CHAPTER ELEVENI am so screwed. How could I help Jamila, if no one in this wretched backwater would talk to me?
It was coming up on 12:30 and I was starving. I stopped at a roadside stand that sold crab cakes and soft-shell crab sandwiches. Have you ever had a soft-shell crab? Full of green stuff. Don’t ask. I bought a crab cake on a roll.
I checked the time. The hour for meeting with Jinx was closing in. I directed myself toward the Route 50 bridge and tried to prepare for whatever she had in store for me.
The trip to Java on the Beach was quick but stimulating. Negotiating Coastal Highway traffic in early summer has that effect. The June bugs were out in abundance. They drove, bicycled and scootered their way through the throng, willy-nilly. The roar of glasspacks competed with hopped-
