I handed him ten dollars and he didn’t even look at it. He just stuffed the bill in his pocket and said, “God bless you, sir. Me and Grace are gonna go get us a hamburger!”

Grace was still staring at me, but now I realized it was more Billy than Grace that didn’t like people. Just as I was about to say “you’re welcome” to Billy, I heard Maggie say, “Oh, there you are!” And as I turned towards her, I saw my wife and baby, stroller and all, standing right next to me and Billy and Grace.

Before I could even react, Grace practically pulled Billy to the ground, making a lunge towards Layla. As I instinctively stepped towards Layla to protect her, I realized that Grace was already on Layla. It happened so fast that all I could do was go for the leash and try to pull Grace away from the stroller. In an instant, with chaos erupting around us, I heard Billy yell, “No, Grace, no!” and in my horror I saw Grace on top of Layla in the stroller. But before I could get to the leash, something happened.