Gavin hid his annoyed face as the drooling toddler escaped its exhausted parents, ahead in the line, and found shelter around his leg.
The embarrassed mother scooped the child back into her fold, pleading, “I’m so suh-ry,” with a thick Spanish accent and big smile. They’d been roommates in the line for hours and she thought they’d connect…but he offered her nothing.
It pleased him. This hoodie purposefully shielded him from such moments and he welcomed her retreat. Ahead, the child was handed to the stoic father already watching their three others. Frowning moments earlier, his face transformed into goofiness that diverted the kids and gave his wife a much needed break.
Gavin sighed and shuffled forward. It was so quiet.
He’d dreaded this experience and imagined drunks, homeless, the mentally unsound. A boisterous carnival of deplorables, the unwanted and the worthless. Thank god no one would see his face and think him one of them.
To improve the shadow, he adjusted the hoodie. His pale, freckled hands, made him notice how so many white people were here. It wasn’t half, but easily a third. That surprised him. He thought he’d be hearing ebonics all afternoon and have to give defensive head nods to acknowledge but discourage.
Ugh, another toddler jailbreak. His right leg was a playground again. The parents were too spent to notice. Gavin grounds his teeth. He’d have to return the child and…talk. It made him sick.
He didn’t want to hear about their suffering or share his own. Anger curdled in his self-esteem. Memories of brunching with friends at his University City loft on the Schuylkil River mocked him. It was just two years ago. Now it felt like someone else’s life.
An army truck lumbered into the lot. Cheers broke out to its belching engines and the driver honked and pumped his fists to the crowd. Across its side read, “USA Army Covid Food Supply.” Gavin couldn’t help but feel relieved.
The toddler yanked at his crotch to get his attention. Pointing to the truck, it garbled in spit up, “Food!” A sincere smile rolled onto Gavin’s face and he felt comfort tussling the child’s hair, answering, “Yeah, food.”