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She saw people turn around, look behind them

Headlights

“Run!” Ike yelled

The crowd dispersed in a panic, people running away from the laundry in all directions

Elsa grabbed Loreda’s hand and yanked her back toward the stinking toilets No one else was going this way They lurched into the shadows behind the building and hid there

Men ju baseball bats, sticks of wood; one had a shotgun They forh the cahts, their footsteps ines They beat their weapons into the palms of their hands, a steady thump, thump, thump

Elsa pressed a finger to herthe fence line When they finally made it back to the cabins, they ran for their own, slipped inside, locked the door behind them

Elsa heard footsteps co their way

Light flashed through the cracks in the cabin; menempty palms

The sound came close—thump, thump, thump—and then faded away In the distance, someone screamed

“You see, Loreda?” Elsa whispered “They’ll hurt the people who threaten their business”

It was a long time before Loreda spoke, and when she did, her words were no coht back, Mom”

THIRTY-TWO

“Can we drive to relief this week, Ma?” Ant said at the end of another long, hot, de cotton

Elsa had to ad to town and back after a day in the fields was hardly appealing