Chapter 8

In the two hours that the office was opened for walk-in business I saw one sprained wrist that was acquired at an after-school sporting event and one ear infection. In between them I sat and chatted about anything and everything with Peter.  I found him super easy to relax around.

Evelyn arrived around ten minutes after eight. Peter asked to assist me with her foot infection and, since Evelyn had no objections, I accepted his help. I listened and observed as Peter peppered her with a myriad of questions that I would have never thought to ask.  Little by little he rooted out of her tight-lipped persona that she kicked her shoes off immediately upon getting home and didn’t put them back on until she was required to for work.  There are many people who don’t wear shoes at home, so that, in itself, wasn’t the issue.  The issue was the fact that she lived in a communal environment with dirt floors and an outhouse.  This meant that, even t