Chapter 16
Ye shall not afflict any … fatherless child.
If thou afflict them in any wise,
And they cry at all unto me,
I will surely hear their cry;
And my wrath shall wax hot,
And I will kill you with the sword;
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Exodus 22:22-24
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Earth: June 1993
South Side, Chicago, Illinois
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Broken glass crunched beneath Elisabeth's wheelchair as the social worker pushed her towards the sixteen-story Robert Taylor Home. Plywood covered the windows of the two lower floors. Between the junkies and stray bullets from the too-common gang rivalry, it was impossible to keep the lower floors habitable. A rough-looking group of African-American kids loitered at the entrance smoking cigarettes, their expensive gangsta-rap clothing and designer sneakers belying their impoverished surroundings.
"I
