Dad kept yelling. He said Shawn was lazy, that he didn’t know how
to run a crew, didn’t understand the value of hard work. Shawn
stepped down from his welding and ambled over to the flatbed pickup.
Dad followed, still hollering. Shawn pulled off his gloves, slowly,
delicately, one finger at a time, as if there weren’t a man screaming six
inches from his face. For several moments he stood still, letting the
abuse wash over him, then he stepped into the pickup and drove off,
leaving Dad to shout at the dust.
I remember the awe I felt as I watched that pickup roll down the dirt
road. Shawn was the only person I had ever seen stand up to Dad, the
only one whose force of mind, whose sheer tonnage of conviction,
could make Dad give way. I had seen Dad lose his temper and shout at
every one of my brothers. Shawn was the only one I ever saw walk
away.
—IT WAS A SATURDAY NIGHT. I was at Grandma-over-in-town’s, my math
book propped open on the kitchen table, a plate of cookies next to me.
I was studying to retake the ACT. I often studied at Grandma’s so Dad
wouldn’t lecture me.
The phone rang. It was Shawn. Did I want to watch a movie? I said I
did, and a few minutes later I heard a loud rumble and looked out the
window. With his booming black motorcycle and his wide-brimmed
Aussie hat, he seemed entirely out of place parking parallel to
Grandma’s white picket fence. Grandma started making brownies, and
Shawn and I went upstairs to choose a movie.
We paused the movie when Grandma delivered the brownies. We ate
them in silence, our spoons clicking loudly against Grandma’s
porcelain plates. “You’ll get your twenty-seven,” Shawn said suddenly
when we’d finished.
“It doesn’t matter,” I said. “I don’t think I’ll go either way. What if
Dad’s right? What if I get brainwashed?”
Shawn shrugged. “You’re as smart as Dad. If Dad’s right, you’ll know
when you get there.”
The movie ended. We told Grandma good night. It was a balmy
summer evening, perfect for the motorcycle, and Shawn said I should
ride home with him, we’d get the car tomorrow. He revved the engine,