I said to Rosalba, “Un minuto,” and she looked at my face and said, “Ve.”

I went down the back stairs to the alley and stood next to a dumpster and put my hands on my knees and breathed for about ninety seconds.

Then I straightened up and went back inside and washed my hands and started plating salads.

Because I did not know anything yet.

That is what I kept saying to myself, in the specific voice I use for stocktakes. You do not have a fact yet.

You have a woman and a child and a woman who is fond of the child.