Lunch was a pot of soup.Diane set the pot down on the table with a dull thud of metal against wood.The soup was murky, gray-tinged, a thin film of motor oil floating on top.The water came from a drainage ditch in the basement — Gerald Grant said it ran off from the factory floors above, that it wouldn't kill anyone.Three years in, we'd drunk plenty of things that wouldn't kill us."Go easy. Make it last."Diane stirred the pot with a ladle. Metal scraped against metal at the bottom, a grating, gritty sound.Today, I stared at the film of oil on the surface of my bowl, my throat tightening.What drainage ditch could keep producing water for three straight years — an endless supply, enough for a full pot every single meal?I set my bowl down on the table.Beside me, Jake set his down too, a little too loudly.His mouth opened. The first syllable was already rising in his throat.I pinned his foot under the table with mine.He turned to look at me. I didn't look back.I
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