From the Desk of Zoe Washington

Grandma helps Zoe make the mac and cheese the next day for lunch before Marcus’s second call. Zoe answers with calmer nerves than she had answering the first call the day before. She soon jumps in with questioning Marcus about the alibi witness. He does not want to discuss it, and tries to persuade Zoe to leave the issue alone. He says, “I fought really hard my first few years here. I filed for an appeal and everything. But it didn’t work. The court still thinks I’m guilty” (175). He says he plans to try to accept his fate and look forward to parole in 13 years. Zoe can only think that she will be 25 then; Marcus’s response does not satisfy her, and she persuades him to reveal the woman’s name. She writes down all the details as Marcus tells them: Susan Thomas, a white woman with brown hair and eyes and freckles who might be a teacher. He thinks she moved after the tag sale he attended, as she was selling her furniture. Zoe vows to herself to find the woman.