7 AM with a payment rem

n the apartment couch, still

nsciousness arrived, the panic of t

bank balance and under

and twenty s

treatment cycle:

: due in s

in the dark, not wantin

Street, filling out an application even tho

The manager who took the applica

ehouse position?" the man

minated," Al

s expression h

compli

application in a trash bin next to his desk. Not on

ving his previous job that "looked good on paper." At the temp agency, the recruiter kept him longer, at least. She scrolled through her computer and asked about references, t

asked if they were hiring. The clerk

ites on his phone between stops. Everything required experience, refere

inder: "Payment due by 5:00 PM close of bus

He needed $800 minimum to keep his mom's treatment o

e to the

tic chair with her textbooks spread across her lap. She looked up when he came thro

xtbook. "You're here early. Isn't

n't answer that

is working." She studied his face the way thei

t out early. Should have deflected. Instead, he

ompletely. The textbo

When? Alp

oved toward the door to their

opped, understanding from his expressi

t arguing. "I'm going to get so

"Y

, and he w

gray from the illness, but her eyes were alert. She watched him approach the bed, and so

aching for his hand b

se. Her grip was weak, bu

you feeling

honsus. Not the version y

lost my job. My wife left me. I don'

't open them. When she did, she looked at him with s

I should have told y

poke about him rarely, and only in vague terms: a good man, he worked hard, he loved

e tired. You

kept you away from certain people. I told you things that were

ct me fr

side table. It took her three attempts to open it. Inside was a yellow

ws and carved stone. The man had Alphonsus's jawline, his eyes, his height. But his ex

father,"

all photographs his mom kept in a drawer somewhere. But this was different. This

Alphonsus said. "You've

s mom said quietly. "

otograph in his hand,

xist," she said. "People who would want things f

? What are you

e. But you need to know that your life, everything you believe

the door. A billing representative stood in the doorway w

nt authorization for today's treatment. The pharmacy is

the woman in the photo

right there

man he'd never met, holding his mom's trembling hand, realizing tha

hand once, and he tur

Alphonsus..." She paused. "If anyone ever asks you about your father, about

"I don't unders

d. "But you will. I

sentative cleared h

n his hand, feeling like the ground had s