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I FOLLOW
When I return from my appointment, the house has an aura of emptiness. There will be no mealtime negotiations (Eat three pieces of broccoli, Victory, and then we can have dessert), no bath-time adventures (the race between Mr. Duck and Mr. Frog continues), no quiet time in Victory’s room before she drifts off to sleep. All the comforting rituals of the day have been suspended.
As I pour myself a cup of coffee - not that I need any more caffeine - I hear Esperanza in the laundry room. I call her name, but she doesn’t answer. I decide to wait awhile before I tell her she can have the rest of the evening off. I don’t want to be alone, knocking around this house that never feels quite like home unless Victory is in it, too.
Gray has gone to the offices of Powers and Powers, Inc., in the city just forty minutes away - for what, I don’t know. I have been there myself only a couple of times. It’s a small space with an open floor of cubicles and a
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