Chapter 7
‘ I squeezed her hand. ‘Mommy lies, Mia. We are going.’ We finally reached the front of the line. The agent was a young woman with tired eyes and a name tag that read Sarah. She looked like she had been yelled at five times already this morning. I gave her my most polite smile, the one I used to reserve for generals and diplomats.
Two one-way tickets to Nassau, please. First class if you have it. Mia’s eyes widened. First class. To her, that was a concept from movies, not real life. Sarah typed on her keyboard, her long acrylic nails clicking rhythmically. She asked for my passport and Mia’s birth certificate, which I luckily kept in my own safe deposit box.
I handed them over along with my platinum credit card, the heavy metal card that had a limit higher than most people’s annual salary. I had built my credit score with the same discipline I built my career. I paid everything in full, always. Sarah swiped the card. She waited. I watched her face.
I saw the micro expression before she even spoke. It was a slight frown followed by a tilt of the head. I am sorry, sir, she said. The card was declined. The words hung in the air between us. Behind me, a man in a business suit sighed loudly, checking his watch. I felt a prickle of heat on the back of my neck.
‘Try it again, please,’ I said calmly. ‘There must be a mistake. I have a zero balance on that card. She nodded and swiped it again. This time she typed in the numbers manually. She hit enter. A long pause. Then she looked up at me with something worse than annoyance. Pity. It is declined again, sir.
It says do not honor. You might want to call your bank. The man behind me groaned. Buddy, if you cannot pay, move aside. Some of us have places to be. I turned around slowly. I did not raise my voice. I just looked at him with the same look I used to give fresh recruits who forgot to polish their boots.
The look that says, ‘I have survived wars. Do not test me over a boarding pass.’ He shut his mouth and looked down at his phone. I stepped to the side of the counter, but I did not leave. Mia was trembling. Did I do something wrong, Grandpa? She whispered. No, honey. This is just a computer error.