***
Four days later, Richard paid for the Toyota repairs and the broken window.
Michael fixed the car, saving the old emblem Dad had attached himself.
Send me the receipt. I’ll cover it.
When Ben saw it, he shouted, “GRANDPA’S ALIVE!”
“He looks younger,” Noah said.
“Don’t tell him. He’ll become unbearable.”
***
That weekend, we drove to the park.
“Still afraid of Richard?” Noah asked.
“A little.”
GRANDPA’S ALIVE!
“Then why stand up to him?”
“Because sometimes asking isn’t enough. You have to make people take responsibility.”
“Dad would’ve liked that.”
“I hope so.”
Vanessa moved out, and Tyler apologized for destroying Mom’s flowers.
“Can I help replant them?” he asked.
You have to make people take responsibility.
Ben handed him a shovel. “Don’t step on them this time.”
Richard stayed in his enormous, now strangely empty house.
One morning, he watched me park our repaired Toyota without saying a word.
