“Need a favor.”
I stood up and leaned toward the women on either side of him.
“Would you two trust me for two minutes?”
They looked at each other, then back at me.
The older woman nodded first. The one in the cardigan followed.
I leaned closer and whispered the instruction.
“Would you two trust me for two minutes?”
The cardigan woman’s fingers loosened around her purse.
I hoped I wasn’t asking them to trust me with another disappointment.
The bully laughed.
“Oh, this should be good. What are you doing?”
“You’ll see.”
The bully laughed.
I sat back down and watched the station signs crawl past.
***
At the next stop, passengers got off, freeing seats across the aisle.
Two large men in work clothes stepped on, their dusty boots heavy against the carriage floor.
They scanned the car once, and then I caught the older one’s eye.
I gave the women the wink I’d promised.
