That was the gift — not his downfall, which I could have lived without, but the laying-down of a burden I had carried so long I’d forgotten it was heavy.

Chapter 12 — Why Didn’t You Show Me

Late that first night, after we were home and the whole roaring world had finally gone quiet, I sat on the edge of Otis’s bed.

He was in his pajamas, turning a navy sock over and over in his hands, not looking at me.

I had spent the drive home not knowing what to say to him.

Part of me wanted to praise him — he had been extraordinary, brave in a way I had never been at his age or at any age.