The dispatcher on the other end recognized her voice.
"Understood. Estimated arrival in forty-two minutes."
"I also want the cabin crew duty records, complaint file preservation, gate video if available, passenger contact collection, and no deletion or alteration of any employee records related to Rebecca Morrison or Dennis Morrison."
"Understood."
Naomi ended the call.
Elijah's grandmother stared at her.
"Are you okay?"
The question was so simple that Naomi almost laughed.
"No."
Her mother nodded.
"Me neither."
Naomi knelt beside Elijah again.
"Do you still need the bathroom?"
He looked embarrassed.
"A little."
Naomi's heart twisted.
Even after everything, he was still worried he might be asking too much.
"Come on."
She took his hand and walked him forward.
Nobody stopped them.
When he came out, she washed his face with a damp paper towel and sat with him on the jump seat for a moment.
"Mom?"
"Yes?"
"Why did she think I was lying?"
Naomi inhaled slowly.
There were answers a mother wanted to delay until a child was older.
The world had made the decision for her.
"Because some people learn unfair ideas about other people, and if they don't question those ideas, they start seeing what they expect instead of what's actually in front of them."
"Because I'm Black?"
Naomi closed her eyes briefly.
"I think that was part of it."
Elijah looked down at his shoes.
"I was polite."
"You were."
"I said excuse me."
"You did everything right."
"Then why didn't that work?"
That was the hardest question.
Naomi put both hands around his.
"Doing everything right doesn't control what other people do. It only means their bad choice does not become your fault."
He thought about that.
"So I don't have to be extra good because someone thinks something bad?"
Naomi felt tears press behind her eyes.
"No, baby. You don't have to earn your humanity."
He leaned into her.
For several minutes she stopped being Chief Operating Officer of Skyward Airlines.
She was only his mother.
Later, when Elijah returned to row eighteen with his grandmother, Naomi remained standing near the forward galley with Captain Hendricks.
"You said Rebecca has been difficult before," Naomi said.