“That isn’t my problem.”
“No,” Owen said quietly.
“It isn’t.”
He gestured toward me.
“But she is my responsibility.”
Then he looked at Ethan.
“And he’s yours.”
The manager nodded.
She had heard enough.
“I can offer you a refund or tickets for another showing,” she told the family. “But I need you to leave tonight.”
The mother protested.
The father complained.
But eventually they gathered their belongings.
As they stood, the father took Ethan by the arm and hurried him out.
The boy looked back.
Not at me.
At Owen.
For only a second.
But I saw his face.
He wasn’t angry anymore.
He looked frightened.
And Owen saw it too.
The family left.
Tamika apologized.
The older couple behind us thanked Owen.
He sat down again.
His hands rested on the armrests.
But he wasn’t watching the movie.
His thumb moved rapidly against his finger.
