“You’re good with him,” I told Logan once, watching him coax Andrew through a particularly unreasonable bout of refusing to eat anything orange.
“He’s easy,” Logan said, shrugging.
The more I thought about it on the drive home, the tighter my hands clenched around the steering wheel. I couldn’t stop imagining the worst.
I turned into our street and the first thing I saw was Officer Benny standing in my driveway. I knew him.
I couldn’t stop imagining the worst.
He was holding Andrew.
Andrew was asleep on his shoulder, one small hand still wrapped around a half-eaten cracker.
For a moment, I just sat in the car and looked at that image because I needed to understand it before I moved. My toddler was fine. I got out of the car and crossed the driveway fast.
“What’s going on, Officer?”
“Is this your son?” Officer Benny nodded at Andrew.
“Yes. Where’s Logan? What happened?”
He was holding Andrew.
“Ma’am, we need to talk about your older son. But I want you to know right now, it’s not what you’re expecting.”
Officer Benny turned toward the house, still carrying Andrew, and I followed him inside, not knowing what that sentence meant.
Logan was standing at the kitchen counter, holding a glass of water.
He looked at me the way he used to when he was little and something had gone wrong at school. That mix of trying to look calm and not quite pulling it off told me something was really wrong.
I followed him inside, not knowing what that sentence meant.
“Mom? What’s going on?”
“That is exactly what I’m asking you, Logan.”
Officer Benny put a hand briefly on my shoulder. “Ma’am, calm down. Just give me one more minute, and everything will make sense.”
My heart raced as I waited.
Officer Benny settled Andrew onto the couch. He reached for the glass of water on the counter, took a sip, and set it down on the counter.
My heart raced as I waited.
Then he looked at me. “Your son didn’t do anything wrong.”
I stared at him.
“What?”
“He’s right, Mom,” Logan added.
My brain refused to pivot. I had been so certain of one thing the entire drive home. But now the officer and my son were handing me a different version, and I couldn’t make the pieces fit.
“Then why is he here?” I asked, glancing at Officer Benny.
I had been so certain of one thing the entire drive home.
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