PART 5

Marcus told Lorraine she had to return to 14B.

The irony was immediate.

Seat 14B was the middle seat where I had been sitting.

Lorraine refused.

“No.”

Marcus remained calm.

“Your assigned seat is 14B.”

“I’m settled here.”

A passenger laughed.

Someone else muttered, “Here we go again.”

Lorraine looked around angrily.

“I paid for this ticket.”

“So did everyone else,” Marcus said.

“I am not moving after takeoff.”

“Then we will document your refusal.”

“What does that mean?”

“It means the captain will be informed.”

Her expression changed.

“You’re threatening me?”

“No.”

Marcus sounded almost amused.

“I’m explaining the situation.”

Lorraine stared at him.

Then she looked at me.

“This is all because of you.”

Maya spoke before I could.

“No.”

Lorraine looked at her.

Maya pointed at the boarding pass.

“This is because of you.”

A woman behind us laughed.

Then half the nearby rows joined her.

Lorraine grabbed her tote.

She shoved her feet into her shoes.

Then she marched toward Row 14.

The older man stood to let her in.

She stopped.

“You expect me to sit there?”

He smiled.

“It’s your assigned seat.”

Even I laughed.

Lorraine sat down.

I returned to Row 11 with Maya.

For the first time since boarding, I sat in the seat I had paid for.

Maya sat at the window.

Leo remained asleep.

I almost cried from relief.

Then Maya leaned against me.

“Mom?”

“Yes?”

“I’m hungry.”

I started laughing.

Not because it was funny.

Because after everything, that was the most normal thing she could have said.

I pulled crackers from her backpack.

She ate them quietly.