“Even if I got rid of her,” Kit says. She points to her head. “She’s gonna come back.”

“Come back?”

Kit looks over her shoulder, to the store’s front door

“Listen,” she says. “I don’t think I’m strong enough to do this.”

Patricia slides across the carpet to her, takes her hands in her own.

“You are strong enough, Kit. For literally anything you want to do. You literally are strong enough. It’s all perspective. Everything. Okay? You need to accept that, to know that first. Okay?”

“Okay.” And it’s the first time Kit isn’t afraid to hear words similar to those that found her calling 911.

“Good. Let’s start there. But it can’t just be a phrase, you know? It can’t just be something to say. The belief that you can defeat this thing must be real to you. The philosophy itself. Are you in a bookstore right now with Patricia Maxwell from school?”

“I…I am.”

“Good. Can you beat this thing?”

“I don’t know.”

“That’s fine. You don’t have to know that. Not this second. But eventually it has to become as obvious and as real as the fact that you’re sitting in a bookstore with Patricia Maxwell from school.”

“Okay.”

“Close your eyes.”

“I don’t know.”

“Mine will be open. And either way, if someone enters, the chimes will let us know.”

“Okay.”

Kit closes her eyes.

“Now…don’t think of nothing. That’s impossible. People try to imagine a white sheet of paper but then they start seeing the paper’s edge, the table the paper is on, the room the table is in, a person sitting in a chair at the table.”

Kit opens her eyes.

“I thought you were trying to help me.”

“I am. Sorry. Close your eyes. Okay. Good. Now…what do you like? What makes you feel good?”

“Basketball makes me feel good.”

“That’s outstanding. I don’t think you could’ve picked a more perfect subject.”

“Why?”

“Because there are so many moving parts. So many players to pay attention to. The ball constantly moves. Dribbling, passing, shooting. This is great. Motion and moving parts, fluidity, not like hypnosis, but not entirely unlike it either. Who do you want to pass the ball to?”

“Sue Bird.”

“Okay. Pass the ball to Sue Bird. Who should she pass to?”

“Um…Dana.”

“Great. Are you in the Samhattan gym or are you thinking, like, a stadium?”

“I had us outside.”

“Great. You’re in the park. Garland Park. You pass the ball to Sue Bird. She passes the ball to Dana. Dana passes to Rebecca Lobo.”

“Wait.”

“We’ve got books on sports too.”

“Really?”

“Sure. Now, Lobo passes back to you. Is it windy?”

“No. Well, yes. A little.”

“Shoot the ball.”

“Okay.”

“Did you make it?”

“No.”

“Interesting. Where’s the ball?”

“In the grass.”

“All right. Go get the ball.”

Kit, eyes closed, goes to retrieve the ball. Sue Bird and Dana and Rebecca Lobo stand quiet. In fact, the whole world is quiet. All of Samhattan is like a movie set, seconds before the camera rolls.