Teaching me how to measure a board twice before cutting.
I think about my wife.
Our mortgage.
The men who work for me.
The families who depend on their paychecks.
I sit down in the middle of the empty store.
And I realize something terrible.
They didn’t have to beat me.
They just had to outlast me.
And in the quiet…
I break.
59
Laney
The sign goes up quietly.
No announcement.
No speech.
Just a wooden post hammered into the dirt outside Miller’s store.
FOR SALE
It feels like a funeral.
People stop on the sidewalk and stare.
Some shake their heads.
Some mutter under their breath.
Some look… relieved.
Like maybe if one person gives in, the pressure might ease for everyone else.
Saint stands across the street.
The baby is tucked against his chest in the carrier.
One hand rests protectively over her back.
I watch his expression change as he sees the sign.
Something hard settles behind his eyes.
Something dangerous.
