You're welcome, ma'am."
My head whips up at the ma'am.
Not that I haven't heard that word spilled like sticky sweet syrup from a thousand mouths of a thousand boys who've been born and bred to use it everyday.
There's something about this boy, the way that word just slides off his tongue, buoyed with cautious respect and elegant pleasure.
Like he loves saying the word.
Like his lips weigh the worth of it.

Auteur: Liz Reinhardt