t a short, dismissive laugh, the sound gra

ide Sarah, a united front. "I'm just helping her out. Letting her and her daughter stay here whil

ood ran col

of a hallway. She looked about five years old, healthy and vibrant in a

gry!" she annou

. The girl who was living the l

, angry mask she wore for David melted away, replaced by a soft, dotin

Betty's hair. "Did you have a good nap?

who was now slumped against his shoulder, his small body trembling with fever. Leo hadn't re

focating clarity: Leo' s tiny, cold body lying on a morgue slab, his mother' s starved frame. He remembered the agony of their loss, an agony these two people had directly

ting they were unwelcome guests who had overstayed their welc

David and his mother to sit at a large glass dining table. David gently placed the still-sleeping Leo on two chairs pushed together, us

ere large portions of roasted chicken, creamy mashed potatoes, and bright, steamed vegetables. Th

his mother. They contained a few slices of dry-lo

meal. It was a sta

said, not a hint of apology in her voi

Susan, ever gracious, picked up her spoon with a

painful it wa

arly coached by her fat

, despite her plate being half-full of c

gh trying to support everyone." He shot a pointed look at David

by his family's arrival. The manipulation was so blatant, so shameless, it made David' s stomach turn. He watched

e not people who felt empathy or remorse. They were parasites who had dra

began clearing the plates. She didn't l

e last bus back to your town leaves in an hour. You

son and her ailing mother out into the c

ing, roared into an inferno. The time for quiet