Mary Trueheart had to go to the grocery store to get milk. Her four-year-old daughter, Lisa, drank it up faster than water. Because her husband was still at work, and Lisa was being very demanding, she had to bring Lisa with her to the store.
Once they arrived, Mary took Lisa’s hand and led her to the back of the store where the dairy products were kept. The little girl kept whining and asking her mom when they would have the milk. “Soon!” he mother replied, and hurried Lisa as fast as her little legs could go.
As Mary was looking for the right carton of milk, she noticed a man nearby loading up his shopping cart with cheeses. He was very overweight, and his purple polo shirt was much too small for him, and his tan cargo shorts much too large. He had an unkempt neck beard and his light, reddish-brown hair was curly and poofy, in the form of an afro. There was also a long stain running down his shirt from the chest. He moved slowly, and cumbrously, and his face was pockmarked. His eyes seemed flattened and devoid of vitality, giving him a deranged look. Still, there was something familiar about him to Mary. And then she suddenly realized, it was Tanner Meeks, her old high school boyfriend. He had changed dramatically, but there was no question it was him.
He finished loading his cart with a vast array of cheeses. The cart itself was full of junk food—frozen pizzas, tv dinners, candy, ice cream, etc. He started to walk toward Mary, his mouth open as if he were unable to breathe through his nose. Apparently, he didn’t recognize Mary, who watched him pass, deliberating whether to say hello.
She did not say hello. She took the carton of milk and then her daughter’s hand, and went to the checkout line. As she paid for the milk and led Lisa out of the store, her mind was preoccupied with sad thoughts. She remembered what Tanner had been like in high school—a young, athletic football prodigy with a winning smile, full of ebullience and bawdy humor, with a great, loud laugh that expressed boundless enthusiasm for life. By the looks of him now, it seemed to Mary he hadn’t laughed in years. How had things changed so much?
As she put Lisa into her car seat, the little girl smiled and sang: “Milk for me! Milk for me! Then I’m going to have to pee!”
Mary laughed and clipped her into the seat. As she went around to open the driver door, she spotted Tanner through the window of the grocery store, pushing his cart full of groceries. For a split second, through the glass, he appeared as he once had—the big, goofy kid she had fallen in love with. But the illusion didn’t last. She frowned, got into the car, shut the door, and looked back at Lisa in the rear-view mirror. She was looking out the window, a slight smile on her face. The dying sunlight was shining on her rosy skin. Mary started the car and drove away.
