They eventually blamed a bird.
Daniel had asked, “What kind of bird carries a hockey puck?”
Jack answered, “A strong one.”
Theo told everyone about Jack cheating at Monopoly and insisting it wasn’t cheating because “the bank has insurance.”
He talked about the first day of high school, when Theo had a panic attack in the bathroom, and Jack sat on the floor outside the stall pretending they were skipping class intentionally.
Then Theo got quieter.
“When Jack got sick, everybody started calling him brave.”
He looked down. “He hated that.”
I knew that.
Jack once told me:
“Mom, if one more adult tells me I’m brave while putting a needle in me, I’m going to become violent.”
Theo continued.
“He said being sick wasn’t brave. It was just happening to him.”
Theo’s hands tightened around the podium.
“But I think there was one thing he was brave about.”
