Chapter 13 - Leo Started Hiding Food
The physical hunger improved quickly.
The fear did not.
For weeks, Leo hid food.
Crackers under his pillow.
Half a banana behind a toy basket.
Pieces of bread inside a drawer.
The first time Enzo found them, his instinct was to say:
“Food stays in the kitchen.”
Then he stopped.
The rule could wait.
Instead he sat beside Leo.
“You don’t have to save that.”
Leo immediately looked worried.
“Why?”
“There’ll be more tomorrow.”
“Even if I’m bad?”
Enzo’s chest tightened.
“Yes.”
“Even if I don’t clean?”
“Yes.”
Leo thought about it.
Then:
“Even the car?”
Especially the car.
Enzo pulled him close.
“Food is not payment for being good.”
That sentence had to be repeated dozens of times before Leo truly believed it.
Healing rarely arrives through one dramatic conversation.
It arrives through breakfast showing up again.
Lunch.
Dinner.
Snacks.
Every day.
May you like
Until the child stops expecting the plate to disappear.
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