“Yeah. But he got a new wife.” She took a deep breath. “What if he runs out of love? You know, give it all away to her and don’t have none left for us?”
 

Mama looked off down the street. “How was it at school without your brother?” she said. Her voice sounded different. It sounded like it did after she finished talking to the principal about Miss Anderson. I said school was okay 'cause I didn’t want to make her mad again. I didn’t want to see her get so mad and then sad and then cry like she did when I told her Jamari got handcuffed by the School Resource Officer, so I didn't say how Miss Anderson wouldn't look at me the whole day. “He didn’t do anything wrong, you know. There’s nothing wrong with asking questions.”

Corinne La Mer’s heart beat like wild drums as she ran through the forest. Her bare feet stumbled over the dead leaves and protruding roots of the forest floor. She strained her eyes in the dappled sunlight to keep track of the small, furry agouti that scampered away from her. Occasionally, light glinted off the smooth rock tied to the animal’s hind leg. It called to Corinne like a beacon. When she got close enough, she pounced on the ’gouti and missed, grabbing only a handful of dirt. Corinne grunted and threw the dirt aside. The animal ran beneath a bush and Corinne squeezed down to the damp earth to crawl after it. Her skirt got caught on branches, but she ripped it away, determined to reach the animal. On the other side, the creature cowered against a rock and the roots of a large tree. In her eleven years of life, Corinne had learned that with nowhere to run, a wild animal might try to attack. She hung back.