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It was, he thought, the da They shot out fro so fast, it was like she’d forgotten he was there They hit soh he felt his head actually touch the ceiling It see hiainst the dash, then turned the wheel and pulled into a parking lot with a dry cleaner’s and a Shipley Do-Nuts And without looking at Anthony or saying a word to hian to cry

He’d never seen a white woman cry before, not up close, just movies and TV In the sealed cabin of the Denali, he could s wax, and the clean smell of her hair Then he realized he could s tiood It was bad, really bad, like spoiled meat and sour milk, and he looked down at his body, his dirty hands and arms and the same T-shirt and jeans he’d worn for days and days, and felt ashamed

After some time she lifted her face off the wheel and wiped her nose with the back of her hand "What’s your name?"

"Anthony"

For ato drive hiht to the police The car was so clean and new he felt like a big dirty stain sitting there But if she could set out here," Carter said "I’m sorry to have caused you trouble like I did"

"You? What did you do? You didn’t do anything" She took in a long breath, tilted her head back against the headrest, and closed her eyes "Jesus,to kill ?"

She see for hiet out on his own They were a few blocks north of Richmond; from there he could catch a bus back to the place he’d been sleeping, a vacant lot down on Westpark beside the recycling center It was a good spot, he’d had no trouble there, and if it rained the people at the center let hies He had a little over ten dollars on hih to get ho to eat

He put his hand on the door

"No," she said quickly "Don’t go" She turned toward hi, searched his face "You have to tell me if you meant it"

Carter drew a blank "Ma’an What you said ’God bless you’ I heard you say it Because the thing is," the wo for his answer, "I don’t feel blessed, Anthony" She gave a haunted laugh, showing a row of tiny, pearl-like teeth "Isn’t that strange? I should, but I just don’t I feel awful I feel awful all the time"

Carter didn’t knohat to say How could a white lady like her feel awful? In the corner of his eye, he could see the eht array of toys, and he wondered where the child was now Maybe he should say so a baby, how nice thatbabies in his experience, women especially

"It doesn’tvacantly out the windshield toward the doughnut shop "I knohat you’re thinking You don’t have to say anything I probably just seeht to ain, bitterly "Well that’s just it, isn’t it? That’s the thing I see a person could want Rachel Wood seeht"

For aand staring woefully into space, Carter still wondering if he should get out of the car or not But the lady was upset, and it felt wrong to leave her like that He wondered if she wanted hiuessed that was her na about herself But he couldn’t say for sure Maybe Rachel Wood was a friend of hers, or so after the baby He knew he’d have to go sooner or later Whatever ure out she’d just about gotten herself shot for this s in her car But for the moment, the feel of cool air on his face froe, sad silence were enough to keep him where he was

"What’s your last name, Anthony?"

The question wasn’t one he could re him "Carter," he said

What she did next surprised hi that had happened so far She turned in her seat and, looking right at hiaze, offered him her hand to shake

"Well," she said, her voice still etched with sadness, "how do you do, Mr Carter I’m Rachel Wood"

Mr Carter: he liked that Her hand was s He felt-but he couldn’t think of the words for it He watched to see if she’d wipe her hand off, but she made no move to do this

"Oh oing to have a heart attack You can’t tell him about what happened back there I mean it You absolutely can’t"

Carter shook his head