Roane returned to the camp from Albuquerque in the middle of the afternoon on a Monday that felt like Sunday. He’d thought to beat the late-afternoon traffic on I-40 and get across the rez well before dark. The days at home had not been as much fun as he’d expected. Most of his friends had been fooling around during the summer and could not talk about anything that seemed important to him anymore. Working, and not on some make-work job in a family business or as a lifeguard or caddy, gave a guy a whole new perspective. The new distance from old friends had initially hurt, but it also strengthened his growing resolve to make something of his life.
As he pulled in, he saw a couple of other vehicles parked along the line of camp cars, but Alden’s truck was not among them. Roane’s four car-ma
