RING OF POWER

pped an inch

e line, at Vivian's decisive cursive wri

ything was waiting for him

mb. He uncapped it. The smell of ink filled

Jameson. His full name, formal and final, like something from a le

up the envelope and w

is side of the bed, and then he lay do

g and listened to the apa

distant sound of traffic outside. T

idn't

midnight or three in the morning, he heard V

the lock, for her footsteps, for her to come

s moved through the apartment, light and deli

living room, heard a drawer open in th

it. Leaving again. The car starte

up and walked

e was gone fr

sat in the dark for another hour, then showe

sus arrived at 5:50, clocked in at 5:55

med overhead, casting everyt

trucks or from trucks to pallets, depending on whether it wa

ed his way up from the ground level and made sure everyone knew it. He had a perma

n Alphonsus started toward

oving. Nobody looked at him. This was a ritual in the warehouse. Wh

eventeen through twenty-three to the n

specific, which meant he wasn't entirely sure about

d carefully. "I ran out of time before my shift ended, and I le

n't see

n the supervis

tell me what you did and didn't do.

h section, and it's not. Now it's taking up space w

e quiet. The other workers were list

phonsus said. "I'll

ugh so that only Alphonsus could hear it. "And you're staying late to finish the w

illegal. Not paying overtime for time work

about it would get him fired, an

nt to pallet twenty-three and started

dred pounds of merchandise. His body was

rst fifteen minutes. His back start

ken rule. If you were being punished by Mar

onsus's phone buzz

phones on the warehouse floor. At 2:45, it buzzed again. At 3:00,

e when you get a break." The

il. His heart rate spiked. Something was wrong. Was

her back i

nswer?" She didn't

ng. What happe

tonight. Come hom

t's wrong? Is

ur mother. I called her th

rs, Alphonsus. Stop making this difficult.

x. I'm staying up late toda

r," she said, and her voice was steady, controlled, and com

e hu

hift was supposed to end at 4 PM, but Marcus had told him to stay late, unpaid over

before he was supposed to b

floor and found Marcus reviewing

eave at four,"

from the clipboard. "I

rgency. I have t

oked at him. Hi

mergency when you were the one respons

d stopped moving. Ever

ve," Alphonsus r

Marcus said. "You want to be unreliable? Fine.

g cold move through his c

ian wanted to finish at six o'clock. Was she ending the ma

ull of people who were pretending not to watch him make a d

d. He walked off the warehouse flo