She had been accepted into an apprenticeship that started at six every morning.
The bus from the temporary room where she was staying didn’t run early enough.
If she missed shifts, she would lose the job before receiving her first paycheck.
Lily had spent a little more than $1,100 helping her.
Required work boots.
A used bicycle.
And a short-term room close enough to the repair shop that Tara could get to work.
Tara had needed the most money.
The rest of Lily’s savings had been divided in smaller amounts among sixteen other people.
Bus passes.
Work clothes.
Phone service.
Meals.
Seventeen people altogether.
Tara wiped her face.
“I’ll pay you back.”
Lily shook her head.
“Don’t.”
“Lily…”
“Help somebody else get to Friday.”
I had to turn away.
On the drive home, I finally asked the question that had been bothering me most.
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
Lily stared through the window.
“Because you would’ve helped.”
“Of course I would have.”
“I know.”
She looked at me.
“That’s why I couldn’t tell you. I needed to know if I could do it myself.”
“Why?”
Her eyes dropped.
“Because Dad can’t anymore.”
For several seconds, I couldn’t speak.
Then she added quietly,
“I just wanted to know whether I could do one thing he would recognize.”
I reached across the console.
Then stopped myself.
Lily had made her choice.
I wasn’t going to punish her for caring about people.
