"No!"
Marcus reached forward but stopped before touching the officer.
"Please don't."
Walsh lifted the cake.
For one suspended second, everyone stared.
The cake tilted in his hands.
The sugar emblem trembled.
A strawberry rolled against the frosting.
Then Walsh threw the entire cake off the table.
It struck the grass with a heavy, wet crash.
White frosting exploded outward.
The blue-and-red decorations shattered.
The Superman emblem broke into pieces.
The seven birthday candles scattered across the ground.
And Caleb screamed.
"DADDY!"
The sound was so desperate that Marcus felt it in his chest.
His son ran toward the destroyed cake.
The little red cape fluttered behind him.
He stopped a few feet away and stared at the mess.
His face crumpled.
"That's my cake!"
Marcus rushed toward him.
"Caleb—"
But Walsh stepped forward.
His black police boot came down directly on the ruined cake.
Frosting flattened beneath the sole.
The remaining decorations snapped.
Then he lifted his foot and stomped again.
The small Superman emblem disappeared beneath the mud and crushed buttercream.
"Maybe next time," Walsh sneered, "you'll learn to listen."
A little girl began crying.
Another child backed behind her mother.
Someone shouted, "What is wrong with you?"
Rachel's phone shook in her hands, but she kept recording.
Caleb stared at the officer's boot.
Then he looked at his father.
Tears streamed down his cheeks.
"Daddy, he broke Superman."
Marcus dropped to his knees beside his son.
He pulled Caleb into his arms.
For a moment, he could not speak.
He had spent weeks planning this afternoon.
He had saved money.
He had decorated the pavilion.
He had wanted to give his little boy one uncomplicated day of happiness.
Now his son was sobbing against his chest while a police officer stood over the crushed remains of his birthday cake.
Marcus pressed one hand against the back of Caleb's head.
"I'm here, buddy."
Caleb clung to him.
"Why did he do that?"
Marcus closed his eyes.
He had no answer that a seven-year-old should have to hear.
So he said the only thing he could say honestly.
"You didn't do anything wrong."
Caleb began shaking.
"I just wanted my birthday."
Marcus held him tighter.
"I know, son."
Behind them, Walsh adjusted his vest.
"Party's over."