That afternoon they go to the mall so Maravelle can look for something to wear. Her date is with the lawyer who handled the trans­action when the house was bought. Maravelle thinks he warrants a new dress. The mall is Shelby’s idea of hell, walking along with Dorian and Teddy, both now fourteen and ridiculously tall, over six feet. Jasmine and Maravelle duck into stores with names like Dressbarn and Forever 21. No one is twenty-one forever, Shelby knows that for a fact. She has turned twenty-five and will soon be graduating from college. A little late, but better late than never. Teddy is browsing through the Gap. He’s a clotheshorse and looks great in everything he puts on. He’s got a lethal grin and the girls are all wild about him. Unfortunately, he’s lazy and he can be selfish. As far as Shelby can tell he’s hanging out with a rotten crowd. Guys in fast cars pick him up without bothering to come to the door. “See you later,” he’ll call, but he won’t introduce his friends to his family. Dorian is more low-key; he’s the captain of the swim team and excels in just about everything. He and Shelby are having frozen yogurt. It’s filled with fruit and little mushy white things that have no taste.

“This stuff is terrible,” Shelby says. “Why don’t people just eat ice cream?”

“Because this is good for you,” Dorian says. “Low carb.”

“Right, like I care about that.” Shelby loves this kid. He’s still a tender sweetheart even though he looks so grown up.

“What if I told you something I don’t want my mother to know?” Dorian looks into his yogurt cup as he speaks.

“Are you using drugs?” If anyone were to get into trouble she’d always thought it would be Teddy.

“No!” Dorian looks seriously offended. “It’s not about me.”

“Teddy,” Shelby says.

They can see Teddy looking through racks of T-shirts. The boys are equally good-looking, only Teddy happens to know it. He has the kind of charm that makes people notice him.

“No,” Dorian assures her.

“Okay. Go ahead. I won’t tell.”

“There’s a guy bothering Jasmine.”

“Your mom moved here to get away from that crap. Is it someone she’s serious about?”

Dorian shakes his head. “Used to be. He’s the guy from Queens she was dating. Marcus Parris. Jaz broke up with him but he keeps going after her. He’s coming out to the house when my mother isn’t around even if Jaz tells him not to. The other day she went out to scream at him. He got out of his car and grabbed her and she ran back into the house. The car’s out there almost every day. He’s got a blue Toyota. The windows are tinted black.”

“Oh great,” Shelby says. “A gangster.”

“And now Teddy’s hanging out with him.”

Shelby watches Teddy through the window as he flirts with a salesgirl at least ten years older than he is. “They’re friends?”

“Teddy thinks so. Marcus is using him to get to Jasmine.”

Maravelle waves from the doorway of Dressbarn wearing a slinky red dress. Shelby gives her a thumbs-up.

Dorian is tapping his feet, anxious. “I don’t want to get the cops or my mother involved. Am I supposed to beat Marcus up or something?”

“No. Definitely not.” That’s all anyone needs. Dorian getting into the mix. “Let me think,” Shelby says.

It’s not easy to think with the noise and crowds. Malls are all pretty much the same. They really could be anywhere. Maravelle and Jasmine signal to Shelby again. Shelby makes her way through the crush of shoppers. Maravelle has on a black and white dress that looks great on her. But it seems like something she’d wear to a parent-teacher conference, not on a first date.

“This is the one, right?” Maravelle asks.

“Sure,” Shelby says. She’s busy thinking about the gangster and the fact that she’s going to keep something this big a secret from Maravelle.

Maravelle gives her a look. “You’re not lying?”

“Actually I am. Get the red one.”

“I told you the same thing!” Jasmine says. “Why do you only believe Shelby?”

Maravelle gets dolled up, and they all watch through the window when she goes to meet her date. He comes to open the car door for her. He looks like he’s about fifty, more dating material for Mrs. Diaz than for Maravelle.

“He’s not for her,” Jasmine mutters. “I don’t know why she’s bothering.”

“What about you?” Shelby says, playing detective as smoothly as she can. “Anyone special in your life?”

Jasmine is in the midst of SATs. “I’m way too busy at the moment,” she says primly. No mention of Marcus. For a moment, Shelby feels stung. Jasmine has always confided in her, but not this time. Then she realizes that Jasmine may be scared; she’s protecting Shelby from knowing too much. Once Shelby knows what’s going on she’ll have to do something. But she does know, so she begins to plan.

Fortunately there’s a basketball game at the high school, so the kids will be out of the house if the stalker shows up at his usual time, right after supper. When everyone is gone, Shelby positions herself at the front window. She plans on letting the guy from Queens know that if he ever bothers Jasmine again she will call the police. This is not an idle threat. The little white cat, Snowball, sits beside Shelby on the couch. Snowball is spoiled and snooty, but Jasmine loves her. Shelby has looked for the tattooed girl in Union Square, but lately there’s been no sign of her. Maybe she’s taken off for a city where life is a little easier, Portland or Seattle, or maybe she overdosed one rainy night on a subway platform. Of course it’s possible that she turned her life around and went back to New Jersey or Connecticut; maybe she rang the bell of her parents’ house and said, I just want to come home.

Dusk is sifting down when the blue Toyota pulls up. Shelby can hear the music blaring. The windows of the car are indeed tinted black. Shelby pulls on one of Dorian’s sweatshirts, then, on impulse, takes the broom from the coat closet. As she goes outside she pulls her hood over her head. She doesn’t want to look like someone’s mother. Or even like someone’s mother’s best friend.

The truth is, she wants to protect Maravelle. She knows how upsetting this would be to her. Maravelle met the kids’ father when she was sixteen, younger than Jasmine is now. He was married at the time, and soon enough he did to Maravelle what he’d done to his wife. If a man lies to one woman, he’ll lie to you, Maravelle once told Shelby. By the time she found out he was both a drug dealer and a cheater, she had three children. Her worst fear is that Jasmine will make the same mistakes she did.