Chapter 7 - What a Child Deserved to Know
Rebecca knelt in front of Grace.
"Sweetheart, that's something we should talk about together."
Grace looked past her mother toward Brody.
"But you told Grandma that the driver made a bad decision."
Rebecca's face tightened.
"I did."
"Is that him?"
The little girl wasn't angry.
She was simply trying to understand.
That made the question even harder.
I looked toward Brody.
He stood motionless.
His eyes were fixed on Grace.
He had never met Daniel's daughter.
For six years, he'd known she existed.
He knew her birthday.
He knew she had been born four months after the accident.
But he had never met her.
And now she was standing ten feet away, asking whether he was responsible for the decision that took her father away.
General Haskett came down the stage steps.
"Mrs. Price," he said gently, "would you like someone to take your daughter somewhere quieter?"
Rebecca shook her head.
"Not yet."
She stood, keeping Grace close.
Then she looked at Brody.
"Did you hear her?"
Brody nodded.
Rebecca's voice was steady now.
"She asks about her father almost every day. Some days she wants to know what food he liked. Sometimes she asks whether he would have taught her to ride a bike. Last Christmas, she asked me whether people in heaven know how old their children are."
Brody's face twisted.
"I am so sorry."
Rebecca raised her hand.
"Please don't apologize to me yet."
He stopped.
"I need you to understand something."
Her voice shook.
"For six years, I have read reports and answered questions and tried to decide how much truth a little girl could carry. I never told her that her father died because somebody wanted to prove he knew better than everyone else. I told her there was an accident. I told her soldiers tried to help one another. And I told her the people who survived had to live with what happened."
She paused.
"Now I find out that while we were learning how to live without Daniel, your family was telling people you were the hero."
Brody bent his head.
"I know."
"No. I don't think you do."
Rebecca looked toward the newspaper clipping Charlene had once proudly displayed in her hallway.
She didn't have the clipping with her.
But the lie it represented had somehow followed all of us into that gym.
"My mother-in-law saw that article," Rebecca said.
My stomach tightened.
"She called me that morning because she couldn't understand why the soldier who supposedly rescued two men never contacted Daniel's family. She wanted to know whether the newspaper had confused the names."
I looked at her.
I had never heard that before.
"Rebecca, I didn't know."
"I know you didn't."
She took a breath.
"We assumed the article was inaccurate. Then other versions started circulating. People called us. Someone from a veterans' group wanted to invite Brody to speak at a memorial event."
My blood ran cold.
"Did he?"
Rebecca looked directly at Brody.
"That's what I've wanted to ask him."
Brody's hands fell to his sides.
"No."
Rebecca waited.
"I was invited," he admitted. "I didn't go."
"Why?"
He swallowed.
"Because I knew Daniel's family might be there."
Charlene rose so abruptly that her chair tipped backward.
"Brody, you don't have to stand here and let these people attack you."
He turned toward her.
"Mom, please stop."
"They are humiliating you."
"I deserve to be embarrassed."
"Nobody deserves this."
Brody's expression changed.
For the first time since the ceremony began, anger broke through his fear.
"Daniel Price deserved to come home."
Charlene recoiled.
Brody continued.
"And Erin deserved to be recognized for what she did. And Dad deserved to know the truth without having to beg everybody not to fight."
I looked away.
Hearing our father's name hurt more than I expected.
Brody's voice grew rough.
"I've spent six years pretending that if I never admitted what happened, it somehow wouldn't be my fault. But I drove that truck onto a closed crossing. I knew the order. I heard Erin tell me to turn around. And I didn't."
He looked toward Rebecca.
"I made that decision."
Nobody moved.
Then he added, "And Daniel died because our vehicle went into that river."
General Haskett spoke before anyone else could.
"Mr. Ruddock, the official investigation established the circumstances and the contributing factors. You should not attempt to replace that complete record with a single sentence."
Brody looked at him.
"Yes, sir."
"Your decision mattered. So did the flood conditions, the loss of control, and the circumstances of the rescue. Responsibility does not become clearer by oversimplifying it."
I understood what he was doing.
He was refusing to turn the truth into another performance.
One false hero had already caused enough damage.
We didn't need a false villain constructed from a tragedy that was painful enough on its own.
Rebecca nodded slowly.
"Thank you, General."
Grace tugged on her mother's sleeve.
"Can we go now?"
Rebecca looked down.
"Yes, honey."
But before they turned away, Grace stepped toward Brody.
He looked as if he might fall.
"Did you know my daddy?"
His voice barely worked.
"Yes."
"Was he nice?"
Brody covered his mouth.
Then nodded.
"He was one of the nicest people I ever knew."
Grace studied him.
"Then why didn't you tell people about him?"
Brody had no answer.
Rebecca took her daughter's hand.
They walked toward the rear of the gym.
I watched until the doors closed behind them.
Then I heard General Haskett speaking into the microphone.
"Ladies and gentlemen, we will take a short recess before completing the ceremony."
Chairs shifted.
People began whispering.
Military police approached Charlene.
Brody remained standing.
And when I turned to go back up the steps, I heard him say my name.
"Erin."
I stopped.
He reached into the inside pocket of his sport coat.
Pulled out a small brown envelope.
And held it toward me.
"I came here to give you this."
I stared at the envelope.
"What is it?"
His eyes filled.
"Something Dad wanted you to have."
My heart seemed to stop.
May you like
Because Brody was holding an envelope with my father's handwriting on it.
And the date written beneath my name was two days before he died.
