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Say the girl had needed a fix Booker had told her to go out and work She had Pincus’s gun So she followed Bagive her the drugs, she shot and robbed him But how could she have also beaten him? She was small Certainly no match for Booker

“You’ll get me a fix?” she asked Conklin

“We’ll get you help,” Conklin said

Lawanda was scratching at her skin, ripping at her hair I was sure we’d lost her, that she’d fallen down a black hole of misery and didn’t knoere still there

But she hung on Still rocking, still staring at the floor, she shouted as if possessed, “Saun so I could protect myself on the street!”

I got out of my chair, walked over to Lawanda, stooped down so I could look in her eyes I asked her, “How did Saun?”

The girl stared at me as if I were as dumb as a brick “She took it froman Jesus”

Chapter 108

MY HEART WAS banging against my chest like a hammer on a steel drum Conklin was behindto the law offices above the soup kitchen called From the Heart

A gaggle of girls from the nail salon tried to pass us, saw the deterht up and flattened the loudly to the rest of them, “Those are cops!”

I banged on the door to “Pincus and Pincus,” and when a voice said, “Who is it?” I said, “Mr Pincus, this is the police”

Al Pincus, the bigger, younger brother, came to the door

“How can I help you?” he asked, barring our entrance with his body

“For starters, you can let us in,” I said

He sighed, opened the door wide, called over his shoulder, “Neil, the police”