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anyway? You being so, careful, and all.” My words pause, letting my sarcasm settle in the silence. Sarcasm that is wasted on Ginjer.
    “I don’t know.” Is what her mouth says. Her body is very much saying that she knows and it’s telling me that we both know I won’t like knowing the answer.
    “Ginjer, you mean to tell me that after all these weeks of not seeing anyone or any thing that suddenly those things find you in the middle of the night and you have no idea why?” My voice holds the annoyance of a parent catching their small child in a lie. Sadly, it has the same effect.
    “It wasn’t my fault. Well, not exactly. I was walking Mintzy and they saw us.” From years of being a parent, I know that the high pitch of Ginjer’s voice means there is still more she is not telling me. A few years, and the gray hairs, from having a teen lets me know that if I just stand here staring at her, she will confess the rest just to have me look away.
    “I may have been walking him on the main road, but you’re still totally gross.” She adds the last accusation in a rapid conclusion, hoping her insult will distract me from her confession.
    I don’t know if I am at a loss for words over how incredibly stupid she is or how incredibly stupid she acts.
    “Why, why would you walk your dog on the road? We have acres of grass around us. Why does he need to be on the road?” I ask her, almost afraid of the answer and how I will handle it.
    “The grass stains my heels.” She says to me with complete sincerity. Her mouth forms a small pout with the statement and I know I am going to kill her.
    “You risked our safety and your safety over a pair of heels? Do you have any idea how much worse this could have been?” I’m yelling now and Mintzy squirms in his owner’s arms trying to escape my voice.
    “But they are-,” She begins, but my rage cuts her words short.
    “I don’t care if they are made by God Himself. If it doesn’t protect us, feed us, or shelter us then it is not important! The next time I risk my own neck and the safety of my daughter for you, you better damn well open the door and at least use those damn heels as a weapon.” I let my anger flow into each word. The realization that I may have died tonight coming to her aide because she lured those things to us being so stupid sends waves of bitterness through me. Even Genny, the saint, is shaking her head over the gall of this woman.
    “Is that why you are so gross?” Ginjer asks me and it is the last inch of nerve I have to spare.
    “No Ginjer, I am working on my Halloween costume. I am going as Carrie this year.” I turn my back to her before my hands find her throat.
    “I thought she wore a prom dress?” Nope, that was my last inch.
    My feet cannot bring me to the door fast enough. I can feel my tongue mounting an attack and I know once the first shot is fired the battle will stream forth unrelenting. Genny trails behind me, silent and angry with the woman herself. Our backs are a wall of uncaring that glares at her with our retreat.
    “Wait,” Ginjer calls out carefully. “I don’t want to stay alone. Can we stay with you? Just for tonight?”
    I want to say no. I want to scream no. All of me does except for this one small shred of humanity that flickers within as her weakness is so well displayed before me.
    I sigh, already regretting the words before I say them. “One night. Tomorrow you have to help us explore a store or you can go hungry .” Perhaps her heels will feed her . It is a rude thought, but I smile with it just the same.
    “We can do that! Can’t we boy?” Ginjer playfully asks the dog as if it holds an opinion for anything. If he did, he may be more concerned with the bows in his hair.
    Genny sighs, sharing a look with me that we have become accustomed to with Ginjer. A look that says we are both baffled by the woman and her actions.
    Holding the door open in the fashion that she expects, Genny and I wait as we watch her