First Class Stamp Read Online Free PDF

handed Ben his change and Ben immediately dropped the
coins into Alex’s awaiting hand.
    “Alexander Grossman? You shame me!” Aldo shook his head but
Ben only laughed.
    “Enterprising if you ask me,” Ben slapped Alex on the back
as he lifted his stamps and turned for the door.
    “Come back anytime!” Alex yelled after him.
    Ben laughed as he crossed the street and entered his
apartment building. He stopped at the doorman’s desk and placed a stamp on his
letter and handed it off to be mailed then proceeded toward the elevator and up
to the thirty-fourth floor and home.
    *****
    On Wednesday Sophia Manning pushed the OFF button on the
cordless telephone and hurled it at the sofa. It bounced off the pillows and settled
on the cushion.
    “Damn him!” she screamed into her hands as she covered her
face and shook her head.
    Her ex-husband was a bastard extraordinaire. For the third
week in a row, he was cancelling his weeknight visit with his son. He claimed
to be stuck at the office but he called on his cell phone and if he was still
at the office he would’ve used his desk phone. She wasn’t an idiot, although he
would never be convinced of that. Once again, she would have to tell Alex that
he would be staying home…with her…again.
    As Sophia retrieved the phone and placed it back on its base
on the side table, she knew she wouldn’t be so outraged if Willis hadn’t also
flaked on his weekend visitation as well. It had been four weeks since he’d
seen his son, but it didn’t seem to bother him or he would make an effort. She
could probably count on her two hands how many times he’d actually picked up
his son since the divorce. He occasionally called and talked to Alex mid-week,
and a couple of times had even sent a present – the latest video game and a
skate board, both of which made Sophia furious. A video game was going to rot
his brain and where the hell did Willis expect him to ride a skateboard in the
middle of the Financial District? They were better off without him in their
lives, but Sophia needed the child support to pay their expenses. Without it,
they’d be in big trouble.
    She heard Alex bounding up the stairs. He’d been with his
grandfather in the store for the past hour helping to stock shelves. Aldo paid
him for his time and Sophia knew that her father was a good influence on Alex,
something Willis had never been, nor would ever be.
    “I’ve made fifteen dollars and eighty cents already this
week,” he grinned as he walked into the kitchen, finding his mother unloading
the dishwasher.
    “Great! Put it in your bank before you blow it on something
stupid.”
    “Okay,” he sighed and marched down the hall to his bedroom.
    Sophia couldn’t put it off any longer so she followed him.
Leaning on the door frame, she watched as her son pulled the large jar from the
corner of his closet, unscrewed the lid, threw his money inside and then put
the lid back on.
    “Have you decided what you want to buy yet?” she asked
nodding at the half-full jar.
    Alex shook his head. “I want to go to a Yankees game but I’d
have to have enough for two tickets because you wouldn’t let me go alone.”
    “Darn right I wouldn’t,” Sophia chuckled. She cleared her
throat and took a deep breath. “Your dad called a little bit ago and…”
    “And he’s not coming. Figures.”
    Sophia hated Willis but her heart broke as she watched the
small shoulders on her son slump and his head fall forward, his chin resting on
his chest. She was used to him canceling but Alex would never understand why
his dad couldn’t seem to make him a priority in his life.
    “Tell you what,” Sophia perked up. “Let’s you and me go to
dinner and then to a movie. Want to see the new Star Trek movie?”
    “Really?” Alex’s eyes shot up to hers, a sparkle in them
that made her smile.
    “Really. Who wants to have leftover hamburger casserole
again anyway?”
    “Not me!” Alex grinned.
    *****
    When Ben returned to his