He looked at the photo again.
“The sanitation department has already received complaints.”
My stomach tightened.
“Complaints?”
“Several.”
“Against Silas?”
“Yes.”
“For standing on a lawn?”
“For appearing to intimidate residents.”
“Residents?” I snapped. “The only person he intimidated was the man in the black sedan.”
Mr. Harlan lowered his voice.
“I’m not disagreeing with you.”
“Then why does he sound like the one in trouble?”
“Because the internet got there first.”
That sentence sat between us like a stone.
Because the internet got there first.
The first version of a story is not always the true one.
It is just the one people see before breakfast.
And once people decide who the villain is, they do not like being corrected.
Especially when the villain fits the picture they already had in their head.
At 7:05, I started my route.
Every stop felt heavier than usual.
The children climbed on with backpacks, lunch bags, phones in their hands, earbuds in their ears.
