Every afternoon Yusuf took the long way home so he could pass the empty lot on Palm Street. A wooden fence ran along one side, and one board near the corner hung loose. Behind that board, in a hollow under a stack of bricks, lived a thin gray cat.

On Monday Yusuf brought half of his cheese sandwich. The cat would not come out. On Tuesday he set the food down, walked ten steps away, and sat on the curb with his back turned. He heard nothing. He counted to two hundred.

When he finally looked, the sandwich was gone.

By Friday the cat was waiting. It pressed its nose against the gap in the fence before Yusuf even opened his backpack. Yusuf grinned so wide that his cheeks ached, and he was still grinning when he reached his own front steps.