Early in the afternoon on a Friday, my boss came up behind me and asked, “Mary, what’s up with the ‘tude, man? You’re scaring the customers away with that scowl.”
Great. That’s all I needed. “Nothing’s up, Larry. Just got things on my mind. You need me for something?” I was in the middle of stocking microwaves.
“Take a break. Let’s talk.”
What now? I placed the microwave in my hands on the shelf before me, then followed Larry to the break room. He grabbed a bottle of water and I did the same. We sat down at the small table in the corner. “Everything all right, man?” I asked.
“Oh yeah, it’s all good. Just been a while since we hung out together, like in the old days.”
“I know it. You got kids, right? You know how it is. Most I do is work, take care of Sherie and sleep. I see my mom mos
