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Prologue
She looked at the little girl sitting on the front stoop with her crooked braids and her happy smile, and Elizabeth frowned This wasn’t the life she’d wanted for her daughter Paige was row up in a place like this She always had been She was a sweet girl who deserved to have an incredible life Elizabeth wantedanother trailer park kid, but they had to be careful They had to be safe Most of all, they couldn’t draw any attention to themselves
“What do you want for dinner, pue’s hair Her braids were frizzy and a little bit wild Elizabeth had never been particularly good at styling hair, but she did her best She wanted her daughter to look good at school Sheto be teased for having ratty hair or dirty clothes Elizabeth would s that she wanted or needed to reat life, then that was fine with Elizabeth
“Hot dogs!” Paige said excitedly
Then, a question
“Hot dogs?”
There were still three in the pack in the fridge They were out of buns, but there was a half-loaf of white bread Elizabeth had gotten a few days ago from a church food pantry They could use the bread to h not to notice the difference If she did, she never said an
ything to her mom
“Of course,” she said “Hot dogs Then we’ll do your homework, okay?”
“I did it on the bus,” Paige said She pointed to her backpack and set her schoolwork done early so she would have extra time to play with the kids in the trailer park It was a sle one of the lots had kids who lived there It was a paradise for Paige, and Elizabeth wanted to let her have as much fun as she could
She was too young to be worried about other things, like paying bills or not having enough money
“Good girl,” Elizabeth said She took her daughter’s hand and led her inside so they could start boiling the hot dogs Paige sat at the counter and chatted happily while Elizabeth hter was saying, but the truth was that she orried She’d gotten fired fro, which was a lie The er than he’d known Elizabeth, and in the e He’d fired Elizabeth without a chance to speak her piece or to explain herself, and now Elizabeth had to make a choice