Principal Whitfield found us by the side doors and told us very kindly to take all the time we needed, and that she’d have Caleb’s teacher mark him present for the afternoon. She shook Ray’s hand. She looked at me for a moment like she wanted to say something, and then she just touched my arm and walked away.
Out in the parking lot, most of the officers were standing around their cars. Some of them were in a hurry, called back to shifts they’d traded or swapped to be there. Others were in no hurry at all. They came over one at a time. Officer Hendricks shook Caleb’s hand and told him he’d sung it better than his dad ever did, which made Caleb laugh. The retired man with the cane put his hand on Caleb’s shoulder and didn’t say anything, just nodded. The young woman I didn’t know introduced herself as Officer Reyes, and said she’d joined the department the year David got sick.
