ir. A few days had passed in a blur of exhausting work. Althea wiped

ce, ready to tell Arthur it w

nder the faded red

was draped over the

h a soft thud on the floor. Her heart seized in

the bustling Brooklyn sidewalk. People flowed

led, her voice cr

nnoyance to pity, before hurrying on their way. He was just a

every storefront, her voice growing hoarse from calling his name. The sun began to set,

on, pools of sickly yellow light in the growing

r garbage and stale beer. She pulled out her phone, the

n she s

led by a dented, overf

er someone had thrown away, lift

und. She ran to him, her feet splashing in a puddle of

errified eyes of a child caught doing something wrong. "H

him. She couldn't. She knelt on the wet, filthy ground and wrap

, Grandpa. I've got you." She began to hum, the soft, simple notes

ere wouldn't help-your** condition is too advanced. And the bills... the money Darion promised hasn't come yet. I don't

ee young men staggered into the alley, their eyes landing

er grandfather. Her hand found a broken piece of a brick on the ground, her finger

k SUV had pulled to a silent stop

harp pain. He had just finished a site inspection for a new urban renewal project nearby, a multi-billion dollar ven

n the three men menacing

door of the SUV and ste

to step back, to get away. His skin crawled as if the filth were already on him. But he didn't stop. He forced one foot after the other, his jaw locked so tight

pped forward, puffing out his chest. "Yo

answer. He jus

tle thing like that-maybe she needs some

ll break your fing

en saw Darion's fa

soft, almost friendly. "You have five second

eered. "Yeah? Wha

d. "I'm going to feed

d head backed away first. "He'

his friend's arm. They stumbled back, mutte

sheer force of his presence sucking all the air out of the narrow space. The dim ligh

uckles white on the brick. She whipped her head around, t

e brick still raised. "

t over her-the dirt on her cheeks, the trembling brick in her hand, the

n't kno

d-not from fear, but from the sheer strangeness of him stan

ou telling me t

He said it simply, as if it

The brick wavered. "I

re kneeling in garbage with a broken brick in your hand, and

id set of her jaw, it all dissolved in an instant. The br

, kneeling in the grime, her face streaked with tears

ched her, he felt the grime of the alley transfer onto something that had never known anything but sterile dry cleaning. He should have recoiled. He didn't