I hesitated. Actually, I prepared Lester’s lunch.
But now that Philip said it, I couldn’t turn him down. I told him where the main utensils and ingredients
were.
And what was in the seasoning cabinet.
Philip nodded. “I see. Becky, take a rest. I can make breakfast.”
“...”
He was so enthusiastic.
I began to be wary of Philip. Others were shy when they came to my house, but he seemed to be
familiar with it.
To test him, I changed upstairs. Then I looked at him at the stairway.
Philip was just busy in the kitchen. He soon made a good breakfast.
I thought I thought too much.
Then Lester woke up.
When I changed his clothes, I said, “today I let a brother play with you. You have to listen to him, you
know?”
“Brother?” Lester looked at me and was confused.
“Yes, you’ll know when you go downstairs.”
I took Lester downstairs.
At this time, Philip put the breakfast on the table. Although it was just porridge and simple dishes, he
was skilled.
Philip saw me and said, “Becky, I saw tomatoes and eggs in the fridge so I took them. If you mind, I
won’t do it again.”
“It’s OK. You can use everything in the kitchen.”
I took Lester downstairs.
Lester sat in his baby chair. Philip put the porridge in front of him and smiled, “Hello, my name is Philip.
I’ll be your friend from today. Nice to meet you.”
Philip’s words made me feel comfortable. His attitude towards Lester showed that he seemed to really
want to be friends with him.
But Lester stared at him and pouted and asked, “are you going to compete with my dad for my mom?”
“Ah?” Lester’s words stunned me!
I quickly patted his little head, “what are you thinking? I’m not the same age as him.”
In my opinion, Philip was a child.
“I’m here to play with you.” Philip didn’t seem to mind at all what he said.
“Oh...” Lester nodded reluctantly and said, “I don’t think you will succeed. You can’t compare with my
dad. My dad is richer and more handsome than you. He will please my mom. My mom won’'t like you!”
“... Eat!”
I didn’t know what Lester was thinking!
Lester headed down to eat. I apologized to Philip, “I’m sorry. He doesn’t understand.”
“It’s okay. It shows that I am mature. Ha ha.” Philip laughed.
I went out after breakfast.
I was nervous that day. I was afraid Philip was a trafficker.
So at lunch I asked Chloe, “will your nephew abduct my son?”
Chloe assured me, “of course not! My nephew is very good. If he is not reliable, I would not introduce
him to you!”
She promised so I was relieved.
At night when I came home, I knew I thought too much.
When I got home, Lester and Philip were playing LEGO in the living room.
“It should be here! Why are you so stupid?” As soon as I got into the house, I heard Lester say.
Philip suddenly realized, “Oh, it’s here. I didn’t notice it.”
“You’re an adult, but you’re not as smart as me.”
Lester was happy when he spoke.
I knew Philip knew it. He just wanted Lester to think more in this way.
They had a good time. Philip saw me, but Lester didn’t.
They met for the first time today but got on well. I really felt that Philip was reliable.
I changed my shoes and went in. Philip immediately stood up and said, “Becky, let me help you cook
dinner.”
“No, I’ll do it.” I took a look at my watch. It was more than 6 o’clock. “Go back to school.”
“OK.” Philip nodded.
He put away the LEGO on the ground and made an appointment with Lester to play tomorrow, and
then he left.
I cooked dinner and told Lester to eat. Lester looked at me and said, “Mom, can you give Philip a little
more money to spend more time with me?”
I was stunned.
I wondered if Philip told him that.
He was too bad. He asked a child to speak for him.
But I asked him, “why do you say that?”
“Because I have a lot of LEGO. If he doesn’t play with me much, I can’t finish it in summer vacation!”
Lester said naturally.
I asked him, “who asked me to give him more money?”
“No, you asked me to help Grandpa Moore. I could get one dollar an hour.”
Lester said.
Then I realized that I might have misunderstood Philip.
In the following days, I left Philip some change and asked him to help me buy some things.
And I would keep him for dinner.
Two weeks later, on a Wednesday, Linda and I went to a dinner party. I didn’t get home until after nine.
Lester was asleep when I got home. Philip was sitting on the sofa alone and playing games with his
mobile phone.
When I came in, he stood up and picked up his bag. “Becky, I’m leaving.”
“OK.”
I nodded.
Philip said nothing. He put on his shoes and went out.
It was dark outside. I saw him trot into the dark. I was a little sorry. I hesitated and called him.
Philip answered quickly. “Becky, what’s the matter?”
“There are no buses now. You can live in my house. We have a lot of rooms.”
There were three rooms in Sherry’s house. One of them was converted into Lester’s room. The other
two rooms were empty.
In fact, I thought about letting Philip live in my house, but in the end I denied it.
He was a boy of twenty.
It was inconvenient for me to live with him.
But I thought Philip was reliable and optimistic.
When I finished, Philip immediately said, “no, Becky, I’ll find a way! Thank you.”
With that, he hung up.
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