I got out of my car and looked around. I love Linden Avenue. It’s a historic street that used to be one of the places the wealthy citizens of Willow lived. The large mansions of yesteryear have been transformed into apartment buildings and two-family dwellings. Very few of the houses were single-family homes anymore. It was always cool and dark on Linden Avenue due to the massive elm trees that lined the street on either side; their branches met and made a canopy that kept the sun out in the summertime. Now, the trees were beginning to lose their leaves making the street feel naked and exposed. Inez’s apartment was located in the basement of a large Victorian mansion that had been recently restored back to its original lavender, pink, and green exterior. The house reminded me of a fancy wedding cake with colored fondant icing. I was standing by my car trying to figure out how I was going to get into Inez’s apartment when the front screen door to the house opened and an elderly white man walked out onto the porch.
