“Alright. Uh, I…”
“I noticed there was a park on the way here. It’s only a
few blocks away. Just a little structure with some green space
and benches. I had to park further away, since there weren’t
any close spots.”
“Sorry.” Adley winces. “I shouldn’t have chosen such a
hard to get to spot. I hate paying for parking.”
“No problem.” I can see how worried she looks, like
her very life depends on getting this to work for me. Her boss
probably threatened her because the guy knew who I was.
Asshole. He was supposed to be discreet. “If you want to walk
there, I wouldn’t mind. It would be nice to get some fresh air.”
“Okay. Yes. Sure. Tildy would probably like that a lot
better. Sitting still is hard when you’re six.”
I was wrong to judge the little girl’s age off her size.
She’s petite and totally adorable. She has huge eyes that
almost look too big for her face and they dance with happiness
that matches her huge smile at the mention of the park.
“Yay!” She raises the cup to her mouth and takes a sip.
I’m not sure I’d give a six-year-old coffee, but I’m not
her mom. I work at an inner-city school where I know how
hard parents work and how hard most of them try just to give
their kids the basics. Most of them care so much about seeing
their kids succeed. I learned a long time ago that judging
people for where they’re at isn’t helpful at all.
“Thanks,” Adley says as soon as we get out of the
coffee shop. “There was some pretty hard core judgement
going on in there.” She points to Tildy’s cup. “It’s decaf. I
have no idea why she wanted it. Honestly, with the morning
I’m having, I just thought it was better to avoid a full-on