Grandma Pruitt held her coin purse and looked at Josie for a long moment. Josie set down the cash box, stood tall on her bucket, and said, “That will be six dollars, Grandma. Same as everybody.” The whole line went quiet. Grandma counted out the coins slowly, and her hand shook. I held my breath, because I had no idea what my nine-year-old would do next.

Then Josie slid the coins back across the tailgate. “You can have this dozen,” she said. “But first I need to ask you something. Why did you do it?” Grandma’s eyes filled with tears. She opened her mouth, and then Chief Maddox walked over holding a folded envelope that he said he had kept since March.