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Category:
Literary Fiction
Publisher: CreateSpace
ISBN-10: 1505620848
Type: Fiction
Pages: 217
Copyright: August 17, 2014
ISBN-13: 9781505620849
Price: $3.99 (eBook)
This new novel explores the damage done by random shootings and the courage of the victims and their families.
This new novel introduces John Watson, a crime reporter, and his wife, Diana. The story shows how they deal with never-ending episodes of gun violence in their personal lives. Diana, successfully struggling against a cancer diagnosis, is unable to have children. They adopt a nine year old boy and a nine year old girl. Their daughter, Trish, loves playing soccer and does well in school. Their son, Brian, is bullied in middle school and grows up to become a disturbed young man with an uncommon fondness for guns. From mall shootings, school shootings, even military base shootings, this important new book offers a reflection on gun violence in America today and shows the impact it can have on a family.
Excerpt
I was stuck in traffic on the 25 heading into downtown Denver to my office at the Times. The September weather was wonderful, with a high temperature forecast of 72 degrees, and the sky had never seemed so blue. I was listening to the news on the car radio when I heard the announcement about Highlands Ranch High School being put on lockdown.
I called Diana and heard Enya playing in the background so I knew she had not heard the news yet. I suggested she pull over and park so we could talk, hoping she might not get so upset that way. I calmly told her what was happening and asked her where she was. I told her to just wait there until I arrived in about twenty minutes.
She said she was turning around right now and heading back to the school. Even though it was locked down she was determined to get as close as she could. Unable to convince her to wait for me, I got off the 25 at the next exit and turned around to head south again. It took me an agonizing thirty minutes to even get within a mile of the school, but it did allow me to listen to my police scanner and get a pretty good idea of what was taking place.
Apparently, a student had brought a gun to school and it was quickly discovered when it fell out of his backpack as he tried to locate where he was supposed to sit in his first period classroom. I called Diana, who was parked about a quarter of a mile closer to the school than I was, and let her know what had happened.
The school was reopened by nine thirty and it was just a few minutes later that my cell phone rang. It was the principal of the school calling to let me know that I needed to come to his office as soon as possible to pick up Brian, who was being sent home for bringing a gun to school.
I called Diana back and told her to meet me in the visitor parking section in front of the school so we could pick up Brian together. We decided we needed to explain to the principal, and, as it turned out, the police as well, what had happened to Brian in middle school and how he had probably brought the gun for a sense of protection. We didn’t have any idea where he got the gun and we agreed that we would definitely not defend what he had done. We would just let them know that he was somewhat troubled. Upon agreeing about what to say, we walked up the front steps together to go see the principal.
Brian sat in a chair in the corner of the room next to a police officer. The principal, a short, stocky man in his fifties, stood up and introduced himself as Mr. Samuelson, saying, “Well, this is hardly how we expected to kick off the new school year. Please, have a seat. We need to talk.”
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