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“Is that right?” the officer asked, clearly not buying it.
“Yes, that’s so. I was just making a sandwich for him and he was looking around to see what needed to get done,” she continued. All Bass heard was that she was making a sandwich for him.
“Well then, I’ll just sit out here on the porch with him while you finish the sandwich,” the officer said. Bass gazed back and forth between them in shock and hunger.
“That sounds wonderful. Would you like a sandwich too?” the woman asked.
“That would be wonderful, Nana Bee.” The cop then moved up on the porch and sat on a swing.
“Take a seat, young man,” he demanded. His voice was friendly but filled with authority. Bass knew he could try to run now as the two people didn’t seem all that concerned about him being there, but his hunger wasn’t allowing his feet to move. Was this a trick or was the woman really making him a sandwich?
He sat on the porch steps, his head down.
“So, you’re doing some work for Nana Bee?” the cop asked. He pulled out a cigar and took his time lighting it as he stared at Bass.
“Um, yes, sir,” Bass finally answered.
“What kind of work?” the cop asked.
What had the woman said? He only paused a short moment this time. “Yard work.”
“I see,” the cop said. He stared intently at Bass. “Nana Bee is one of the good ones. If anyone were to ever hurt her, there’d be a whole lot of trouble for that person.” The words were spoken conversationally, but Bass could clearly hear the threat in his voice.
“Oh, Mitch, you stop that. You don’t want to scare the child,” Nana Bee said as she moved through the door with three plates stacked on top of one another. She handed Bass his first, then the cop his, and then sat at the small table with hers. She must’ve been around the corner out of view of the window, preparing this food when he’d looked in the window.
On the plate was a thick sandwich loaded with meat and cheese. There was also a handful of chips and a whole lot of grapes. Bass’s mouth was watering so bad, a little drool slipped out. He quickly wiped it away and had to fight the stinging in his eyes. He blinked rapidly, doing his best not to dive right in like some sort of wild animal.
“You go ahead and eat. You need your energy for the yard work ahead,” Nanna Bee said as she looked at him.
Bass picked up the sandwich and took a bite, then couldn’t stop a groan of pleasure from escaping. It was the best sandwich he’d ever tasted in his life. He heard the woman and the cop speaking, but he didn’t pay attention to their words as he continued to clear every single crumb from his plate. He tried to slow himself down, but it was so good, and he was desperately hungry.
He did manage a thank-you when Nana Bee placed a full glass of milk beside him. He finished the meal, which almost hurt his belly because it was so full. He couldn’t remember the last time he’d feltover-full. It may have never happened before. He couldn’t comprehend how so many people had so much food they had fat on their bodies. He wasn’t sure he had an ounce of fat, though at the moment his belly was certainly poking out. He felt it and smiled. It was such an odd sensation.
“What’s your name?” the cop finally asked.
“Ryan,” he mumbled. This was the name he’d determined to give if he was ever caught, since he switched back and forth between Ryan and Bass.
“Well, Ryan, I’d say it’s time to clean up your dish and get to work,” the cop told him.
“Of course, sir,” he said. He’d willingly clean up Nana Bee’s house inside and out for the meal he’d just received. He didn’t mind earning things, it was just that people usually didn’t give him that option. He might love Nana Bee a little right now.
The cop took him to the shed, and it didn’t take him long to learn how to use the mower. It was over a hundred degrees out, but Bass didn’t care. He hummed to himself as he mowed the massive lawn while Nana Bee and the cop sat on the front porch, sipping tea and chatting.
After several hours, he finished with the lawn, then approached the old woman and the cop. He wasn’t sure what he was supposed to do.
“I expect you back here next weekend,” Nana Bee told him.
He eagerly nodded. “Yes, ma’am,” he told her as he once again fought tears. Why was this woman doing this for him? She had to know he’d had ill intentions when he’d arrived at her home. Still, she was being kind to him.
“Good. Now, you take this food home with you,” she said. Then she shocked him to his core when she pulled him close for a hug. He honestly couldn’t remember the last time anyone had hugged him. It had him so choked up he didn’t dare try to speak. “You’re a good boy, Bass,” she whispered.
An hour earlier he’d told her he liked going by Bass more, but his name was Ryan Sebastian. He didn’t know why he’d told her that. There was something about her that made him want to tell her everything.
“Thank you,” he finally choked out, looking to the ground.
The cop insisted on driving him home. “You remember what I said, Bass. Nana Bee is one of the good ones. I don’t ever want to see her hurt.”
Bass squared his shoulders and looked at the cop. “I wouldn’teverhurt her,” he told the cop, meaning it with all of his heart. He got to ride in the front of the police car on the way home which was probably the coolest thing he’d ever done. When they pulled up to the rundown apartment complex the cop winced.
