That broke me. I dropped to the ground right there on the sidewalk and sobbed, smearing grease across my face when I tried to wipe the tears.
That was when Reginald appeared.
He ran three blocks to borrow a pump, then got down on his hands and knees to inflate the tire. Black grease smeared across his white T-shirt, and he didn't care. He wiped the sweat off his forehead and grinned up at me. "All set. Give it a try."
He pushed the cart all the way to the night market and didn't leave until the stand was set up.
After that, he started showing up every day with a handful of friends, claiming they were there to drum up business. When they teased him about having a crush on me, I laughed it off as a joke. But his ears turned red all the way down to his neck.
"Would that… would that be okay?" he stammered.
Moira wanted nothing to do with him at first. She wouldn't even give him a second word.
One afternoon I was swamped at the cart and missed the call that school had let out early. It was Reginald who sprinted through the pouring rain, searching more than a dozen streets until he found my lost little girl.
After that, Moira finally let him in.
And now I had to tell her the truth—tell a child who'd only just begun to trust again that none of it was real.
I stumbled back to the apartment in a daze. It was already the dead of night.
My daughter had fallen asleep on the couch waiting for me to come home.
My heart ached so badly it nearly crumbled. I was about to carry her back to her room when I realized her whole body was burning up, her little face flushed scarlet with fever.
I rushed her to the hospital by cab. It wasn't until the next morning that her temperature finally started to come down.
The doctor fixed me with a stern look. "This child had a fever for half the night before you thought to bring her in. A few more hours and she would've been severely dehydrated. Pills wouldn't have fixed that."
Guilt and fear gnawed at me. I hadn't slept all night and didn't dare close my eyes, staying glued to the chair beside her hospital bed.
Then I remembered the phone watch I'd bought her. I opened the companion app and checked the call log.
Over a dozen missed calls.
Every single one to Reginald.
He was the one who'd insisted on being listed as her emergency contact. He'd looked me in the eye and sworn, "I'll always be there for Moira. You can count on me."