"Your tie is crooked," she said.
"I don't have to impress anyone."
"That has never stopped your tie from being crooked."
He fixed it.
A woman entered ten minutes after the program began.
She looked to be in her late fifties, wearing a grocery-store uniform under a winter coat. Her shoes were wet from the rain. She stood near the doorway holding an envelope and scanning the room as if she might have walked into the wrong event.
A volunteer approached.
James watched without meaning to.
Four years earlier, he might have watched because he expected something to go wrong.
Now it was simply habit.
"Can I help you?" the volunteer asked.
The woman held up the envelope.
"My grandson is supposed to be here. Isaiah Bennett. I got off late."
The volunteer checked a list.
"Yes, ma'am. He's at District Seven, Table C."
The woman looked at her damp coat.
"Am I dressed okay? I came straight from work."
The volunteer smiled.
"You're dressed like somebody who came for Isaiah. That's enough."
Then she helped the woman find the table.
No one knew James was watching.
No one knew the woman had any power.
As far as James could tell, she had none that mattered to the volunteer.
She was simply a grandmother arriving late in wet work clothes.
She was treated with respect anyway.
James felt something inside him unclench.
Sarah noticed.
"What?"
He nodded toward the table where the woman was hugging a teenage boy.
"Nothing."
Sarah followed his gaze.
"You look like you're about to cry."
"I'm getting older."
"That is not a diagnosis."
He smiled.
The program ended at eight-thirty.
Students gathered around dessert trays. Parents took photographs. Teachers traded phone numbers.
James walked toward the exit and nearly collided with Isaiah's grandmother.
"Sorry," she said.
"My fault."
She looked at him more closely.
"I know you."
James braced himself.
"Do you?"
"You're on the scholarship brochure."
He relaxed.
"That's unfortunate."
She laughed.
"My grandson says you started all this."
"He is exaggerating."
"Well, whoever did, thank you."
"How's he doing?"
Her face changed instantly.