“He fired me.”
“Whitmore.”
“Right there at the pass.”
“I saw part of it.”
Destiny looked toward him.
“I heard what he said.”
“Which part?”
“The part about not knowing who employs people like you.”
Her mouth tightened.
“He didn't even have proof.”
“Proof of what?”
“That I warned you.”
She looked away.
“He just saw me leaning over your table and decided that was enough.”
“You did warn me.”
Destiny met his eyes.
“You found it?”
“The note?”
She nodded.
“Under the plate, exactly where you told me to look.”
Destiny released a breath.
“I wasn't sure it worked.”
“It worked.”
“I couldn't let you eat that.”
“I know.”
“They pulled it hours earlier.”
Elijah said nothing.
Destiny continued:
“I know what he told the line. I know why he did it.”
“Why?”
She looked toward the building.
“Because he decided you wouldn't know the difference.”
Elijah nodded.
“Yes.”
Destiny's eyes filled slightly.
“I hate that I went along as far as I did.”
“You didn't choose the plate.”
“I carried it.”
“And then stopped me from eating it.”
“I should've refused completely.”
“Maybe.”
She looked surprised by his answer.
Elijah continued:
“But courage rarely arrives at the perfect moment.”
Destiny looked down.
“I didn't argue when he fired me.”
“You shouldn't have had to.”
“It wouldn't have changed his mind.”
“No.”
“It never does with someone like him.”
Elijah studied her.
“You have a child?”
Destiny blinked.
“How did you know?”
“I heard you in the kitchen.”
She looked embarrassed.
“My son. Malik.”
“How old?”
“Six.”
“Rent?”
She gave a tired smile.
“Always.”
Elijah looked at the box.
“You knew you could lose your job.”
“I knew.”
“And you warned me anyway.”
Destiny shrugged.
“I couldn't let somebody get sick because keeping quiet was easier.”
Elijah stood silently for a moment.
Then he said:
“That took courage.”
“Courage doesn't pay rent.”
“No.”
She looked at him.
Elijah nodded.
“That's true.”
Destiny gave another humorless laugh.
“Two years here, and I walk out with a box and a rent problem.”
“Can I tell you something?”
She waited.
“What you did in there today is character.”
Destiny looked away.
Elijah continued:
“That's something built into you long before you ever walked onto that floor. Whoever raised you, whoever taught you to do the right thing when nobody important was watching and it could cost you something real, they did something right.”
Destiny was quiet.
Then:
“My grandmother, mostly.”
Elijah smiled.
“What did she teach you?”
Destiny adjusted the box against her hip.
“She used to say doing right by people isn't a decision you make once.”
“What does that mean?”
“She said everybody wants credit for the big moral decision.”
Destiny looked toward him.
“But character is what you do in all the little moments where nobody expects a speech.”
Elijah nodded slowly.
“Smart woman.”
“She was.”
“What you did today is going to matter.”
Destiny smiled sadly.
“I appreciate you saying that.”
“Trust me.”
She held out one hand awkwardly around the box.
“I don't even know your name.”
Elijah shook it.