He’d witnessed me being shot instead.
And Pop told me that he… hadn’t been doing so well by the time I went in for surgery. But Calvin had had support, and for that I was grateful. It was a small comfort knowing that if I ended up cashing in my curiosity lives too soon, at least there were people in my absence who would love and care for Calvin. Maybe not his biological family, but the misfits we’d surrounded ourselves with were far better anyway.
Family was what you made of it, right?
The first four months, as I was in and out of the hospital, recovery, and physical therapy, our little band looked after the Emporium, our dog,us. I’m not the most eloquent guy, but I hoped they all understood. Without Pop, Max, Beth, Quinn,Neil—it could have been very different.
“CENTRAL PARKis two and half miles long,” I stated. “Pretty sure we’ve walked its entire length at this point.”
Calvin asked, in a rather preoccupied sounding manner, “What does your StepTrack say?”
I raised my wrist close to my face. “That I’ve already walked two miles.”
“You didn’t restart it when we entered the park.”
Busted.
I shrugged and changed the subject. “I hope you’ve actually been looking for this elusive maroon tree, because we both knowIwon’t pick it out with any degree of success.”
It was peak foliage season in the city. Central Park was brimming with locals and tourists enjoying the colored canopy I’d heard a passerby describe as “as stunning as an oil painting.” I supposed I could agree with that comparison.
Even my world wasn’t simplyblack and white. There were always enough shades of gray to make it interesting.
I held Dillon’s leash in one hand and Calvin’s hand in the other. The sky was a pleasant overcast, the air crisp and cool, and the mismatching leaf litter crunched underfoot.
The day was just shy of perfect.
“Central Park has been a National Historic Landmark since 1962,” I stated.
I glanced up at Calvin. He’d been acting… weird today. For the last few days, really. Not that his silence was necessarily strange. I was the one who couldn’t shut up, and Calvin was the one who nodded and encouraged my obsessive sharing of little-known facts. But I was pretty sure he hadn’t heard a word I’d said all morning. In fact, I feared he’d have let go of my hand a half mile back and wandered off in another direction if I hadn’t been holding on to him with a viselike grip.
“Have you seen the Alice sculpture in the park?” I prodded.
Calvin didn’t answer, just stared ahead along the path.
“There’s a quote from ‘Jabberwocky’on it,” I continued.
Nothing.
“It seems very pretty. But it’s rather hard to understand!”
“What?”
I looked up again. “Alice. In reference to ‘Jabberwocky.’ Never mind. Are you okay?”
Calvin let out a little sigh and stopped us under the shade of a dark-leafed tree. He tugged his hand free and moved to stand in front of me.
“Is this maroon?” I asked playfully, pointing upward.
Why isn’t he smiling?
“Calvin, you’re starting to freak me out,” I stated. My heart was actually beginning to pound. “Have I done something wrong?”
“No,” he answered, shaking his head. “Of course not.”
“Then what’s going on? Why have you been a hundred thousand miles away today?”
Calvin stared at me. He reached into his coat pocket and removed a small box. He gripped it hard, working it in his palm before seeming to steel himself, and snapped the lid open.
