As Lisa and the dirty-haired boy are leaving Mickey's place, they talk about what might have happened.

"D'you think someone wanted the guitar?" the boy asks.

"Nah, no way. It's not that valuable. Looks like there was a fight, too," Lisa continues, her brow furrowed.

She looks back at the door softly closing behind her. If someone had a beef with Mickey, they might be after her next. Who could it be? What secrets wasn't he telling her?

The door clicks against the lock, then slides ajar. Something rolls to the boy's foot. He picks it up - it is small and red, with a large hole in the middle.

"What do you think it is?" he asks.

"Looks like a bead." She bites her lip.

*****

Sangeetha is getting ready for bed, pulling off her earrings.

Anil calls to her, but she can't hear him.

"What, sweetie?" She asks, stepping out of the bathroom into the living room.

"I said, what's for dinner?"

She chuckles, "Oh, I see you haven't lost your appetite."

"I hurt my leg, not my stomach," he jokes back. But come to think of it, his side is kind of sore. Probably from the asphalt.

"Alright, coming right up." She puts the earrings on the counter, and takes off the ruby necklace she wears on Saturdays. "What do you want?"

"How about those delicious pancakes of yours?" he asks. Sangeetha makes pancakes of all sorts, but he craves those savory-sweet ones, her specialty, a mix of fruit and veggies and cheese and spices, an unlikely combination that made him drool just thinking about it.

"Coming right up," she replies, laughing to herself. He is so easy to please - who else would crave pancakes for dinner?

She puts the necklace away in its box, smoothing it with her fingers. She feels a hollow there, and peers closely. One dangling ring lies empty - one bead is missing. A single red bead.

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