For the first time in years, I didn’t feel the need to fill every silence with instructions.
Theo talked about the store, the people who had helped, and how he thought the cashier had done a good job explaining the situation.
He described the exact moment when the customer with the twenty-dollar bill stepped forward.
He remembered the amount each person had offered.
He even remembered the color of the notebook Denise had given him.
When we reached our apartment, he took off his shoes, placed his wallet on the kitchen table, and carefully arranged the receipts in a neat pile.
Then he looked at me.
“Marcus?”
“Yes?”
“Can I go to the store alone again sometime?”
I looked at him for a long moment.
The old fear was still there.
I knew the world could be unkind. I knew there would be people who misunderstood him, and I knew that some situations would be more difficult than others.
