“Every week it got harder to tell you about the week before.”

PART 7

The People in the Notebook

Walter’s notebook held more than names.

Each page listed a donated bicycle, the repairs needed, and the first name of the person waiting for it.

The writing was careful, almost painfully precise.

Beside some names were small notes: needs basket for groceries, child’s birthday Tuesday, wheelchair ramp route safer than main road.

A social worker named Keisha Morgan, who had helped Walter connect some of the families with legitimate support agencies, visited the hospital that morning after a police officer found her number in his notebook.