- 13.
After trying on dresses, Elijah went to pay.
The clerk informed him that his card was
frozen.
His face changed; he checked his phone.
Someone informed him that Hayes
Corporation had gone bankrupt.
upu
He had lost everything.
I remembered a previous crisis at Hayes.
Corporation.
Elijah had been distraught; I’d used my points
to help him.
But this time, I wouldn’t.
I would never forget him pushing me away.
“I’m sorry.”
“Mary, let’s come back another time.”
It was the first time I saw him so distraught.
Even the stoic spiritual leader could be
vulnerable.
I said nothing, letting him lead me out.
But we ran into people demanding wages,
others throwing fruit peels at us.
Elijah protected me.
But there were too many people.
They swarmed us; he shielded me.
He was hit with fruit peels and eggshells.
He didn’t resist.
<
His rosary broke, but he didn’t care; he just
held me tight.
He said, “Mary, I won’t let anything happen to
you.”
He was disheveled, covered in filth.
I thought, if he had loved me earlier…
I wouldn’t have lost my emotions; I wouldn’t
have to leave.
