That night, when I went home, Carl was sitting on the couch with the kids, telling them stories. He looked up and noticed my tear stained face and gestured for me to follow him outside.
“What happened?”
“I told her the truth.”
“What!” Carl grabbed my shoulders with his now chubby fingers and shook me. “How could you do that?”
“I love her,” I said simply. It felt nice to finally say it out loud.
He growled and turned away, punching the wall of the house. I heard the kids scream inside as the house shook. “And because of your ‘love’, we are going to have to go back to robbing just to feed everyone again. How could you be so selfish?”
“I don’t care!” I shouted back, but deep down, I understood why he was so angry. “She deserved to know. And besides… You never seemed to have a problem with robbing to get by before. Do you even have a conscience?”
His face fell. I instantly wanted to take it back. He’d been my longest friend and he only wanted to do what he felt was best for everyone.
“I did what I had to. We all did. You were no better. And now you’ve doomed us back to that life. You’ve doomed them to starve.”
“I’ve done more for those children than anyone else. And I didn’t even have to do any of it. I’m not their father.” My blood began to boil. “And you...You didn’t have to kill people.”
I wish I hadn’t said it. I wish I could just hug him and tell him everything would still be okay. Mara never said she would quit helping us. But he was angry, and so was I.
“I never meant…” He turned and started walking away. “Whatever dude. I’m done. I’m gone. Tell Sophie that I’ll be by for my things tomorrow.”
I went inside and told Sophie and the kids what happened. She seemed a little angry, until I told them that Mara said she would still help us with food. But I insisted that we at least work for it from now on.
*****
The next day, I took them with me to help the sisters feed the homeless. Sally and Sophie worked out an arrangement. Her and the kids would start delivering food for the restaurant. It would bring them a lot of good business from all those that had war injuries and couldn’t leave their homes, and made them feel like they were earning their food. So it was a win for everyone.
“Who’s this handsome man following you around today, Mara?” The old woman took a warm sandwich with her wrinkled, scarred hands and smiled up at me with a crooked grin.
Her face was hard to smile back at. It looked as though she had taken a shrapnel bomb to the face many years ago. Most of her disfigurement was hidden behind locks of matted hair and clumps of dirt. One eye had completely sealed over with healed skin, but the other was a shockingly beautiful bright blue, even in the darkness of the alleyway.
Mara slipped her hand into mine. “This is my… friend, Ben.”
I blushed at the insinuation of the pause.
“Well, you make sure to take care of her, Ben. This one’s an angel.”
I glance over Mara. Her long, blonde, wavy hair sparkled in the moonlight. “I know.”
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