“I don’t recall as she did,” said the bus driver.

“Oh, really?” said Jasper.

“Nope,” said the driver.

“Okay, then,” said Jasper. “I thought it would just be easier for you to give her the money back. She has the exact change now and can pay for the ride. But we can call and talk to your manager if you want, and request it formally. If you just want to tell us your name, so we can report you . . .”

Now the bus driver sat up straight, suddenly alert. “Aw, come on, girl. . . .”

“I sure do hope there’s a twenty in the box,” continued Jasper, “so you don’t get in trouble. I mean, if you pocketed the money, and it isn’t there . . .”

We were holding up the bus now, and time seemed to stretch out unbearably. I could feel eyes all over me. They made me itch, and I wanted to turn and apologize to everyone sitting there, waiting. The woman with the sleeping baby and the man in the janitor’s uniform. But Jasper didn’t seem to mind at all. She didn’t apologize for anything. She just stood there, like no one would be able to move her. Her feet planted.

The driver glanced from Jasper to me, and then back to Jasper. Finally he sighed and said, “Just sit down. I’ll get with you in a minute.”

Jasper shot me a grin. Then we stumbled to the first empty row, where we sat down fast as the bus began to move. I was still afraid to breathe normally, but Jasper was beaming, like she’d won a major award.

We rode the whole way in silence. Jasper was watching the driver like a hawk, and I was watching Jasper. But when we got to our stop, and walked past him on our way back to the door, the driver reached up and held out my twenty.

“No hard feelings?” he said.

“No hard feelings,” I replied, trying to sound normal and loose, like Jasper, as I plucked the bill from between his fingers.

Then he looked over at Jasper, and said, “Girl, you’re a tough one. I pity the man who marries you.”

For some reason, when she heard that, Jasper looked back at me and burst out laughing. And then I was laughing too, and I couldn’t stop. We both waved goodbye to the puzzled driver, stepped off the bus, and fell straight down to the ground, right there on the scruffy grass beside the cracked sidewalk along Moreland. Then we sat, rocking on our knees, laughing and laughing, grocery bags spilling all around us.

Complicated