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RAY WAS CLEAN FOR THE first time in months. Wrapped in a towel, surrounded by flowers and the interred dead, he looked back at the pond they had cleaned him in. When he’d first approached the water, it was murky and full of algae, looking like a neglected hazard on a country golf course. With the turn of a spigot, the water drained and the fountain spewed fresh water, warm and clear. By the time they were done with him, the water was back beyond brown.
They gave him the choice of a shave, which he denied, thinking it may have been a veiled attempt to get him to willingly expose his neck to a stranger’s razor blade. He was handed a set of clothing that seemed no nicer than the rags he’d given up, but he could smell the fabric softener on them and knew they had been recently c
