My Son Brought

they’d know I paid attention.”

I covered my mouth.

Because there it was.

Not greed. Not entitlement.

A child’s last attempt to prove he had loved them well enough to be loved back.

I reached across the console and took his hand.

It was cold.

“They don’t deserve how much you notice,” I said.

He cried then.

Silently at first. Then with one broken breath that continue reading …