The Captain noticed a maintenance-company logo on his jacket.
“Working?”
“Three mornings a week.”
“Park maintenance?”
“Building maintenance.”
“Good.”
The man looked toward him.
“Don't sound proud.”
“Why?”
“You didn't do it.”
The Captain smiled.
“Fair.”
They sat quietly.
Joggers passed.
Children chased birds.
A city worker emptied a trash can.
The man looked toward the ground.
“I heard they fired him.”
“Yes.”
“You happy?”
The Captain considered.
“No.”
The man looked surprised.
“Why?”
“Because if I’m happy we fired someone, then I start treating discipline like winning.”
The man stared.
“What do you treat it like?”
“Correction.”
“Protection.”
“Sometimes consequence.”
The man nodded slowly.
“He deserved consequence.”
“Yes.”
“No argument there.”
The man sipped coffee.
“Did he apologize?”
The Captain looked at him.
“Not to my knowledge.”
“Figures.”
“Would it matter?”
The man thought.
“Maybe.”
“Not sure.”
The Captain nodded.
Then the man asked:
“You still recording everybody?”
“Not today.”
“Bad habit to lose.”
The Captain smiled.
“I have bodyguards now.”
The man looked around.
“No you don't.”
“Exactly.”
They sat.
Eventually the man said:
“You know the worst part?”
“What?”
“Not the kick.”
The Captain waited.
“The way he looked at me before.”
“Like I was already guilty of something.”
“Like sitting down was something I was doing to him.”
The Captain listened.
The man continued.
“People think being homeless is one big disaster.”
“It isn't.”
“It’s a thousand little times somebody acts like you're in the way.”
The Captain looked toward the bench.
“Do you still feel that?”
“Sometimes.”
“But now I have somewhere to go after.”
That difference sounded simple.
It was enormous.
The Captain said:
“I’m glad.”
The man gave him a warning look.
“No proud voice.”
“Right.”
They smiled.
A patrol officer approached along the path.
Young.
Black woman.
Maybe late twenties.
She recognized the Captain.
“Sir.”
He nodded.
“Officer.”
She looked toward the other man.
Then the bench.
Everything was ordinary.
“Everything okay?”
The formerly homeless man smiled.
“Depends.”
The young officer looked confused.
The Captain said:
“We're fine.”
She nodded.
“Have a good afternoon.”
Then continued walking.
The man watched her.
“That’s it?”
The Captain looked toward him.