Sounds like an interesting story--you make a number of promising hints. I enjoy a diversity of characters without the writer having to make it be an Issue all the time. At any rate, I agree--sometimes life just sucks. Period. Hoping for your mom's recovery and that the health trials will settle down a little.

Thanks, Carol. Things are gonna be tough on mom for a while, but she's pretty tough, too.
Yeah, Pelecanos is really good. He's one of those guys that can say more in a sentence than others do in a page.