Chương 13
Two days later, they drove to the Ruiz family’s house outside Baltimore.
The reporters had mostly left Maple Ridge by then, drawn toward newer stories. Mr. Cole remained on leave. Marisol’s settlement deadline had passed without her signature. Her union filed a grievance and a complaint alleging retaliation.
None of it had been resolved.
The Ruiz home stood on a quiet street lined with small trees and basketball hoops. A bicycle lay in one driveway. Somewhere nearby, a lawnmower sputtered despite the cold.
Mateo’s widow, Elena Ruiz, opened the door before they knocked.
She was shorter than Leo expected. Her dark hair was tied behind her neck, and she wore a gray sweatshirt with paint stains on one sleeve.
Two children watched from the stairs behind her.
Luke held the flag case.
Elena looked at it for a long moment.
Then she looked at Leo.
“You’re taller on television,” she said.
Leo glanced at Dana.
“I get that a lot,” he said, though no one had ever told him that before.
Elena smiled.
“Come in.”
The house smelled like coffee and cinnamon. School papers covered the dining table. A dog with white paws sniffed Luke’s brace, then sneezed and retreated.
Elena’s son, Tomas, was eleven. Her daughter, Isabel, was seven.
Isabel stared at Leo’s backpack.
“Are those all places you went?”
“Mostly places I want to go.”
She pointed at the airplane patch. “Did you go on the plane?”
“Yes.”
“Was it scary?”
“A little.”
“Did it crash?”
“No.”
She nodded, satisfied, and ran upstairs.
Elena touched the glass case.
“I didn’t mean to take something from you.”
“It belongs here,” Leo said.
“It belonged to the team.”
“It was for your husband.”
Elena looked at Luke.
“You told him?”
“Some.”
“Not the stupid parts, I hope.”
Luke leaned his crutches against the wall. “Especially the stupid parts.”
Elena carried the flag to a cabinet near the dining room. Several framed photographs stood there: Mateo in uniform, Mateo holding a fish, Mateo asleep on a couch with both children piled across him.
She placed the flag beside them.
“The airline called me,” she said.
Dana looked up.
“They apologized for using the image. They offered a donation.”
“Did you accept?” Luke asked.
“I told them to send the release form to my lawyer.”
Luke smiled faintly.
Elena returned to the table.
“You all hungry?”
Dana began to decline.
Leo said, “Yes.”
She looked at him.
“You said I should eat before difficult conversations.”
“This is not our house.”
Elena opened the refrigerator. “That only makes him more correct.”
They ate leftover chicken, rice, and beans at the crowded dining table.
Tomas asked Leo whether Navy SEALs could hold their breath for ten minutes. Luke said no. Tomas said a video online claimed twelve. Luke said the video was lying. Tomas appeared disappointed in the entire military.
After lunch, the children went outside.
Elena poured coffee into mismatched mugs.
“I was angry when I saw the ceremony,” she said.
Luke’s hand stopped near his cup.
“Not at Leo. At you.”
“I know.”
“You made Mateo into a speech again.”
Luke looked toward the cabinet.
“I thought I was honoring him.”
“You always think that.”
Dana stood. “Leo, help me with the plates.”
He understood the adults wanted privacy.
In the kitchen, he rinsed dishes while Dana dried them.
Through the doorway, Luke said, “I couldn’t get home.”
Elena answered, “You were coming home. You missed one connection.”
“It didn’t feel like one.”
“No. It felt like every door you couldn’t get through since the collapse.”
Luke did not respond.
Elena’s voice softened.
“You don’t have to make every person who helps you part of the team.”
Leo handed his mother a plate.
She dried it slowly.
Elena continued, “That boy did something kind. Then you put thirty men behind him and made kindness look like a medal ceremony.”
“I wanted him to understand what it meant.”
“Maybe he understood before you.”
The kitchen faucet ran.
Dana looked at Leo, but he kept his eyes on the dish in his hands.
On the drive home, Luke sat in the passenger seat while Dana drove. Leo occupied the back with Luke’s crutches angled beside him.
For twenty minutes, no one spoke.
Rain dotted the windshield.
Luke finally said, “Elena has always been efficient.”
Dana snorted.
Leo leaned between the seats.
“Was she right?”
Luke watched the highway.
“Yes.”
“About what part?”
“Most of it.”
Dana changed lanes.
Luke glanced back at Leo. “I needed the ceremony more than you did.”
“Why?”
“Because when people called you a hero, it made the airport feel like a story with a good ending.”
“It wasn’t?”
“I made it home.”
“Marisol didn’t.”
Luke nodded.
“And Mateo didn’t,” Leo said.
The car filled with the rhythm of the windshield wipers.
Luke turned forward again.
“No,” he said. “He didn’t.”
The independent review lasted three weeks.
During that time, Leo returned to classes and discovered that public attention faded faster than embarrassment.
The HERO photograph disappeared from his locker. The banner in the cafeteria came down. Principal Warren stopped mentioning national character when Leo passed him in the hallway.
Some students still saluted.
Most became interested in a fight between two high-school basketball players.
Nora’s video remained online, but she no longer checked the view count during class. She joined Leo and Caleb at lunch twice without asking.
On the third day, Caleb pointed at her tray.
“You put ketchup on mashed potatoes.”
Nora looked at him. “You play trumpet.”
“That is not a food.”
“It has the same effect on everyone nearby.”
Leo ate in silence until Caleb demanded that he choose a side.
“I think both are bad,” Leo said.
“Coward.”
“Diplomat,” Nora corrected.
Marisol found temporary work transporting patients at a rehabilitation hospital.
May you like
The job paid less and required two buses. Her mother’s surgery recovery went well, though Marisol continued pretending she still worked at the airport until her sister accidentally mentioned the television coverage.
Her mother called Leo’s house.
