Chapter 2: Nobody Wants to See That
Part 2 ⬇️
He didn't say it again.
He took a step back instead.
His face went from angry to something else — uncertain, almost small.
Maria didn't lower her phone.
"Go ahead," she said.
"I've got time."
He looked around the aisle.
A woman with a toddler had stopped near the end cap.
An older man in a store vest was watching from the bread section.
Nobody moved.
"I wasn't trying to cause a scene," he said.
"You already did," Maria said.
"You caused it eleven minutes ago when she walked in."
I still hadn't moved.
I was still holding both sides of my flannel, standing there like I was waiting for someone to tell me what to do.
Maria turned to me then.
Just for a second.
"You don't have to cover anything."
That's when the man said something I didn't expect.
He looked at me — not at Maria, at me — and said, "My wife used to do that.
Feed in public.
People stared at her too." He paused.
"I thought I was helping."
The aisle went completely quiet.
Maria's phone was still up.
But her hand had stopped moving.
And I didn't know whether to cry, or scream, or say sorry one more time — because some part of me almost felt sorry for him, and I hated that I did.
That's when his phone rang.
He looked down at the screen.
His face changed completely.
He said, "I have to take this," and walked away.
Maria watched him go.
Then she looked at me.
"Do you know who that was?"
---
What Maria found out next — and what was on that phone — made everything worse than it looked.
May you like
Click the link below to read the full story.
What happened in that grocery store didn't end in the cereal aisle.
