MICHAEL Chapter 78 | 7:04 PM, December 9, 2006 | Tarson, Georgia

AMA STOPS FIGHTING. I STARE at the back of her head, bewildered and panting, my brain pounding in my skull. She raises her hands to the welt blooming on her face. The door is open, but she isn’t lunging for it, isn’t screaming. She doesn’t want to run with Hazel… she wanted to drive her away.

“You remember,” I say, the pieces clicking together. “You remember the day this began. You remember what you said about our paths crossing. It was a test, wasn’t it? You wanted to see how committed I was. Fate used you to test me.” I nearly laugh. “You want this to be your song. And you’re right, Ama. The two of you together, the voices didn’t work; they competed instead of complemented. Hazel was throwing you off. The notes weren’t clear at all. You’ve been a part of this from the beginning, from the very moment it started. I’m the one to blame here. You didn’t have to do that. You didn’t have to make such a mess. I’m not mad, though. A man I once worked for told me the most talented artists are the most volatile, the most difficult to work with. He said you have to admire the fight and passion in them instead of resenting it, that it’s what makes them different, makes them great.”

“I want to be great. Do you want to be great?” she whispers, turning slowly as if asking permission to move, and I loosen my grip to allow her, nodding when she can see my face.

“How can we be sure this is what we’re supposed to do?” she asks. “You never told me. Hazel ruined everything.”

“The river will show you, and we will leave this town, Ama. I know a place. We will have a studio, professional equipment. We can make our music. We have to hurry. Hazel is weak and it is dark, and she was so jealous of you—so jealous she screamed!—but she’ll come for us. The moment she’s discovered, we will be on borrowed time.”

Ama steps closer to me, her lips and her tongue inches from my face. She hesitantly brushes her pinkie up and down my fingers. “I’ve defended you, protected you from the very beginning, when no one else would, Michael. I took on your case, I took on the DA and an unfriendly jury. I took a bullet for you. Didn’t you ever wonder why? It’s because you are great, and greatness always runs on borrowed time.”

I peer in her eyes, gray as the river, and for the first time I wonder if I am staring at Fate herself.