That was what I’d hoped for.

Not gratitude for money, not a promise that he’d never disappoint me again.

Just the knowledge that there were things worth keeping from our past.

When he left, he took a container for his family.

He didn’t ask me to send money for groceries, and I didn’t offer.

After the door closed, I washed the pots and thought about how change sometimes arrives without fanfare.

No courtroom.