It had rained. Steam lifts off the sidewalks like exorcised demons. Reuben, the guard at First National, stares at the damp and trash-littered sidewalks over the hill of his belly. He is trying to will the center button of his gray, polyester uniform shirt to not pop. He thought he could succeed, but then he sees something pass through the sunlight, and he jumps from his chair. He presses his fleshy arms against the glass to see if it is her, Jennifer, his daughter; she is gone. Carol has run off with her. But the door swings open, and it is only a rusty hinge of a man. Reuben turns back to the window, and the sidewalks, looking for the ghost of his daughter.
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