The two police cars, ambulance, and fire truck all have their emergency lights on. The looming anxiety within me keeps me rooted to the sidewalk. I haven’t been in this neighborhood since I was in my twenties. Not since my old friend’s kid was about… I wanna say, two years old?

My friend, she was bad off. Hooked on drugs just like I was back then. She eventually got clean, inspired me to get that way too. But she met that dickhead boyfriend of hers and she got back into that old lifestyle. I wonder if that’s what killed her.

Her kid is sitting on the front steps of their home. A distant expression, hunched-over body. It’s hard to imagine them when they were two.

Eventually I pull myself out of my own selfish fears and approach the front steps, my hands in my pockets. I glance all around me before clearing my throat.

“Hey, kid,” I greet as softly as I can muster. “I’m your mom’s friend. Carter. Remember me?”