The Summer I Left novel · Chapter 11 of 24
Chapter 11: Stand Up and Say Sorry
The lights came back up on a hall full of people looking at me.
Dad was on his feet before the clip had finished fading.
He took the microphone from Brynn without asking.
"I'll say this once," he said, and his voice shook. "I raised that boy for eighteen years. I fed him and clothed him and sat in the waiting room when he had his heart cut open. And this is how he thanks us."
A woman at a nearby table wiped her eyes.
"He tells people we stole from him. He records us in our own home. My real son has been through hell, and Drew has made it worse every day."
The room murmured.
He glanced at Mom. "Carol, tell them."
Mom sat with her hands twisted in her lap and said nothing at all.
I looked at her, but she wouldn't look up.
*Sat in the waiting room when he had his heart cut open.*
I noted it, because I had never heard Dad say it before.
Dad handed the microphone back.
"Brynn," he said. "You finish."
Brynn took it with trembling fingers.
"Thank you, Mr. Bradfield." She turned to the hall. "Our total tonight, with your help, is sixty-one thousand, four hundred dollars."
Applause rolled through the basement.
She waited for it, head bowed.
"I'm also honored to say I've been named a finalist for the Community Caregiver Scholarship, which recognizes young people who stand beside a friend through hardship. I'm doing this for Nate. Only for Nate."
More applause.
Beside me, Eddie whispered, "I want to put this woman's face on a milk carton."
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