During dinner, I sat next to Sam.  The entire time, it was just Sam and me, as if we were intruding on a date between Jason and his mom.  Margaret seemed so excited to have her boy home, now sitting in front of her, even if it was only for an hour she paid for with the price of dinner for him and his date.  They seemed lost together in the niceties of conversation.   “How work going these days?  It always gets busy around the holidays,” Margaret said.  “I made some food for you to take home later.  We can have Sam fix up a cooler.  Maybe that will save you a little money this month.  A dollar here and there.” It didn’t seem they could say much more than that.  Needless to say, no one paid attention to Sam and me in the corner. 

Read this story in its entirety