Chapter 13 - The Man Across the Street
Business doubled after the reopening.
People came because of the online story.
They stayed because Samuel’s bread was good.
Grace began handling the bakery accounts.
Noah swept every morning.
Lily folded paper bags after school.
For the first time in months, their life had a rhythm.
Then letters began arriving.
Health inspection complaints.
Noise complaints.
Claims of improper housing upstairs.
Anonymous reports accused Samuel of employing a child illegally.
A city inspector came twice in one week.
Samuel understood immediately.
“Marcus.”
Grace nodded.
“He can’t take the bakery, so he’s trying to exhaust us.”
Noah heard them.
“What can we do?”
Grace smiled without humor.
“Follow every rule so carefully he can’t touch us.”
They did.
Noah stopped sweeping before school because inspectors said even informal work could create questions.
Samuel paid a professional service.
Grace found legal housing assistance.
Within two weeks, she secured a small apartment nearby.
It had one bedroom.
Noah slept on the couch.
He loved it.
The first night, Lily ran the faucet simply because she could.
Grace stood in the kitchen staring at the ceiling.
“We have a door that locks.”
Noah smiled.
“We had a door before.”
“This one belongs to us.”
The words stayed with him.
At the bakery, Erica returned.
She asked Samuel for her job back.
Samuel hesitated.
Grace expected him to refuse.
Instead, he asked one question.
“Why?”
Erica looked through the window at Noah and Lily.
“Because I treated them like they were less than people.”
Noah looked away.
Erica continued.
“My father taught me to judge people by what they could do for me.”
“Marcus taught me to fear people who had less.”
She swallowed.
“I don’t want to be either of them.”
Samuel gave her a probationary shift.
Noah did not forgive her.
Not yet.
That afternoon, Erica quietly placed a small jar near the register.
A handwritten label said YESTERDAY’S BREAD FUND.
Samuel removed it.
“We’re not turning them into charity.”
Erica nodded.
“I understand.”
She replaced the label.
COMMUNITY BREAD FUND.
Samuel let it stay.
Then Erica whispered to Grace.
“I found something.”
She handed her a flash drive.
“It belonged to my father.”
“What’s on it?”
“I don’t know.”
“My brother kept his old office locked.”
“Yesterday, I went inside.”
Grace stared at her.
May you like
Erica’s hands shook.
“Marcus knows I took it.”
