“He’s a teenager, Telly. Acting out. Got no sense of what’s dangerous.” Gloria shut her eyes. “He needs his father around. We all do.”

“He came to the garage. Remember I said, Glow? Wanting to talk to me. But I never—I never. I never gave him no time. Just got rid of him.”

“Mr. Janes. No one can predict—”

“Why’d I do that? Why didn’t I show him I cared? I loved him, I did. I loved him so, so much. And I didn’t do nothing.” He was shaking hard all over. Gloria hugged him. “Just too worried about my own shit. That’s all I was. Thinking my own shit mattered.”

“Oh, Telly,” she said. “Oh, Telly. Sit down. Sit down for a minute. I’ll get you a drink. We can’t give up. We can’t. I just don’t believe it. I won’t.”

He took Gloria’s special chair. His greasy hands were on his knees. “Glow. C’mon. Listen to yourself. They got his statement. No matter what’s going through a man’s head, no way he’d lie about killing a child.”

Then he started crying. I never seen Telly cry before. His mouth was open and sounds popped out, like old towels getting ripped up. It made my heart go super fast.

Gloria got down in front of him. She put her head in his lap. He patted her hair. Her back was twitching. “Now, now,” he said. “We’ll get through this. We will. We’ll see each other through, Glow.”

The man’s voice was cotton-ball soft. “We’re going to go, Mrs. Janes. Give you all some privacy. I’m certain Channel 2 or Channel 6, once they get wind of what happened, will be trying to get another interview. You’re under no obligation to talk to them. Or anyone else, for that matter. Absolutely none. It’s your choice.”

The man and Susan went down the steps and got in the car. When they drove out of the circle they never turned their lights back on.

“I want you home, Telly. I need you home.”

Telly wiped his face hard. “You hear yourself? Is that all you think about?”

“You need to be here, we’ve got to make a plan.”

“He’s gone. Gloria. The boy can’t swim a single stroke. I—I never taught him.” More towels ripping.

“I can’t get through this without you.”

Telly stood up and bumped Gloria back. “I need to see Dian.”

“What? All you got to see is right here. Your wife and your daughter.”

“Is that what you got on your mind? Really? Really? Right now? Destroying what’s left of my life?”

“I never—”

“Our son is gone, our son is drowned, and you’re going to get your goddamned teeth cleaned and telling her all kinds of shit?”

My heart was tak-takking like crazy.