Page 35 of Owning the Prez’s Ol' Lady

Her eyes widened. “Alex, what were you thinking? You know better than that!”

His smile faded into a frown. “I was hungry, Mommy. I’m sorry. I was going to pay the man back after I found enough pennies on the street.”

She frowned, looking up at me with nothing but guilt and shame in her eyes. Then she just broke down, clutching her son so tight he could barely breathe.

“Don’t cry again, Mommy. It’ll be okay. Look at all this yummy food! We won’t have to eat from dumpsters today.”

The woman’s eyes were filled with despair and loss. She silently begged me not to judge her for their situation, but who was I to pass judgment on a single mom just trying to survive in this world?

“Thank you for the food,” she whispered. “That was a nice thing for you to do.”

I shrugged. “What can I say? I have a soft spot for kids with toothy grins and SpongeBob T-shirts.”

“It’s his favorite shirt.”

Alex laughed. “Mommy, it’s my only shirt.”

She went stark still as she warily looked back up at me, the shame returning, her shoulders slouching in defeat.

Everything from earlier quickly faded away, and something came over me that I couldn’t quite explain. It was a carnal need to protect and shelter them, to give them everything they needed to survive.

“Pack your things,” I demanded, giving the woman a stern look.

The woman’s tear-filled eyes met mine, and she suddenly looked very afraid.

“Excuse me?”

“It’s supposed to drop below freezing tonight, and there’s no way in hell I’m going to let the two of you stay out here in the cold. So, pack your things.”

The woman looked like a deer in headlights. “I don’t understand. I don’t even know who you are.”

“Look, lady, your son is cold and hungry and you both look like you haven’t showered in weeks. I got a big loft with plenty of room, food, and a nice hot shower calling your name. So, come on and take my hospitality for what it is before I suddenly have a change of heart.”

“I don’t understand...” she said weakly. “Why are you helping us? You don’t even know who we are.”

I shrugged again. “Like I said before, I guess I have a soft spot for kids with toothy grins and SpongeBob T-shirts.”

She gave her son a look, then nodded. “Okay, but just for one night.”

Nodding, I pulled my phone out and ordered a Lyft. There was no way both of them could fit on my bike.

“What’s your name?” she asked, falling into step behind me.

“The name’s Chuck, but most people just call me Clash.”

She eyed my cut curiously, then softly said, “I’m Gina, and this is my son Alex.”

Alex gave me a toothy grin, one that broke down every hard wall I erected around my heart. “Mister, do you have a TV?”

“I do,” I said with a smile. “A big one.”

The boy’s face lit up. “Mommy, did you hear that? The man says he has a TV! I can watch SpongeBob again.”

Gina laughed, but you could still see the shame in her eyes. “Well, maybe if you’re a real good boy, he’ll let you watch some SpongeBob.”

Alex shot me the biggest smile, one that tugged on every heart string I had. Something told me I’d let this kid watch all the SpongeBob in the world if he asked for it.

What I couldn’t understand was how one kid and his mother could suddenly make a cold heart like mine, feel so soft and spongy?

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