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entering the
house you said you had to help because this was your fault. Remember?”
    I hadn’t remembered saying that until now. I was so
afraid for the family that at the time, most of what happened was a blur. “I
didn’t mean it literally. I meant that I knew who did it.”
    “Then why won’t you tell the police?”
    I was silent. I didn’t know how to answer that.
    He sneered and a fraction of his left dimple appeared.
“That’s why you’re here, right? Because you won’t tell them who did it.” My
silence confirmed it. “Well, then, I’m sorry for misinterpreting you, but you
should tell the police what they want to know. I bet I could figure it out. You
don’t hang out with all that many people. I could probably call them right now
and guess that the five friends you eat with every day at school were
involved.” The shock on my face brought out a real smile on his. “I thought so.
But don’t worry, I won’t say anything. It should come from you. But if I figured it out, don’t you think the police will?” With that, he walked away,
leaving me speechless.
    “So what happened? He still looked pretty pissed,”
Eddie asked, handing me my tongs as I slunk back to my spot beside him.
    “Now he doesn’t approve that I won’t tell the police
who did it.”
    “That doesn’t sound like him. He’s very understanding,
even though he’s perfect.”
    “Not to me he’s not.” I tried to forget about Nate and
focus on why I was here, handing off a sandwich to the last person in line.
    Eddie started to clean up his section, picking up
lettuce that had fallen onto the table and placing the tongs into the large
plastic bowl. “Maybe his problem has nothing to do with the fire.”
    I turned to face him. “Well, what is it then?”
    He picked up the bowl. “Beats me. Maybe you should ask
him.” He walked away, heading for the kitchen.
    I cleaned up my section, picked up my tray and
followed him.
     
    After the lunch dishes were taken care of, Nate told
me I could take a break. I sat down at one of the tables to eat a sandwich and
a tossed salad. Julia came into the room and took the empty seat next to me.
“How’s it going so far?”
    “Good. My feet hurt though. This might surprise you,
but I’ve never worked before.”
    “No, I’m not surprised.” She laughed. “I wanted to
apologize for this morning. Nate told me he was wrong about what happened last
night.”
    I froze, my fork in midair and turned to her. “Did he
tell everyone?” I asked, rolling my eyes.
    She smiled. “Probably just Eddie and me, we’re his
favorites.” She poured some dressing over her salad and began mixing it into
the lettuce with her fork.
    “He’s so different here. I’ve never even seen him
speak to anyone at school unless he’s tutoring.”
    She nodded. “He’s happiest here. He loves helping
people.”
    “Eddie called him the boss man. What does that mean?
He’s younger than Eddie,” I asked, before taking a bite of my salad.
    “Just that he’s been here longer. And he has a passion
about this place. He worked at the one in Philadelphia before he moved here.
He’s been volunteering since he was a kid. The Rileys know him somehow. I’m not
sure, they’re not clear on the details, but they put him in charge a lot.” She
eyed me while taking a bite of her salad. “After you clean the bathrooms, do
you want to help me out? I’m going to be working with some women who have job
interviews next week. You’d be good with helping them figure out what to wear.
I’ll help them with what to say.”
    I’d never really been that into clothes, never one for
shopping. Since my mother did nothing else, I never had to. But this sounded
like fun to me. “Are there clothes here to pick from?” I looked over at a boy
who was playing quietly in the corner, pushing a little dinky car around.
    “Some, but not much. And what there is isn’t really
appropriate for job interviews. I’ll just get some money out of