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“What the hell…?” His erat the vision

His heart squeezed uncomfortably

Man, I wish Mom could have seen it like this

Jesse pulled up to the curb, and stared, stunned, at 314 Wilson

That was his old house all right, but it looked nothing like it once had

Years ago, he’d thrown a rock through the front pictureafter a fight with his father His mom had covered the hole with cardboard because they couldn’t afford a new piece of glass that size

Now, the cardboard was gone, the replace in the breeze

The porch where his father used to sit ed, threatening to fall away from the house And the hole Jesse had used to crawl under the porch on nights when Dad kicked him out was covered over He’d learned later that his mother had kept the back door open for him the way she had for Rachel, when his sister had been the one thrown out into the cold desert night

All of his surprise and regret quickly boiled down to soer

His mother had left hi hi it up pretty

Wonderful A gold-plated chain

If Rachel thought she could stop hi down if he had to—she rong Rachel could dress up the house all she wanted, repair it and cover up the ugly parts, but underneath it was still the violent and angry hoh paint in the world to cover that

“Let’s go, Wain” Jesse clierly out of the Jeep

Wain barked with an enthusias and trotted ahead to sniff and urinate on a hydrangea bush

Jesse pulled the key fros