He parked his car carefully, made sure he’d set all the locks and the alarm. On the steps he kept looking behind him, snapping glances into shadows like he expected this to be a set-up...

I slept and the night rolled over into day like a dog. Another post-meridian awakening – sunshine on empty bottles, tangled clothes. I dozed while the temperature rose.

I’d done it, I’d crossed the line between accepted behavior and behavior most of the population would consider a lynching offense, and that morning I felt as real as any of the men in the...