m: ‘i’m finished with class and just working, so let me know when you’re ready to go.’
me: ‘come now!!!! )))’
m: ‘coming out now.’
(i shut down my computer, pack up, walk upstairs, chit chat with colleagues, look out the door for m – my loyal carpool partner. who works in our high school, while i work in our kindergarten. we coordinate schedules each day. our buildings are one minute away from each other. we share a campus. we share rides to and from school. we share a friendship and a level of understanding each other, developed over hours spent together in a car, as willing captive audience members. i mill around. chit chat some more. visit two classrooms. look out window. more time passes. i check my phone to see if she got waylaid along the way.)
i look down and see this:
m: ‘you drove. right?’
oh.
yes, yes i did.
i head to my car,
(without further milling or chatting or texting),
it’s waiting in my parking lot,
right where i left it this morning,
to pick up m.
we make eye contact.
m gets in the car.
we realize that each of us was waiting to be picked up by the other.
it could have been a very long wait.
one drove.
one did not.
we leave. we wind down from the day. we laugh.
one of us got confused today.
we don’t name names.
