“Steve, I’m in no mood for pleasantries this morning. I want to be let alone.”

“Where are you going?”

“It would not be profitable for you to know.”

He looked at her curiously for a moment before speaking again. Finally he said:

“They gave your preacher a slap in the face last night.”

“Yes. What are you going to do about it?”

“Nothing. It’s none of my business.”

“It’s the business of every fair and decent man in this city.”

He bit his lip, but he did not reply in kind. He simply asked, for the third time: