The Man in the Parking Lot Who Never Bought Anything

He wasn’t doing anything wrong.

That was the problem.

Every night that week, he sat in the same spot at the far edge of the Food Lion parking lot.

Engine off. Windows down. Just watching the front door like he was waiting on a cue no one else could hear.

He never went inside.

Never bought a thing.

Never moved when folks came or left.

People pretended not to notice — that’s how small towns work —but everybody noticed him.

And when he showed up again on night six, my dad murmured without looking up:

“Man who ain’t buying anything is here for something else.”