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horizon, without being too melodramatic. I hadn't seen him since the sentencing. To make it through my time without losing my mind, I divorced myself from reality. I ignored my past. I rarely thought of the things I'd missed. Instead, I read books from the prison library, mostly the classics. David and what he represented was that thing I tried hardest not to think of. By doing so, I think I blocked something, some emotion, some feeling that I know I should have. My brother's dead and I don't know how to act."   She smiled bitterly. "They assigned me a reintroduction specialist for society. I wished they'd assigned me one for my family. You know, part of me feels like if I'd seen him, it would all have gone back to normal. But I didn't see him. I'll never see him again. I guess his organs have been harvested by now, no telling what they did with the rest of him."
    Andy stared at her in silence for a minute, then reached out and placed a hand on her arm. "Twenty years is a lifetime, Bec. You did what you had to do. It's crazy to expect you to react normally after that."
    She liked the feel of his hand on her skin. Although at first it had bothered her, she also liked how he called her Bec . That had been David's name for her, but from Andy it sounded different.
    "When this is all over I think it'll hit me. I think I'll be standing somewhere doing something, and suddenly the earth will cave in and swallow me whole."   She looked at him, and opened her eyes a little wider to release the tear that was balanced there. "I wished it would come sooner, you know. So I could cleanse myself with emotion."
"You're doing fine, Bec."
"Really?"
    "I doubt I could do any better."
    "Yeah."   She took a sip of tea. "Sure."
    "Oh my God!"
    "What?"
    "I can't believe I almost forgot."
    "What? What did you forget?"
    "Your grandmother. You don't know? They didn't tell you anything. Your grandmother is still alive."
    A lonely feeling had been creeping up on her while she'd been thinking about David. With him gone, she'd thought that she was the last of her family left alive. She'd never even considered that her grandmother could still be alive. She had to be nearly ninety by now.
    "She's still alive?"
    "Yeah. David went to see her every week. I went sometimes, too."
    Rebecca remembered back when everyone was alive, a Thanksgiving with her mother, father, grandmother and David. Arguing, laughing, stories of Thanksgivings past, tales of grandpa and his Vietnam exploits, all were memories she coveted. They washed through her now as she removed another stone from the dam she'd built in prison. She cracked a smile, recalling when the old woman had promised to sneak a file baked in a cake into the prison, her face as serious as could be while promising the impossible.
    Grandmothers earned a special love. She needed to see hers, now. "Where is she?"
    "I'm not so sure it's a good idea to—"
    "Oh no you don't. You will not give it to me then take it away."
    "What?"
    "We're going to see my grandmother. I might be dead next time I have the opportunity to see her and I don't want to take the chance. We're going, Black Hearts or no. So where is she?"
    Andy chuckled, stood, and pulled out a credStick. He'd used it earlier on the bus, explaining to Rebecca that it was a drone and couldn't be attributed to him. Long black hair pulled into a knot, sweat dripping from her brow because of the heat of the stove, the kiosk attendant pressed an electronic stylus into a space at the bottom of the stick. Andy punched in the numbers adding a small tip, then transferred the funds. Gone was money, change and the need for a purse. Everything was electronic.
    He pocketed the stick and pushed in his chair, making room for Rebecca to get out.
    She stood, snagging a couple napkins to take with her. The strange gray composite material was absorbent, but visually took some getting used to. When they were ready to go, she cocked her head and peered down her nose. "So?"
    Andy nodded.