Page 100 of When a Soul Cries

She didn’t know I kept Halo’s diaper bag tucked beside me on the bed because everything important we had left was inside it.

And she definitely didn’t know the room was only paid through tomorrow morning.

After that?

I had no fucking clue.

I adjusted Halo higher on my hip as I walked through the little corner store a few blocks from the motel. My arm ached from carrying her there, and sweat clung to the back of my neck beneath my hair.

Halo had been crying off and on since we left the room.

She was hungry.

So was I.

The difference was, I understood why.

“I know, baby,” I whispered, rubbing slow circles over her back as she fussed against my shoulder. “Mama almost done.”

Her face scrunched up and another cry escaped her.

My chest tightened.

I kissed her temple and looked down into the small basket hanging from my other arm.

Bread.

Peanut butter.

Bananas.

Two fruit cups.

Milk for Halo.

A pack of noodles.

And one little sandwich I’d grabbed for myself.

I stared at it.

My stomach cramped.

I hadn’t eaten since yesterday afternoon.

For a few seconds, I just stood there holding it while people moved around us with baskets and carts like buying food wasn’t something that required an entire mental breakdown.

A woman passed me with two kids arguing over cereal.

Somebody laughed near the drink coolers.

A man dropped a case of water into his cart without even looking at the price.

Regular life.

Normal shit.

It felt strange watching everybody else live it.