The walk back was slow. Elliot didn’t rush her. He let her point out the library where she read after school, the corner store that sometimes gave her free candy when Nora was short a few cents, the mural on the side of the laundromat that she secretly loved.
When they reached the cracked steps of the building, Lila suddenly felt ashamed again. Graffiti. Broken buzzer. A smell of old garbage that never quite went away.
Elliot didn’t flinch. He just looked up at the third-floor window and asked gently, “This is home?”
“Yeah.”
He nodded once. “Thank you for letting me see it.”
They climbed the stairs—slowly, because Nora’s knees couldn’t handle speed. When they reached the door, Lila knocked their special knock: three quick taps, pause, two more.
Nora opened the door wearing her faded pink housecoat. Her eyes widened when she saw the tall man standing behind her granddaughter.
“Lila? Everything okay?”
“Grandma… this is Mr. Vance. He… he came to graduation. He pretended to be my dad so I wouldn’t be alone.”