Chapter 5
Knowing that at any second I would break down and start bawling like a baby, I got out of there as fast as I could. Mrs. Eastman’s girls were just waking to the new day’s chores, and I slipped out without being seen by them.
I walked away from the boarding house slowly. Maybe if I took my time, I’d get one last look at Mr. Chetwood.
I’d found the man I’d love all my life, and I’d lost him, all in a night.
If my shoes had been in better condition, I’d have scuffed them on the sidewalk, but I didn’t need a hole in the toe as well as the one in the sole.
As I passed the dingy alley between Mrs. Eastman’s house and the one next door, someone reached out, caught my arm, and dragged me into the narrow space. I began struggling and grabbed for my shiv, intending to make this mug so
