Chapter 15
Evelyn asked to see Nora after six months.
I asked Nora.
She frowned.
“Pearl Aunt?”
I almost laughed.
“Yes.”
“Who threw pin?”
“Yes.”
“No.”
Simple.
I told Evelyn.
Her face tightened.
“She’s four.”
“Yes.”
“You’re letting a child decide?”
“Whether she spends time with the woman who helped use her as a test.”
“Yes.”
Silence.
She did not like it.
She accepted it.
Progress.
Two months later, Nora asked why Evelyn never came to dinner.
I reminded her.
“Oh.”
Then:
“She still mean?”
“I don’t know.”
“Did she learn?”
“Maybe.”
Nora considered.
“Can she come outside?”
Interesting.
Not dinner.
Not house.
Garden.
Her boundary.
We arranged twenty minutes.
Evelyn arrived without pearls.
Again.
Maybe she understood the symbol.
Nora watched her carefully.
Evelyn did not approach.
“Hi, Nora.”
“Hi.”
Silence.
Then Nora held up stuffed rabbit wearing the counterfeit capo pin.
Evelyn stared.
I nearly laughed.
“Rabbit Boss.”
Nora announced.
Evelyn’s mouth twitched.
“Very impressive.”
Then Nora asked:
“Why you gave bad people pins?”
Direct.
Evelyn looked at me.
I did nothing.
Her answer mattered.
“Because I wanted them to choose Caleb instead of your daddy.”
Nora frowned.
“Why?”
“I thought Caleb needed to be important.”
“He already cousin.”
There.
A four-year-old dismantling ambition again.
Evelyn started crying.
“Yes.”
Nora looked confused.
“Then why need Boss?”
Evelyn laughed through tears.
“I’m still trying to understand that.”
Good answer.
The visit ended with no hug.
Nora waved.
Evelyn left.
That night Nora asked:
“Can Rabbit Boss stay?”
“Yes.”
Of course.
May you like
The counterfeit pin had now survived longer as toy jewelry than as a political symbol.
Perfect.
