He could not explain his way out of it.

There was nothing to explain.

His own voice had said it all, to everyone, minutes before.

Chapter 12 — I’m Taking Our Son Off This Plane

“I’m taking our son off this plane,” I told him, and I turned my back on him as I said it.

“And when you land in Chicago to start your new life, you can explain to your chief pilot why your personal affairs just grounded a flight.”

I walked back down the aisle to row twenty-eight, and I took Leo by the hand, and I gathered his backpack with the drawing still sticking out of it.