Chapter 15 - The Encounter
The winter holidays arrived, and the city was covered in a beautiful, thick blanket of white snow.
I was walking out of a luxury department store, my arms full of expensive, beautifully wrapped gifts.
As Thomas opened the door of the town car for me, a homeless man stumbled out of the cold alleyway.
He was wearing thin, dirty clothes, his face covered in a thick, unkempt beard.
"Spare some change, ma'am? Please, it's freezing," the man begged, holding out a shaking cup.
I paused, looking deep into the man's tired, defeated eyes.
It was David.
My own flesh and blood, the boy I had carried in my womb, was begging for change on the street.
He looked up, and the absolute horror of recognition washed over his dirty, freezing face.
"Mom?" he whispered, his voice cracking violently in the cold wind.
He dropped the cup, spilling a few dirty coins onto the pristine white snow.
I stood there in my warm cashmere coat, looking at the broken, miserable man he had become.
I reached into my designer purse, pulling out my expensive leather wallet.
I slowly pulled out a single, crisp fifty-dollar bill.
May you like
I placed it gently into his trembling, freezing hand.
"Watch your step on the ice, David. A nasty tumble could be fatal," I said softly.
