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whole time, but I got a talking-to by a police officer and another lecture from Jimmy about bringing her to work. That won’t be happening again. Not that I’d be that stupid after tonight. Hell,
I
don’t even want to come back.
    When I pull up to the house, Bonehead goes crazy, barking and tugging on his chain. Probably no one remembered to feed him. The front door opens and light spills out into the yard, and Amber and Gil come running out. Well, she’s running, he’s weaving, but he’s on his feet.
    Mr. Hendricks screams at Bonehead from across the street, and Amber’s yelling at me, wanting to know where we’ve been, and then Nat totally loses it and starts crying at decibels that could shatter windows.
    â€œShut the hell up!” another neighbor yells. “Or I’m gonna call the cops!”
    I hand Natalie to Amber and drag Bonehead up onto the porch, not unhooking him until I can shove him through the door into the front room. Mom doesn’t want him in the house, but he’s so excited by now that it’s the only way to shut him up. She’s not home anyway. He dances around in pure jubilation, his claws scratching the plywood floor even worse than it was.
    â€œHave you been smoking?” Amber demands, sniffing me.
    â€œTake care of Natalie—​she’s wet. Let me feed the dog, and then I’ll tell you what happened.”
    Gil’s already passed out on the couch again, thank God. A minute later, Bonehead is slurping down his food in the kitchen, and I drag my ass into the bedroom, where Amber is cooing to Natalie and putting baby powder on her butt. I collapse onto my bed.
    â€œWhere the hell were you?” she whisper-yells. “You were supposed to pick me up. I called here and no one answered, so Aunt Ruby had to drive me.”
    â€œI was at work.”
    â€œHow come you didn’t tell Gil? He was freaking out too.”
    â€œHe was passed out when I left. Mom knew.”
    â€œI couldn’t get her on the phone.”
    â€œSorry. I—”
    â€œWhat were you doing at work until two o’clock in the morning?”
    â€œWe got robbed,” I say, finally shutting her up. She’s so shocked, she lets go of Nat, who almost wiggles right off the Rubbermaid container we’ve set up as a changing table. Amber grabs her before she falls, and Nat squeals in pain. I hope Amber’s fingers don’t leave a mark on the baby’s arm. That’s the sort of thing they check for at the school daycare. In the rich part of town, a mom can probably save her kid from falling, but around here, the authorities don’t believe in accidents.
    â€œAre you okay?” Amber asks, sitting on my bed and holding Natalie so tightly the baby whimpers.
    â€œI’m fine,” I lie. “But Nat’s probably hungry.”
    â€œOkay. I’ll get a bottle. But don’t fall asleep before you tell me what happened.”
    Now that all the adrenaline has left my system, the tension’s completely gone and I’m a wet rag. I lie there in that weird eerie light from the halogen floor lamp and close my eyes. When Amber comes back, I ask her about Bonehead.
    â€œHe’s curled up on the couch next to Gil. Do you want me to put him in your car?”
    â€œLeave him.” I’m too tired to care. And then I explain the whole night to Amber without even opening my eyes. And what does she zero in on? The smoking.
    â€œWe agreed no more cigarettes,” she says. “Especially around Nat.”
    â€œYou know what, Am?” I say, sitting up. “When you get robbed, or think you’re getting robbed, you can have a cigarette too. You can have a whole fucking pack, for all I care.”
    â€œYeah . . . okay. Sorry.”
    We sit there in silence as she finishes feeding the baby. By the time Amber’s burped her, I’m under the covers and almost out again.
    â€œI’m glad