Anthony sat cross-legged under the tree. It was past sunset. Growing up, he had always run inside before it got dark out, because he was afraid of the monsters. Never mind that there had been no monsters in the city. There were certainly some around him at that moment, but he wasn't thinking about them; his mind was on other things.
"Why do I have to come here?" Andrew asked.
"Your father thought it would be a good idea," said Marine. "It makes sense to me. You ought to know this place, in case you ever need to live here."
"Why did you stay here? It was bad enough the first time."
Marine shrugged. "It's fine. Nothing I can't take. And I don't want to go back and live with you."
"Why not?"
"It's hard to for me explain without being misunderstood," she said. "And so I won't. But it's not a problem for you." She handed a scarf to Andrew.
"Here. Put this on."
"Why?" he asked. "It's so warm out."
"It's my scarf. This way they'll know you're my kid. No other way they'll be able to tell."
Marine took the scarf back and tied it around Andrew's neck.
"And they used to say we looked alike," she said.