Kamal jerked open the door. He grabbed Aziz by the arm and pulled him into the storm. He was screaming, but gusts swallowed most of his words. He pushed Aziz down on the subcompact’s hood. “Answer me,” he was saying. He put his mouth on Aziz’s ear. “What the fuck are you doing here?”

They had not thought of what Aziz would say. Ghazi had only worked out his own lines. He planned to claim a friend gave him this key and this address and asked him to get a box from the unit and bring it to him. The friend swore him to secrecy. Rafik would find out eventually, but Ghazi would have gone to Mourad by then. Explosives, stolen property—confiscated. Police notified. Rafik on the run. Instead, it was only cigarettes and toys. And Aziz with no story.

“An hour from East Boston! An hour!” Kamal was screaming.

Aziz felt himself cool. His mind arranged itself into smooth grooves.

Kamal lived in East Boston.

Kamal was an hour from East Boston.

Just like Aziz.

“What the fuck is wrong with you?” Aziz screamed into Kamal’s face.

“What the fuck!”

“Fuck you!”

“Fuck you!”

“I have a fucking storage unit here!” Aziz spit the words.

“In the parking lot?”

“I was waiting for the rain to let up!”

Aziz felt Kamal’s brain starting to go into reverse.

“What the fuck are you doing here?” Aziz shouted.

Kamal let go. He pushed wet strands from his ponytail out of his face. He was saying something the wind sucked away. He started toward his truck.

“You stole Rafik’s moving truck!” Aziz hollered.

For weeks, they waited for Rafik to say something. Ghazi hoped Kamal had been at the U-Stor-It behind Rafik’s back. Maybe he is cheating Rafik, doing his own deals. If he tells Rafik of you, he told Aziz, how does he explain why he was there? Aziz hoped Kamal believed Aziz had a unit at the U-Stor-It. One bad scene worried Aziz. Say Kamal tells Rafik that Aziz was there. Kamal and Rafik try to figure out what Aziz being there means. To help Rafik figure it out, Kamal tells about Aziz yelling about the stolen Brighton Moving truck. Rafik realizes. Why hasn’t Aziz tattled on Kamal? Rafik would know Aziz had been playacting.