RING OF POWER

7 AM with a payment rem

n the apartment couch, still

sciousness arrived, the panic of th

bank balance and unde

d and fo

reatment cycle wa

e got up and showered in the dark,

Street, filling out an application even th

The manager who took the applicat

ehouse position?" the ma

inated," Alp

expression ha

compl

application in a trash bin next to his desk. Not o

ng his previous job that "looked good on paper." At the temp agency, the recruiter kept him longer, at least. She scrolled through her computer and asked about references, time

sked if they were hiring. The clerk d

ites on his phone between stops. Everything required experience, refer

nder: "Payment due by 5:00 PM close of busi

800 minimum to keep his mom's treatment on schedule. He had no

sitting in a plastic chair with her textbooks spread across her lap. She looked up when he

xtbook. "You're here early. Isn'

n't answer tha

s working." She studied his face the way their

out early. Should have deflected. Instead, he

mpletely. The textboo

hen? Alph

ved toward the door to their m

pped, understanding from his expressio

arguing. "I'm going to get som

Ye

and he we

gray from the illness, but her eyes were alert. She watched him approach the bed, and som

aching for his hand

e. Her grip was weak, but

ou feeling?

honsus. Not the version

lost my job. My wife left me. I don't

't open them. When she did, she looked at him with

should have told yo

poke about him rarely, and only in vague terms: a good man, he worked hard, he loved

tired. You n

ept you away from certain people. I told you things that weren

t me fro

ide table. It took her three attempts to open it. Inside was a yellow

ws and carved stone. The man had Alphonsus's jawline, his eyes, his height. But his e

ather,"

ll photographs his mom kept in a drawer somewhere. But this was different. This w

lphonsus said. "You've s

mom said quietly. "N

ere are people who would want to know you exist," she said. "People w

What are you

. But you need to know that your life, everything you believe

the door. A billing representative stood in the doorway wi

nt authorization for today's treatment. The pharmacy is

the woman in the photog

right ther

lding his mom's trembling hand, realizing that every answer he'd ever gotten from her migh

lphonsus..." She paused. "If anyone ever asks you about your father, about y

"I don't underst

d. "But you will.

sentative cleared

his hand, feeling like the ground had sh