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her. She was not sure how she would do it, but at least she knew where to start.
    It was evening. Shadows cowered low to the ground and scurried through the streets and alleys of Prin.
    They were feral dogs, rooting through piles of garbage for something to eat. They snapped and fought over whatever they could sniff out, anything that was remotely edible: the stale and salty ends of flatbread, rabbit bones that had been sucked of their marrow, the burned crust of rice porridge. The dogs of Prin were dingy and skeletal, cringing yet vicious beasts accustomed to skulking in the shadows and traveling by night in packs.
    There was, however, one stretch of sidewalk that had been swept clean. The storefront window behind it had not only been patched over with flattened cardboard and gaffer’s tape; it looked like someone had actually taken the trouble to measure it so it fit properly. A cracked and battered sign above what was once the window read STARBUCKS COFFEE in block white letters on a green background. And above the sign, a light was visible in the second-floor window.
    Agitated shadows moved across the curtain. Behind the thin fabric, Esther was getting in her sister’s face.
    “But you can’t go,” she was saying.
    Esther was trying hard not to raise her voice, because she knew losing her temper would only cost her the argument the way it always did. Instead, she tried to sound reasonable, clasping her hands tightly behind her back.
    “You can’t ask Levi for weapons,” she said. “This whole thing is starting to get crazy.”
    Sarah stood at the kitchen counter, cleaning out the firebowl with a rag. The older girl acted as if getting rid of every last trace of soot and ash was the most important thing in the world. She was doing what annoyed Esther the most: ignoring her because she was focused on something more meaningful, something adult .
    “Pass me those,” was all Sarah said, nodding at the forks and spoons.
    Frustrated, Esther picked up the handful of dirty silverware. She couldn’t help herself; as she handed them over, she slammed them down on the counter harder than she intended to. At the noise, her sister jumped, to Esther’s private satisfaction. Then Sarah turned all her attention back to cleaning up.
    “How could you listen to those people?” continued Esther, still trying to sound calm. “Rafe? He’s a big mouth, that’s all. And the others—they’re just thugs who want an excuse to hurt people.”
    “I didn’t say I was definitely going to see Levi,” Sarah replied. Unlike everyone else in town, she spoke in a fussy, formal manner she had probably picked up from all her reading. It was yet another thing that irritated Esther about her sister. Sarah pushed a few grains of uneaten rice into a plastic container, which she sealed and put away. Then she finished wiping the silverware.
    The plates, bowls, and cups were chipped and cracked, yet they were mostly a matched set, what had once been a pretty green and purple. Thanks to Sarah, the entire apartment was tidy and clean. Unlike the other homes in Prin, filled with piles of filthy blankets and clothing and utensils, their place was almost stylish, and the curtains in the windows were white.
    The walls were decorated with tattered ads Sarah had found in town—mysterious posters for Absolut vodka, Continental Airlines, New York Yankees. There were even several shelves of books, which Esther had barely glanced at. “Besides,” continued Esther, “why do you think Levi will even talk to you? You haven’t seen him in years. And all he cares about is how much gas people bring him. He don’t care about anything else.”
    “ Doesn’t , not don’t ,” said Sarah, her face flushing. “And he’s not like that. He’s a good person.”
    Esther shot her sister a look, sensing something in her she hadn’t seen before. She knew that when they were much younger, Sarah and Levi had been close friends and that she had taught him how to