When I handed him his change, he hesitated.
“That was decent of you,” he muttered.
“She needed help.”
He nodded.
“Yeah. She did.”
He shoved the money into his pocket and left.
Near the entrance, he paused and looked toward the parking lot.
Then he shook his head and continued outside.
The rest of my shift passed in a blur.
Coupons.
Customers.
A teenager presenting an obviously fake identification card.
A broken jar of pickles that left the store smelling like vinegar.
But
I couldn’t forget the young woman’s expression when she saw Dad’s picture.
Just before closing, Mike came over to count my cash drawer.
“Lori says you bought something for a customer,” he remarked.
“Only a few dollars.”
He grunted.
“You know employees aren’t supposed to do that.”
“I know.”
He continued counting.
Then he snapped a rubber band around a stack of bills.
“Go home, Hale. You look exhausted.”
By the time I left, my banana had turned almost black.
I threw it away.
When I arrived home, Mom was waiting at the kitchen table with chamomile tea and a crossword puzzle.
She always waited up, regardless of how often I told her not to.
“There’s potato soup on the stove,” she said.
“Thanks, Mom.”
I filled a bowl and sat across from her.
After a few spoonfuls, I realized I was starving.
“Long day?” she asked.
“Very.”
She studied
me.
“Something happened.”
“How do you always know?”
“Because I’m your mother. Tell me.”
So I told her.
About the woman.
The twins.
The declined payment.
The eight dollars and forty-two cents.
I didn’t mention my bank balance, but my mother knew enough about our finances to understand what those dollars meant.
When I finished, she remained quiet.
Then she smiled sadly.
“Your father used to do things like that constantly.”
“I know.”
“No, sweetheart. I mean constantly.”
She leaned back.
“We’d be worried about the mortgage, and he’d come home telling me he’d bought gasoline for someone stranded at a truck stop.”
She shook her head.
“One December, he gave away his winter coat to a young hitchhiker outside Pittsburgh.”
“I never heard that story.”
“I was furious. He came home freezing. I told him he couldn’t possibly rescue every stranger he met.”
She looked at me.
“Do you
know what he said?”
I answered quietly.
