Chapter 4 - The Woman He Called Aunt
I didn't move him. That was the first decision I made that morning that felt right.
Ethan stayed close to my leg, his backpack slipping down his shoulder. The boy on the cardboard had pulled his knees up and rested his chin on them. His hands were red from the cold. The box beside him was taped on one side and crushed on the other, big enough that he'd probably slept in it.
"Are you cold?" I asked.
He nodded once. He didn't look at Ethan now. He looked at my hands.
"What's your name?" I kept my voice low. "I'm not going to tell anyone you did anything wrong. I just want to know what to call you."
He glanced toward the store window, then back down. "Leo."
Ethan whispered it after him, like he was trying it out. "Leo."
"Okay, Leo," I said. "I'm Sarah. This is Ethan."
Leo picked at a hole in his pants. His locket had slipped back under his shirt. I could see the thin chain caught on his collarbone.
"Leo, you said your aunt —" I stopped. I didn't want it to sound like a question he could fail. "Did someone bring you here?"
He nodded toward the box. "She said wait by the box. She said somebody comes for stuff in the morning."
The air felt thinner all of a sudden. Overcast light made everything flat and gray, the sidewalk, the storefront glass, the shelves of products inside the open door.
"When did she leave you?" I asked.
He shrugged. "Yesterday. It was dark, then light."
Ethan tugged my jacket sleeve. "Mom."
"I know, baby. Just give me a minute." I looked back at Leo. "What's your aunt's name?"
He hesitated. He pressed his lips together and shook his head a little, not no, just scared.
I unzipped my purse with one hand and pulled out my phone. My fingers were shaking more than I wanted him to see. I stepped two feet away, close enough that I could still see both boys, and dialed the non-emergency number I'd looked up once for a car break-in and never called.
It rang three times.
"City non-emergency, what's your location?" A woman's voice, tired and steady.
I gave her the cross street off the store sign and the store number painted on the glass. "I'm on the sidewalk outside. There's a little boy here alone. He looks about six. He's dirty, he's cold. He says his aunt left him here yesterday with a cardboard box and told him to wait."
"Is he injured?"
"No. Not that I can see. He's just — he's been outside overnight, I think."
"Your name?"
"Sarah Miller." I glanced at Leo. He was watching me now, his eyes wide. "I'm here with my son. I don't want to move the boy. I don't want to scare him."
"That's fine. Don't move him. Are you able to stay until an officer arrives?"
I breathed out. "Yes."
"We'll send someone for a welfare check. Stay on the line for your callback number?"
I gave it. She repeated the address back. "Unit en route when available. Thank you for calling."
When I hung up, Leo had pulled the edge of the cardboard up around his ankles like a blanket.
"Was that about me?" he asked.
"Yeah," I said honest. "That was to get someone to help make sure you're warm and safe. Not police because you did something bad. Police because grown-ups are supposed to take care of kids."
He didn't answer. Ethan sat down slowly on the edge of my shoe, like his legs were tired.
I looked toward the open storefront. The clerk inside, a young man in a dark apron, had been watching through the glass since we'd stopped. Our eyes met. He looked away fast.
"I'll be right here," I told Leo. "I'm going to get you something warm. Okay? Don't go anywhere."
He nodded. Ethan stood up when I did.
"You stay here?" Ethan asked Leo.
Leo gave the smallest nod back.
I took Ethan's hand and we stepped just inside the doorway. The store smelled like coffee and cleaning spray. A bell chimed above us.
The clerk came to the register. "You need something?"
"Yes," I said. "A breakfast sandwich, if it's hot. And milk. Small milk. And maybe a banana." I kept my voice even. I didn't want to make it a big thing in front of Ethan. "He's freezing out there."
The clerk glanced past me to the sidewalk. "That kid yours?"
"No." I met his eyes. "He's been out there since yesterday. I called for a welfare check. Officer is on the way."
He paused, his hand over the warmer case. "He was here yesterday afternoon. With a woman."
My chest tightened. "What did she look like?"
He pulled out a wrapped sandwich and set it on the counter. "I don't know. Older. Big coat. She bought crackers and told him to sit tight." He rang it up without looking at me. "I figured she'd be back."
"Did you see a car? Which way she went?"
He shook his head. "I was restocking. I just saw the box."
I paid and took the small bag. My hand left a damp print on the paper.
Outside, Leo hadn't moved. I crouched down and opened the sandwich. Steam rose into the cold air.
"Careful, it's hot," I said, holding it out.
He took it with both hands like it might be taken back. He didn't eat right away. He looked at Ethan first.
"You can have half," Leo whispered.
Ethan looked up at me. I nodded.
Ethan broke off a piece and sat cross-legged a foot away from Leo, close but not touching. They chewed without talking. Leo ate fast, then slowed when he realized I wasn't going to stop him.
I handed him the milk. He drank and wiped his mouth with the back of his hand.
"Leo," I said after a minute. "You did really good telling me your name. That helped."
He stared at the box.
"The lady who left you," I said carefully. "Is she really your aunt?"
He nodded. "She said call her Aunt."
"What's her first name?"
He was quiet so long I thought he wouldn't answer. A bus went past and blew cold air over us. Ethan leaned into my side.
"Denise," Leo said finally, so soft I almost missed it. "She lives on Cedar. Upstairs."
I didn't move. I didn't pull out my phone. I just let the name sit there between us.
"Thank you for trusting me with that," I said.
May you like
He looked at me then, direct. The dirt on his cheek was smudged where he'd wiped it. The chain glinted again at his neck.
Sirens were still far off, not yet ours. But somewhere down the street, traffic had shifted. Help was coming. I kept my hand on Ethan's shoulder and stayed where I was, on the concrete next to the box, and waited.
