“Hey, is my mom here?” he asks, looking around. I look toward the door and see her walking in. I smile, just thinking about her, but when she looks up, I see that she’s been crying. Her eyes look like they are bloodshot, and I look at Dylan, who sees her and runs to her. She sees him and smiles at him, showing a brave face, and my heart can’t stop the hammering. It can’t stop even if I told it not to, even if I know she has the ability to shatter it.

I don’t go to her. Instead, I watch how she buries whatever she is going through to smile at Dylan. “Did you have a good day?” she asks, opening her arms and kissing his head when he reaches around to hug her waist.

“Yeah, we got all new stuff,” he says, and she looks up and finally sees me.

“Hey,” she says, her voice coming out monotone. “Thank you so much for helping today,” she says, holding out the keys for the SUV. “And for the lunch.” She does a fake smile and then looks down at Dylan. “Let’s get going.”

“How are you getting home?” I ask, and my stomach somehow burns with anger.

She is about to answer me when Amy comes out, calling my name. “Justin.” She swaggers over, and I turn my head to look at her. “We are still on for tonight, right?”

“Yeah,” I say and then my name is called again, this time by a parent who walks by, and when I turn back around, Dylan and Caroline are gone. I jog out to see if I see them, and I can’t spot them anywhere. I turn to walk back into the arena, and I’m almost run down by Malika, who isn’t looking up.

“I’m so sorry,” she says, and I can see that she is really upset.

“Is everything okay?” I ask, and she just looks around.

“You are doing a good thing here,” she says. “The kids who come here, this is huge for them. And the parents, I can’t even begin to tell you how blown away the parents are. They aren’t freeloaders, and they deserve to not be judged.” I almost have to take a step back.

“I would never judge anyone,” I say.

“I know you don’t,” she says and then looks down and then up again. “But not everyone working for you does. I’ll see you tonight at seven,” she says and then walks away. I watch her walk away with more questions that I have to do, and I make a mental note to talk to her tonight after the meeting. I also take my phone out and call Caroline, and it goes directly to a generic message.

The customer you are trying to reach is unavailable. Please call back.

I hang up and text her right away.