54
Sunrise.
Toby rolled out of his bed and walked to the front door. He opened it and looked down, expecting to see his pile of papers, delivered to him by one of the nicest guys on the planet, Jake Adler, his circulation boss for the Bugle. Mr. Adler took care of his few carriers. Most had been replaced by married couples who drove cars.
Instead of seeing his pile, there was nothing.
Thankfully, it wasn’t raining. Toby hustled down the steps to the sidewalk. He saw Mr. Adler’s car, double-parked, just down the street to his left. He didn’t see Mr. Adler. He knew the car well because his dad had one, just like it, same color and everything.
He ran back up the stairs to inside the door and put on flip-flops, and hustled back down the stairs and onto the sidewalk toward Mr. Adler’s car.
Toby came even with Mr. Adler’s car and the one it was double-parked next to. The cars looked weird, though.
He walked slowly into the street, behind Mr. Adler’s car. The car looked like it had rolled down the hill, backwards, into the car parked on the curb. Toby cautiously walked up to the driver’s window and looked inside.
