Scene of a Crime

Today, around the corner from my home, at the Ortiz Funeral Home on First Avenue, they held a wake for Nixzmary Brown, the seven-year-old girl who was beaten to death by her stepfather. When we walked down the avenue from dinner around 10:30, there were still a few news trucks with their lights up on poles, people clearing away the police barricades that were there to hold back the mourning crowds, a pink rose on the ground, a greeting card in the window calling her an angel.