When the sun came up, Marcus had cried himself into exhaustion. He was still in my arms, eyes half-closed, occasionally whimpering.
The fire captain knelt beside us. “Child services is here. They need to take him.”
My heart broke all over again. “Buddy, I can’t—”
“Please!” He gripped my vest with both hands. “Please don’t leave me! Everyone leaves me! Daddy left and now Mommy’s gone and please don’t leave me too!”
I looked at the fire captain. At the social worker standing in the doorway. At this tiny boy who’d lost everything in one night.
“Can I go with him?” I asked. “Just for today. Just so he’s not alone.”
The social worker hesitated. “That’s highly irregular. You’re not family. You’re not a licensed foster—”
“Please,” Marcus begged. “Please let Danny stay with me. He’s the only one who understands.”
I don’t know what that social worker saw in my face. Maybe she saw a man who’d carried the same guilt this boy was carrying. Maybe she saw someone who genuinely wanted to help. Maybe she just saw a biker with tears streaming into his beard who was holding a traumatized child like he was made of glass.
“Okay,” she said quietly. “Just for today. You can ride with us to the emergency foster placement.”
“Danny?” Marcus asked while he picked at his eggs.
“Yeah, buddy?”
“Did you ever stop feeling like you killed your daddy and sister?”
I was quiet for a long moment. “It took a long time, Marcus. Years. But eventually I understood that my daddy made a choice. He chose to save me. Just like your mommy chose to save you. And the best way to honor that choice is to live. To grow up. To have a good life. To make their sacrifice worth it.”
“How do I do that?”Continue reading…
