Approved.
“Yeah.”
“Rachel what?”
I told her my last name.
She went completely still.
“Is something wrong?”
You have no idea what this means to me.
“No.”
“You look like something’s wrong.”
She adjusted the baby carrier. “I’m just tired.”
She thanked me again and left.
I thought that was the end of it.
You look like something’s wrong.
***
The next morning, Jenna intercepted me before I reached my register.
“Mike wants you in his office.”
“Why?”
“He wouldn’t tell me.”
“Am I fired?”
I thought that was the end of it.
“For what?”
“I don’t know. Existing incorrectly?”
She laughed. “Go.”
Mike was sitting behind his desk with an envelope.
“Did you pay for some items yesterday for a woman who didn’t have enough money?”
Mike wants you in his office.
My stomach dropped. “Yes.”
“You know employees aren’t supposed to…”
“I know. I’m sorry.”
“Relax. You’re not in trouble.”
He pushed the envelope toward me.
Mike was sitting with an envelope.
“She came back after your shift.”
“What is that?”
“She asked me to give it to you.”
Inside was $8.42.
Underneath the money was a photograph.
You’re not in trouble.
I actually sat down.
It was me.
I was maybe five years old, standing beside my mother in our backyard.
“Rachel?”
I barely heard Mike. “Where did she get this?”
It was me.
“What?”
