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"I vote yes," Albert said quickly

"Me, too," Edilio called out from somewhere in the crowd

Howard rolled his eyes He looked at Orc, who nodded his head yes Howard sighed theatrically "Yeah, whatever"

"Okay, then," Astrid said "With my vote that’s four out of seven So These are the laws of Perdido Beach The laws of the FAYZ"

"Can we eat now?" Howard asked

"One last thing," Astrid said "I lied to people And I got other people to lie That’s not against any of these rules, but it’s still wrong The result is that kids won’t really trustthe town council Effective right now"

Howard began an ironic slow clapping Astrid laughed It didn’t even bother her In fact, she felt like joining in herself Like she could finally stand outside herself, see herself as shrill and controlling and faintly ridiculous

Strangely, it made her feel better

"Now, let’s eat," Astrid said She hopped down frohter when she landed Like she’d weighed five hundred pounds a ymnast She patted Howard on the shoulder and went to Albert, as shaking his head slowly

"Nice," Albert said "You get to quit"

"Yep So now I guess I need a job, Albert," Astrid said "You have any openings?"

THIRTY-SEVEN

33 MINUTES

"I DIDN’T WET ," Justin said "At nored him Instead she watched Astrid’s performance It made her bitter Of course Astrid had found a way out of the hole she’d dug for herself Sreat to be Astrid It reat to have soout a set of rules and then blithely walk aith your pretty blond head held high

"Can I go see Roger after we eat?"

"Whatever," Mary said She’d be out of it all soon Done with this awful place and these awful people She’d sit outside with herup now for barbecue Astrid and Little Pete together Kids were clapping her on the back Grinning at her Liking her more than they had in the past Why? Because she had admitted she had screwed up and then she’d quit and left them with a new set of rules to follow

In her oay Astrid had taken the poof, Mary thought

How many minutes left until Mary had her own chance at escape? She pulled Francis’s watch from her pocket Half an hour

After all the worry and anticipation it still see at her now, even as he herded the kids toward the front of the food line Looking at her Expecting soo stand in the food line herself, of course, show Astrid up as a liar for calling her anorexic

But really, what did Mary have to prove to anyone?

She ignored John’s wave, ignored kids around her, and headed back into the day care

It was quiet and empty