“Next month.”
He marked it on the calendar before they finished the call.
Hank rode to Ohio.
Emma hated that.
He did it anyway.
Eight hours into the trip, rain began.
He stopped under an overpass and covered the tank.
The drawing had been professionally sealed by then.
Wes found a clear coating that could preserve the original marker without dissolving it.
It was imperfect.
A few lines had blurred slightly.
Eli’s front wheel remained absurdly large.
Hank loved every flaw.
When he reached Claire’s house, Eli was waiting on the porch.
He wore a helmet.
Hank looked at Emma.
“No.”
“I didn’t say anything.”
“He’s wearing a helmet.”
“He has a bicycle.”
Eli ran toward him.
“You brought it!”
Hank parked.
The boy circled the motorcycle.
“Dad’s still there.”
“Told you.”
Eli touched one white line.
“Can I sit?”
Hank looked at Emma.
She hesitated.
“Engine off.”
“Of course.”
“Kickstand stable.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
“Don’t ‘yes ma’am’ me like I’m unreasonable.”
“I would never.”
She narrowed her eyes.
Eli climbed onto the seat.
His feet hung nowhere near the pegs.
He wrapped both hands around the grips.
Hank stood beside him.
For several seconds nobody spoke.
Then Eli looked at the drawing.
“Dad wanted to sit here?”
“Probably.”
“Did he ride it?”
Hank smiled.
“Once.”
Emma looked surprised.
“When?”
“Seventeen.”
“You let him?”
“No.”
Eli’s eyes widened.
“He stole it?”
“Borrowed without permission.”
“That’s stealing.”
“Yes.”
“What happened?”
“He moved it six feet.”
“That’s it?”
“And hit my workbench.”
Eli looked toward the rear.
“The dent.”
“The dent.”
He laughed.
Hank saw Daniel again.
The visit lasted three days.
They went to a science museum because Eli had already visited the local art museum with his school.
Hank complained.
Eli informed him science was useful.
Hank asked who had taught him that.
“Dad.”
“Traitor.”
They built a birdhouse.
Its roof came out crooked.
Hank offered to fix it.
Eli refused.
“The birds don’t bring a level.”
Hank stopped holding the hammer.
Emma looked up from the porch.
“What did you say?”
Eli repeated it.
“Grandpa told Dad that.”
Emma’s face changed.
Daniel had remembered.
Of course he had.
They hung the birdhouse in Claire’s yard.
Two weeks later, a sparrow moved into it.
Emma sent Hank a photograph.
He printed three copies.
By summer, the calls no longer required planning.
Eli would phone because he had lost a tooth.
Because he had drawn a horse that looked like a dog.
Because his teacher had said his poster would be displayed in the hallway.
Because someone at school had called his father dead and Eli had punched him.
That call was different.
Emma spoke first.
“He’s suspended.”
Hank sat in the garage beside his motorcycle.
“For how long?”
“Two days.”
“What happened?”
“A boy said something about Daniel.”
“What?”
“Hank.”