An excerpt from Devin's Way, Chapter 4


CHAPTER 4
            We got back to my mother’s house and I collapsed in a chair. I tried to call Ruth once more, got her voicemail again, and hung up without leaving a message. She would get it soon enough. I knew they canoed the day before, and were probably hiking today.
            I called up my e-mail and did something I wouldn’t wish on my worst enemy. I clicked on the photo Lou sent and blew up to a larger size.
            On the screen in front of me was a tightly cropped face shot of Devin, obviously taken on the highway, obviously dead.
            It was Devin, but did I really think it wouldn’t be?
            He was dead.
            I called Lou back to make it official, and asked him to tell me more about the accident.

            “Gary,” Lou said, “I will never lie to you. There are things I won’t tell you, but I won’t lie. He did have lower body trauma. Again, Gary, I am so sorry …”
             What wasn't he telling me? I didn't have the will to ask.
            We continued talking a few more minutes. It's as if I was watching my body go through the motions. It gave me a strange, small comfort that Lou was giving me this information -- that someone who knew us was taking care of this part, but it didn’t change the fact that Devin was dead. I knew Lou was sorry. I knew this was more personal than other stuff he had to do.
            The next few minutes were spent calling the emergency number for my government travel to get a return flight as soon as possible. Surely, the death of a son would warrant a seat on an airplane, any airplane, to get back to Wisconsin. While the travel agency put me on hold, my phone beeped. Another phone call was coming in.
            I looked at the screen.
            It was Ruth.

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