And even though I had never thought about knitting before and even though I didn’t really believe that Mama L knew how to knit or at least I had never seen her knit, of course what I said while I looked meaningfully into the Outside Girl’s eyes was, Hell yes.

So then Mama L reached into her coat and brought out this yarn that was the color of kings and queens I mean it was purple like a cape and the Outside Girl said, Maybe this would be a better activity for next time when we’re at the Center where it’s warm, but Mama L said, We have another hour. Legally. My lawyer will file a motion. And the Outside Girl was like, Ms. Marshall, there is no need to be angry. Knitting sounds constructive. I’m supportive of knitting. It sounds like a Strength.

Then Mama L made me sit down with her on the bench but I thought, If she is really just teaching me how to knit how come she is breathing in such an organized way? My elf sensibility began to speak to me via my scar and Mama L pulled me close and handed me the yarn it was a knot.

This is a skein, she said. The first thing that you have to do is wind the skein into a ball. Find the end, so I found the end. She said, And what do you wind it around? What is at the center of the ball?

My finger? I asked. A marble? An acorn?

Or anything, she said. Then she reached back into her coat and she brought out a pink plastic egg, the hollow kind for Easter candy that I am not allowed to have. What’s inside? she asked. Candy, I said. Nope, she said. There’s nothing inside it. She looked at me hard. She said, It’s empty.

So I wound the skein of yarn around the hollow plastic Easter egg, wound it around and around until the skein disappeared and a big purple ball sat in my lap.

The pink egg was its secret center.