9781422288184

C HAPTER 1

14

or the things they were passing. Often she turned on the radio and sang to him as he watched her from the backseat. This time, how- ever, they rode in silence. Dana hardly noticed the cars, lights, and signs they passed. Halfway home, sirens sang out behind her, star- tling Dana out of her zombie-like state. She caught her breath and pulled onto the shoulder of the road. A police car, ambulance, and fire truck raced past with sirens wailing and lights flashing. Gravel pinged and popped off the car windows as the vehicles sped by. Feel- ing shaken, Dana eased the car back onto the road. As she glanced in the rearview mirror, the sight of Denzel sleeping soundly in his car seat clutched her heart. She knew that any other child would have woken with a start as the emergency vehicles roared by, but Denzel slept peacefully on. That night, Roger felt tense and unsure as he watched his son from the doorway of the nursery. Denzel sat in his crib with his back to his father and gazed at the mobile of colorful animals turning lazily just beyond his reach. A classical piano tune that Roger loved danced from the mobile as it spun. When Dana was pregnant, Roger had made tapes of classical music. At night, lying in bed, he would stretch a pair of earphones across Dana’s swollen belly and play his fa- vorite music to his unborn son. Sometimes he would rest his face be- side Dana’s round stomach and sing in his pure tenor voice. Roger thought about all those nights spent talking and singing to his son. Waves of sorrow and loss pushed through his body and stuck in his throat. It was all a waste , he thought but immediately re- gretted thinking such a horrible thing. “Oh Denzel,” he whispered as he stepped toward his son’s crib. Denzel turned round and smiled at his father. Roger swallowed his pain and smiled back. Then a flicker of hope lit in his stomach. “Why did you turn around, Den- zel?” he asked his smiling son. “How did you know Daddy was here?” Denzel simply grinned his toothless grin, but Roger’s