Now there was room to breathe.
***
A few days later, I went looking for someone.
Same neighborhood, different coat of paint on the building.
I stood outside the door and knocked.
When it opened, I almost didn't recognize her.
Older, slower, but the same eyes.
"Mrs. Greene?" I said.
She looked at me for a second.
Then her face softened.
"Nora?"
I smiled, already feeling my throat tighten.
I almost didn't recognize her.
***
Mrs. Greene and I sat in her small living room, just as we used to.
I told her everything.
About Arthur, the money, and Mae.
When I finished, I reached into my bag and set an envelope on the table.
"I never paid you back," I said.
She frowned slightly. "You finished school. That was the deal."
I shook my head. "You did more than that."
She didn't touch the envelope.
"I never paid you back."
Instead, Mrs. Greene looked at me and said, "You kept going. That's what matters."
I smiled through the tears.
"Now I can help someone else keep going too."
She studied my face for a moment, then nodded slowly, picking up the envelope.
***
That night, I sat at my kitchen table. Arthur's notebook lay in front of me.
I ran my fingers over the worn cover.
Then I opened to a blank page.
I smiled through the tears.
For a while, I didn't write anything.
I just sat there, thinking about Arthur.
Then I picked up a pen, and I started my own list.
"April 3 — Paid Mrs. Greene back for babysitting the twins so I could finish school."
The words looked simple on the page.
But they felt heavier than that.
I closed the notebook gently.
