He turned back to Emily.
“Where’s your brother?”
Her eyes filled with tears. “He got sick again.”
Marcus felt his chest sink.
“Where is he?” he asked gently.
“At the hospital. But they won’t treat him until Mom pays.”
Sarah closed her eyes, ashamed. “I told her not to ask anyone for help… but she sold everything.”
Marcus looked around the empty room again.
The missing furniture.
The cold walls.
The mattress.
A little girl doing everything she could to hold her family together.
In all his years, he had rarely seen strength like that.
Emily suddenly looked up at him.
“Did I do something wrong?” she asked.
Marcus blinked. “What do you mean?”
“I told you they said they worked for you,” she said slowly. “Mom told me not to say things like that to strangers…”
He understood.
She thought telling the truth might get her in trouble.
He crouched down in front of her.
“No,” he said firmly. “You did the right thing.”
She studied his face, unsure.
“Sometimes the truth makes people angry,” she said.
Marcus nodded slightly. “That’s true.”
“Are you angry?”
He looked at Sarah.
At the empty house.
Then back at Emily.
“I’m angry at the right people,” he said.
Silence settled again, broken only by the rain.