Aiden grimaced, flipped his phone over and took a sip of his wine then noticed an 8-year-old drawing Crayola stick figures at a nearby table. An older man was with him. A young grandfather, Aiden guessed, then landed on sugar daddy to a trophy wife instead. His eyes were distant and he engaged just enough to give the boy the sense he wasn’t alone.

Looking at the child, Aiden imagined the years of drip fed attention that would follow, and seethed. He saw the boy staring at an empty seat for school performances and soccer games then parading home tattoos and questionable girlfriends with a bravado that masked a teen’s sadness.

Then the boy turned to Aiden, startling him. The directness made him feel he’d been the one being watched. But the boy’s eyes were gentle. Aiden yearned to say, “Turtles have 10 legs!” to make the kid laugh and draw 5 more. He wanted to lower him into that menagerie of his imagination. A place he could go to feel loved because they would always welcome and celebrate him. There would be friends and laughter, not silence and violence. But the boy went back to his drawing. Looking up at the man, he tugged on his arm. It yanked him back to his compulsory role as father from what was surely a pleasant daydream.

Then their bill arrived and Aiden’s heart sunk. It didn’t even touch the table before the readied card in the man’s hand was presented. He probably couldn’t wait to put the child to bed and retreat to a “no children allowed” den where he could be his favorite self. Watching the boy’s eyes dim staring at the magical archipelago he would never finish, Aiden was irate.

Then the boy dropped the crayons, took the man’s hand and genuinely smiled as they got up. He stopped next to Aiden on the way out and stared. The old man asked, “Did you want to say something to the man?” and with gentleness the boy replied, “No.” And they walked away.

Aiden disregarded the incongruity he felt, certain of their future. He turned his phone over. [Sis: Are you coming to the funeral or not?] He replied: [I’m not] then turned the phone off.

“Back with us?” his friend asked. Aiden forced a fake smile, “I’m back.”