"I stand holding the Macy’s bag half full of the few last dear things I dare take with me. I avoid his big green eyes made twice as large by the thick glasses he’s worn since adolescence. I’d see too much in them, too much of myself, of us. ...

“'Billy, don’t you see what I’m tryna tell you? You were there. You were with them. You got in the car, you rode with them, and you stood with them while they wasted the yam. Then you got back in the car again and drove away. You we...