Inside was a copy of the restaurant's original incident report.
Attached was a handwritten note from Luis.
You told me to call security. I was afraid of losing my job, but you looked at me like you believed I would do the right thing. Thank you for that. I hope you know that you helped me find my courage too.
I read it twice.
Then I looked at Luis.
He gave an embarrassed shrug.
"I thought you should know."
I folded the note carefully.
"I'll keep it."
Outside, the evening air smelled of rain and flowering trees.
Lucía and I walked slowly toward her car.
She glanced at me.
"What are you thinking?"
I considered the question.
A year earlier, I would have answered automatically.
Nothing.
Or I'm fine.
Instead, I told her the truth.
"I'm thinking about how much time I spent waiting for Javier to become kind."
