This is the tenth part in a series, so if you have not already done so, you might want to read Part I, Part II, Part III, Part IV, Part V, Part VI, Part VII, Part VIII, and Part IX before continuing.
While I was grateful to finally have a job, I still didn’t have anywhere to go when I wasn’t working. And I was beat from spending the day on my feet, so I went back to my spot under the bridge, which was still the closest thing I had to a home.
Michael was waiting for me as I approached. He stood so still it was hard for me to believe he was real. But as soon as he saw me walking up, he raised his arm way up over his head and waved it from side to side in wide arcs. I smiled and waved back, glad to see he was no longer afraid of me.
“How was your first day of school?” he asked as I got within hearing range.
“It was good,” I said. “How was your day?”
“It was good,” he said with a serious nod. Then he looked me up and down. “You look different.”
“I’m clean,” I said, holding out my arms to put my whole, clean self on display.
He nodded again, then looked back down at the blanket he had given me, which I had left on the sidewalk, tucked up against the bridge. “Are you still going to sleep on the dirty ground?”
“I still have nowhere else to sleep.”
“You could stay with us.”
“Oh, well, um, I don’t think that’s a good idea.”
“Why not? We have the space.”
“You two have already done so much for me. I don’t want to put you through any more trouble.”
“It wouldn’t be any trouble.”
But it would. I knew it would, and I knew it, and Sam would know it. How could I convince this kind-hearted kid he didn’t want what he had already set his heart on getting?
I squatted in front of him so I was on his level when I said, “Do you remember that time I scared you?”
He looked down and didn’t say anything.
“The thing is, I can’t promise I won’t do that again. And it’s bad enough to do that out here, but it would be unforgiveable to do it in your own home. You should always feel safe in your own home.”
He was silent for a few more moments, and kept looking down as he said, “Why can’t you promise you won’t do it again?”
“I told you, my brain likes to play tricks on me. I can’t always tell what’s real and what’s not, and I can’t control when my brain will decide to show me things that aren’t there. I can’t risk scaring you in your own home.”
“OK,” he said, so softly it broke my heart, and he continued looking at his feet as he said it.
So, I decided to change the subject. “Why don’t you tell me about your favorite thing you learned today?”
“Did you know that, once we eat something, it takes 24 hours for it to come out the other end?”
I did know that, but I told him I didn’t. That was all it took for him to tell me all about human digestion.
To be continued…