Chapter 227

• The trailer park was about two miles from the barn. The route was familiar, something I’d done a hundred times or more. A life spent avoiding others had taught me all the less traveled paths and given me an edge at staying invisible.
• I kept my head down and walked past homes and stores. I knew enough to act like I belonged without making eye contact. My fifth-grade teacher walked past me on the street. My pulse raced, worried she’d stop me and say hello. She didn’t even acknowledge me.
• Soon, I was out of the shopping area and cutting through neighborhoods and parks. In the distance, I could make out the trailer park that had been my home my whole life.