By the time CJ had run these scenarios, Doyle was out of sight.
CJ crouched on the sidewalk and wept. The white sunlight spun and pulsed as she did so. Across the parking lot, two crows landed on the rim of a dumpster. One of them seemed to be watching CJ, while the other shook a paper bag until it ripped and spilled open. Together, they gorged themselves on the spoils.
Without knowing how or why, CJ thought about a scripture she learned years ago at Bible camp. It said to behold the fowls of the air. They do not sow or reap, or gather into barns. How much better are ye than they?
She stood, looked around in every direction, counted her money, then pocketed it. She pulled her bag out of the orange monstrosity those kids left behind and went back into the Burger King to see about the job.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
Thanks to Nat Sobel, Jack Shoemaker, and Megan Fishmann for helping bring this book to life. I also can’t say enough about Nicole Caputo’s design work, which is out of this world. Thanks also to Siobhan McBride, Adia Wright, Jenny Alton, Wah-Ming Chang, Jordan Koluch, Dallin Jay Bundy, Mary Einfeldt, and everyone else in the back line for their invisible work.
I could not have written huge sections of this book without the help of Amber McConnell, who walked me through the mysterious chemistry of old meth recipes. We should all be glad she’s not evil. Thanks to Karston Reed, my good friend and realtor, without whom I would know nothing about foreclosure auctions and how real estate “really works.” And finally, thanks to Kyle Bishop for making me stay on target. He’s a zombie literature scholar, so he knows how to keep going.
Please allow me to offer my sincerest apologies to Alisa Mitchell Petersen. She will never get the chance to just read this book without spoilers, because I always drag her into these projects from the start, talking her ear off. You should thank her for all the times she said, “No. Do not do that, Todd. It will be stupid.”
Finally, I want to thank Zoë, Ike, and Max, the three little ones who grew up alongside this book. They are the coolest people I know.
© Carrie Brown Stroud
TODD ROBERT PETERSEN lives in Cedar City, Utah, with his wife and three children. He is a professor of English and the director of Southern Utah University’s project-based learning program. His recent academic work focuses on film and television.
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