Page 8 of The Corruption of Hollis Brown

He wrapped it in wax paper, walked it over to the nicer part of town, and stuffed it in Yulia’s mailbox so the crows couldn’t get to it.

Sweet Potato Bread

Ingredients

½ cup granulated sugar

½ cup brown sugar, light or dark

2 large eggs

½ cup vegetable oil, or sunflower or corn oil

⅓ cup water

1 cup cooked and mashed sweet potato

1¾ cups all-purpose flour, sifted

1 teaspoon baking soda

¼ teaspoon salt

½ teaspoon ground cinnamon

½ teaspoon ground nutmeg

½ cup pecans, roughly chopped

Instructions

Preheat your oven to 350°F/180°C.

In a large bowl, whisk together the sugars, eggs, oil, water, and the mashed sweet potato.

In a separate bowl, combine the dry ingredients (flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, and nutmeg).

Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients; mix until there are no dry patches of flour, but do not overmix (this is very important).

Fold in the chopped pecans.

Pour batter into a greased 8.5 x 4.5–inch loaf pan and bake for 50 to 60 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the bread comes out clean.

Allow the sweet potato bread to cool completely on a rack before removing from the pan and serving.

Start

Friday came fast.

Hollis spent all night struggling over what to wear before settling on a soft brown sweater and black trousers.

He thought about stealing his pa’s cologne but got too anxious at the last minute.

Hollis took their sleeping bag to the laundromat, and even skipped visiting the train that morning so that everything would stay fresh and good smelling.

He stumbled through the school day distracted—even lunch was a blur. Yulia watched him with sharp eyes until the bell rang. Then she tossed him her keys.

“Don’t make mistakes,” she warned.