything at all.

Chapter 9 — Seventy-Two Hours

Three days later I came home flanked by a sheriff’s deputy and a locksmith, who drilled through the deadbolt. Shirley wept as movers boxed up their clothes.