323 Tender Way

“So, you stole a lunch for me? Even better.”

“Says the girl who pickpocketed me after I’d saved her ass ALL DAY.”

“Pickpocketed you for your own good. When those loser coworkers of mind hand you a free coffee, you’ll thank me.”

“I’m sure I will.”

“Look! See! What do you think?”

I pulled my hand back and glanced down at her work. She’d written MADDY in a gothic script along my knuckles. A huge lump formed in my throat as I looked at her design. I smiled but for some reason I wanted to cry.

“Eh? Eh? Not so shabby for a novice, right? I can’t draw for shit, but I’m really good at letters. I used to always make homemade signs.”

“It’s my new favorite thing about myself. You’re hired, or fired, or whatever you want. Did you go to high school here too?”

We’d pulled into the parking lot. Decades had passed, but nothing had changed. The school sign still said: Go Chargers! The same red brick. The same old maple tree. What I hoped, with every piece of me, was that I was more pliable than this place. That the real and true change was the one inside of me. I was no longer a roving ghost full of pain, searching for the next hit. I was a whole man, who deserved love, and could stand up to his past. Who deserved a good future and a good woman beside me.

“Stay in the car or get out?” The sun had come out at least. “We could sit on the field or the risers?”

“I never had a bleachers moment in high school, so that would be cool.”

Oh, we were about to have a moment alright and it might just make or break the rest of my life.

I jumped out of the car and circled around to grab Madison’s door, but she was already out stretching and then pulling her socks all the way up.

“Blast from the past. Is this good or bad for you?” I put the bag with the food over my arm and grabbed hers with my free hand.

“Is anyone ever like ‘yes! High school!?’ I mean, it wasn’t torture, but it was…okay it was pretty much torture.”

“I wouldn’t expect less from you. Were you a hellion or a good girl?”

“Trailblazer.”

“Is that self-assessment or the official diagnosis? Voted most likely to blaze trails? Oh, wait a second, are we talking about sports or drugs here?” We walked over to the bleachers and I helped her step up.

“I was a good kid, kind of quiet, stuck up for the little people. Wasn’t afraid to get a little wild, but the police were never called. Thank God. Gran didn’t need another hellion that was for sure.”

We sat down and I rubbed my hands together to fight the chill before opening the lunch sac. Some geese wandered about the field pecking at the grass.

“What about you, boss? Hellion or Nerd?”

“Christ!” I hung my head in my hands. It was go time and I couldn’t chicken out if I wanted this as badly as I believed I did.

"Yes," I said. “All of the above. And more, unfortunately.” I rubbed the back of my neck, but my eyes still rested directly on her. "Listen, I’ve got some stuff to tell you and it’s kind of heavy.”

“Ax murder, here we come. I knew it!”

“Lizzie Borden had to tell somebody.” I turned my body to face her as she made a little custom stack of crackers and cheese. “In all seriousness, you mean a lot to me. I know we haven’t known each other long and I don’t want to freak you out, but I gotta come clean.”

“Shoot,” she said. Maddy wasn’t intimidated. She bit into her cracker sandwich and stared at me plainly, dead in the face.

“Oh shit, the reaper,” I said, grabbing the lunch bag.

“What the hell, Duke? You’re scaring me!”

I pulled it out of the bag. A small jar of preserves that were a gift from a client. I’d had the jar sitting on my shelf for weeks, too much of a wuss to open it.

"Carolina Reaper."

"They make it with Carolina Reaper Peppers now? Hot damn!”

Apparently she was familiar with the brand. She cracked it open and breathed deeply and immediately started coughing.

"When my mom came into the shop, she saw it on my shelf and promptly lectured me about how hot and dangerous peppers could be. So there you go. Don’t combust on my watch."

I watched as Madison took a bite and smiled before her eyes rounded and teared.

“Oh My God, Water! I need water. Stat!" She flapped her hands in front of her face as if she could fan the flames.

I barked out a laugh and handed her the small carton of milk in the bag. You could always depend on Pearl to put in her trusty school milks for us. Here we were sitting on the school bleachers drinking milk out of little cartons. Her eyes were red from tears and she guzzled all of the milk in one long continuous gulp.