" First of all why were you crying," Ray asked and he wasn't asking mockingly.
His jaw was set and he had a serious glint in his eyes. All his playful behavior evaporated when he looked at me this time. It made me want to be brutally honest with him. Give him the unexpected raw truth.
" I was crying because I was relieved that I found a job," I informed.
" I've been looking for a job tirelessly for a month now and I'd run out of my savings because I had to hand them over to my drunk mom. She said she'd run out of food but I know I had given her more than enough money for food. I bet she'd spent it on buying beer every night. And I was worried that if she lost a bet again I wouldn't be able to bail her with money," I uncovered.
" Oh, so that's why..." Ray trailed off.
" That's why what?" I asked as my breath caught up. He knows I steal, I thought. My heart pounded against my chest and my palms started sweating. A wave of nausea washed over me as I thought of how he would disrespect me now. It felt like someone had clawed my heart. The expression on Ray's face didn't waver at all.
" So that's why you were crying," he replied.
" Uh, yeah," I admitted. I let out a huge exhalation of pent-up breath and gave him a tentative smile.
" You know your face reveals little but it's easy to see that you're someone who's been through a lot of shit," Ray inferred. He raised an eyebrow.
" You know your face reveals a lot and it's easy to see that you're someone who's not been through a lot," I judged.
" Yeah, you're right I haven't. My dad just passed away six months ago and that's why I'm rolling rich great right?" Ray said. He was trying to make the topic lighter by being sarcastic about it. I realized I shouldn't have judged him so openly. His tone was sharp and it made me think he was mad at me. Who was I to judge if a person was happy or not by their wealth? I fucked up, as usual.