A Welcome Reunion: A Short Story by Lucinda Berry

Author:Lucinda Berry [Berry, Lucinda]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Amazon Original Stories
Published: 2023-08-14T16:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER SIX

PIPER

I hurried down the sidewalk and into the restaurant. My last home visit had run late, so I was even later to meet Christopher. He’d been here for twenty minutes and had already grabbed us a seat in the corner. He waved and smiled when he saw me, motioning me over.

We’d gone out for coffee once a few years back. It was during one of the times that he and Hannah were separated. I tried to pretend like I didn’t know that, but I did. I knew he was dating. I’d seen him on the apps. There were only so many of us in our age range in the area. It was awkward and weird from the moment we sat down, and we’d never done it again.

“Thanks for meeting me on such short notice,” I said, sliding into my seat.

“No problem. I don’t have a lot of time, but I managed to rearrange some things.” He was still in his scrubs. Probably heading to surgery once we were finished.

“I wanted to talk to you about Janie,” I said, like there was any other thing we had in common to meet about. I opened my briefcase and pulled out the folder holding all the paperwork. I’d called in every favor I had to get these. “I know what you’re doing, and I just wanted to come here today to give you an opportunity to tell Hannah first.”

He balked. “What are you talking about?”

“Helping Janie.”

He shook his head and looked confused. “I’m not helping Janie with anything.”

“Christopher, please. You don’t have to do this. You don’t need to lie to me. I know what’s been going on, and I’m not going to keep it from Hannah.” I opened the folder and laid my hands on top of it. I wasn’t messing around. I couldn’t hide something this terrible. I wouldn’t let him do this behind Hannah’s back. “You need to tell her. She deserves to have all the information so she can make an informed decision about what she wants to do.”

“Informed decision about what? You’re not making any sense.” He looked irritated, and he’d never been irritated with me before. I’d hit a nerve. Liars never liked getting caught. Nothing made them angrier.

“Please just stop.” I laid it out in front of me like I was laying down my hand at the blackjack table. “You see these, Christopher? This is Janie’s rental application, her lease application, her gas, and her electric. You know what happens when you’re eighteen years old and you’ve been incarcerated since you were seven? It’s tough to get much on your own. Most of our transition-age youth really struggle. It’s why lots of them end up back on the streets or in prison. But not Janie. No, Janie’s doing really well.” I cocked my head to the side. “The only reason she’s doing so well, as you know, is because she’s had someone helping her.” I slid the applications across the table at him. “And that someone is you.

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