Lou looked away into her flower basket. It wasn't so much that she was embarrassed but uncertain. Why was he pointing this out to her? She almost felt sorry for him that he noticed this ugliness so quickly.
"We each 'ave our own path, Mister. I trust in Him. We are His faithful. This ain't a social event for us. We sit in the darkness 'ere so that we can have a li'l more light in our lives." She searches his face for a moment. The crinkles of life have cracked through his youth. He has lived hard. Someday she wonders if her hard life will crack through too.
She reaches for a bunch of flowers in her basket, Lily of the Valley and Violets for him and moves toward his jacket with it. She hesitates to pin it on. "Can I?" she asks permission.