For a second Mateo thought about the envelopes that used to sit beside that dish, each one carrying money, instructions, and the quiet worry of a family trying to keep up.
The school no longer collected lunch cash there. The space beside the peppermints was empty now.
At lunch, Mateo peeled an orange over his tray. The skin released a bright smell that made Owen complain it was spraying him.
Mateo separated the fruit into two uneven halves.
He gave Owen the larger one.
Nobody watched to see whether he deserved it.
Nobody asked what his family had paid.
It was only lunch, finally, and that ordinary fact felt bigger than Mateo had expected peace to feel.
