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I Gave My Coat to a Cold, Hungry Mother and Her Baby – a Week Later, Two Men in Suits Knocked on My Door and Said, ‘You’re Not Getting Away with This’
My stomach dropped.
People say things like that when they want you scared.
“What exactly do you mean by that?” I asked. “And who are you? Police? FBI?”
The taller one shook his head.
“No, sir,” he said. “Nothing like that. But we do need to talk to you.”
I thought about slamming the door, calling 911, then thought about my slow knees and their quick hands.
My heart gave a strange little kick.
Before I could decide, a car door slammed out on the street.
I leaned past them.
A black SUV sat at the curb. From the passenger side, a woman stepped out, cradling something in her arms.
It was Penny.
She was in a real winter coat now, thick and zipped to her chin. A knitted hat covered her ears. The baby, Lucas, was bundled in a puffy snowsuit, tiny hat with bear ears.
The tension in my shoulders eased a notch.
They looked warm. Safe.
Penny hurried up the walkway.
“It’s okay,” she called. “These are my brothers.”
The tension in my shoulders eased a notch.
“Too late for that,” I muttered.
“How did you even find me?” I asked.
“No sense freezing on the porch.”
The shorter brother spoke up.
“We went back to Walmart,” he said. “One of the people working there recognized you and we got your name through her. The police already had a report going for our sister, so they helped with the address.”
He shrugged, almost apologetic.
“I’m Stephan,” the taller one added. “This is David.”
I nodded slowly.
“Well,” I said, “since you’re already here, you might as well come in. No sense freezing on the porch.”
“You mind explaining before I die of curiosity?”
We filed into the living room. The heater hummed weakly in the corner. Family photos of Ellen watched from the walls.
Penny sank onto the couch with Lucas. Stephan and David stayed standing, hands clasped in front of them like they were guarding the president.
I cleared my throat.
“Now,” I said, looking at Stephan, “about that ‘you’re not getting away with this’ business. You mind explaining before I die of curiosity?”
For the first time, his face cracked into a smile.
“I meant you’re not getting away from your good deed, sir,” he said. “Where we come from, good doesn’t disappear. It comes back.”
I let out a breath I didn’t know I’d been holding.
I let out a breath I didn’t know I’d been holding.
“You have a heck of a way of saying thank you,” I said.
David huffed a quiet laugh.
“We told him that,” he said.
Stephan ignored him.
“When Penny called us,” he went on, “she was at the police station. She’d gone there after you left. Told them everything. They called us. We drove up that night.”
My hands felt suddenly clumsy.
Penny rubbed Lucas’s back in slow circles.
“The officer kept asking how long we’d been out there,” she said softly. “I told him about you. How you gave us your coat, bought us soup, didn’t ask for anything back.”
She glanced up at me. “He wrote it in the report. Said it showed how bad things really were.”
My hands felt suddenly clumsy.
“Report?” I repeated.
“Her ex is trying to get custody,” Stephan said. “Out of spite. He’s saying she’s unstable, can’t provide. The report helps show what he did.”
Anger moved through me, slow and hot.
Anger moved through me, slow and hot.
“He threw his own child out into the cold,” I said.
