Chapter 15 — I Wasn’t Scared, I Was Mad

Maya gathered her purple backpack and came down the aisle to my row first, before going to her real seat, because she wanted to check on me, which is a thing she does, my daughter, that I hope she never stops doing.

“Are you okay, sweetheart?” I asked.

“Yeah, Mom.”

“Were you scared?”

She thought about it honestly, the way she thinks about every question you actually mean, turning it over before she answered.