SOPHIE
Saturday morning at Riverside smells like industrial floor cleaner, chilled stainless steel, and damp cardboard boxes.
The volunteer sign-in binder hangs on a clipboard beside the walk-in refrigerator. Mrs. Chen logs every shift in precise blue ballpoint ink. When I flip to the senior service sheet, Nathan’s entry is right beneath mine:
*Nathan Carter: Disciplinary Referral.*
*Week 4 of 6.*
*Hours Completed: 24. Hours Remaining: 16.*
By noon today, when our four-hour shift wraps up, he’ll have twelve hours left—one full weekend shift and a final four-hour afternoon block next week. On paper, his punishment is nearly two-thirds done.
In real life, the math doesn't work that neatly.
Nathan is already at the stainless-steel prep island when I step out of the staff locker ro
