" They are standing beside her car now. He's on her right side and has beenpalming a huge veterinarian's syringe in his right hand, the type used for...large animals, except that the needle has been clipped to a stub. He producesit as if from nowhere, like a magician. "See this?" He aims it at her car,pushes the plunger about a quarter of the way and a tight spray of liquid squirtsout on to the door. The paint immediately begins to bubble up. It peels away,hissing and steaming. "What are you. Get home right now.”Willie’s voice again: “Come find me, Daddy. Come find me.”Herb stumbled in the dark, feeling his way along the walls. Aging wallpaper flecked off on his fingertips. The only illumination came from a bend behind the central stairs. He crept toward it as carefully as he could, stubbing his toes and swearing every color of the rainbow along the way. Murder him, that’s what Herb was going to do when he caught up to Willie. Him and the dame both.The orange light was coming from. 'Store policy is to call the police if more than one item is found,' the security woman stated.'Oh! Hell! That necklace wasn't stolen!' Ayesha angrily said.'Don't give me a hard time, it's store rules, not mine. Get dressed girl,' Gladys dismissively said.Ayesha sat by the desk, pointedly not looking at her mother, who was standing in front of it. Her mother stared at the floor unable to face her daughter. Ayesha had tried to save her dignity, so no one could blame her for this terrible. They'd been welcomed without either hesitation or qualification by each other's natal families, and both sets of grandparents had doted on their tiny grandchild and spoiled him unmercifully—as had two uncles (one on each side), three aunts (all on Igwanda's), and an assortment of cousins.The one potential obstacle to their departure—the possible need for Igwanda's testimony at a criminal trial of the deposed sheriff—had fallen by the wayside quickly. Initially blustering that he'd defend.