easy. Rye toast.”
I smiled.
“I remember.”
The following morning, Walt sat on his old stool at the counter.
I prepared his eggs exactly how he liked them.
When he finished, he placed five dollars beneath his coffee cup.
I tried to return it.
Instead, he pointed toward the register.
“Put it in the jar, Frankie.”
But the donation jar was gone.
That afternoon, I bought a new glass container.
I wrote ROSIE’S RULE across the front and placed it beneath my mother’s photograph.
Walt’s five dollars became the first contribution.
Next, I visited Mrs. Kowalczyk.
She lived in a small yellow house on Mercer Street.
Her granddaughter answered the door and eventually invited me inside.
Mrs. Kowalczyk appeared using a walker.
“Frankie,” she said.
“Hello, Mrs. K.”
She studied me for a moment.
Then she told me what had happened.
