“What do you think?”

I clench my fists at my sides. “If I knew the answer I wouldn’t have asked the question.”

“If you really thought your mother was associating with criminals would you have come to meet me?”

The mention of my mom steals my breath. I go over every single word I’ve said. I didn’t mention my mother. He did.

I swallow hard. “You said you’d give me an answer, not ask more questions.”

“You don’t know what you’re asking.”

“I’m asking for the meaning of one word. Why is that so hard?”

He glances over his shoulder, again. Then he grabs my arm and pulls me deeper into the shadows where the lights on the bridge don’t quite reach. “Words have more power than you can imagine. Your mom understood that. They can give you strength, but they can also put you in danger. They can change your entire world. Do you really want that?” He shakes his head as I open my mouth to respond. “Don’t answer without thinking. Once you know something, you can’t unknow it. Because you’re young—”

“And you’re an old geezer?” I mock, yanking my arm from his grasp.

“You’re still in school,” he shoots back. “You want to finish, right?”

“Yes, Mr. Geezer. I do.”

“Then walk away now, Merriel, while you still can.” He runs his hand over his short-cropped hair and replaces his hat. “I can tell them you never showed up. They will never know any different, and you can forget that any of this ever happened. Life will go back to normal as long as you never tell anyone any of this happened.”

Normal? I don’t know who my mother really was. Nothing will ever have the chance to be normal again.

“And if I refuse?” I ask.

He meets my eyes with his own dark brown ones and I realize I didn’t get them right in my drawing. There is a fierce intensity shining from them that I failed to capture. It transforms every feature—makes it impossible to look away. “Then I guess we’re both going to have to live with the consequences.”

“I don’t understand—”

“You’ve got to the count of ten to decide.”

Before my mother died, I understood what I wanted. I knew what to expect from the world. I am not sure what “verify” means or what I am stepping into, but I know what waits on the path behind me. And I can’t go back. If I do, I will slowly lose my mind. The only way to stop feeling stuck in the unfinished moment is to follow the crusts of bread past the bridge to wherever they might lead.

My stomach twists. My heart is an unsteady drumbeat as I place my hand atop his warm fingers and in a voice more confident than I feel ask, “Do I get to know your name?”

For a second he just shakes his head at my hand in his. Then he smiles. “Don’t come whining to me if you regret this. Because chances are that you will.” He closes his fingers over mine. “You’re going to have to move fast if you plan on keeping up.”