It also helped them remember to add things to their shopping list.
Thanks to creating their own work schedule, they were able to do their grocery shopping mid-morning on weekdays when the stores were less crowded. Their first stop was the produce section, where a few other people perused the options.
“I’ll grab the apples, while you pick out the grapes,” Riley said as he moved to the bin full of all different varieties of apples.
“Okay, pick out some good ones,” Josh ordered jokingly, and Riley sent him a warm smile in return as he moved to the next section.
Josh turned to find some grapes and barely avoided running into an old, silver-haired woman with an empty cart. She must have just started her shopping too.
“Whoops, sorry, ma’am. Almost caused a traffic accident,” he chuckled, ignoring the twinge in his heart thinking about his parents’ accident.
The old lady sneered at him and scoffed. “Sure, you are.”
Josh looked at her quizzically, wondering if he'd missed something.
“I’m sorry, is everything okay, ma’am? Is there something you need help with?”
“No, I don’t need any help from the likes of you.”
His gaze dropped to see if there was something about his appearance that he hadn’t noticed, and he gave a subtle sniff toward his arm pits. Maybe he needed a shower. But he didn’t detect anything.
One thing he couldn’t do was walk away from a person he may have affected negatively, though.
“I’m sorry if I did something to offend you, ma’am. I meant no harm. I wasn’t watching where I was going.”
The ire was visible on her face, leaving him even more confused, and he snuck a glance backward to catch Riley’s attention in case he needed it. Riley's head sprang up as if he sensed Josh’s gaze.
“So like your people, being where you shouldn’t, not caring about the damage you do. Ya know, my brother was killed in Vietnam and all I got to remember him was a folded flag.”
Ah, now I understand. This woman missed her brother.
“I know the feeling. After my parents moved here from China, they were killed in a car accident when I was five, but I survived the crash and was raised by our neighbors across the street. Luckily, my best friend lived next door, so he helped me get through it,” he explained as he stepped toward the display of grapes. “I don’t have much to remember them by either, except maybe a few pictures that my adopted parents saved for me. At least we have our memories, right? Hey, have you tried thesegrapes? They taste like cotton candy!”
The woman stared at him in stunned disbelief as he held out the bag of cotton candy grapes so she could see them. She looked at them, then brought her focus back to Josh.
“Uh, no, I haven’t tried them. My grandkids love cotton candy.”
“I bet they’d love these. And they’re on sale this week. Bonus for us, right? Anyway, I’m sorry about your brother. Maybe he’s looking down on us right now with my parents.”
The woman’s hand trembled as she reached out for the bag of grapes, taking them and placing them in her cart.
She narrowed her eyes for a second and then shook her head incredulously, her mouth curving up on one end.
“Thank you, dear. And I’m sorry about your parents. Thank you for the grapes,” she said slowly.
“Thank you, ma’am. I hope your grandkids like them. Enjoy the rest of your shopping,” he said as he grabbed his own bag of cotton candy-flavored grapes and turned to find Riley standing a few feet behind him, smiling.
He smiled and said, “Riley, the grapes are on sale this week. We lucked out!”
Josh turned back to the old woman, who was now smiling and shaking her head as she walked to the nextaisle, and put the grapes in his and Riley’s cart.
“I really don’t know how you do that,” Riley said, still smiling.
“Do what?” Josh asked, his brow furrowed in confusion.
“Win over a rude, hateful person so easily.”
Josh scoffed. “She wasn’t hateful, she just missed her brother. He died fighting in Vietnam.”
