Chapter Nineteen
Two men slept in the alley behind our building. Neither of them woke as I ran past, tearing around the corner and to the abandoned street beyond.
I didn’t notice anything strange as I sprinted between the dying trees. My heart pounded in my ears so hard I don’t think I would have been able to hear the men catcalling me from the shadows if they’d been there to leer.
The headlights of a van speeding as it whipped onto my street finally drew me out of my haze of panic.
I pressed my back to the soft bark of one of the trees, clutching the radio to my chest as I relied on the shadows to hide me. The black van didn’t slow as it passed, so I took a breath and started running again.
I couldn’t find anyone else hiding in the shadows as I reached the edge of Five Points. All th
