The hair on Roman’s neck prickled as he experienced an epiphany. He’d only been seven, but he’d felt the evil in the man’s intentions. Even after that narrow escape, he’d kicked and clawed to get away from the policeman, who put him in the back of a squad car. He hadn’t seen them as rescuers. They were both enemies who wanted to take him away from his mother. He’d cried and screamed curses on the teacher, who sat next to him in the squad car. He’d kicked the back of the police officer’s seat all the way to the station, where he was turned over to a social worker from CPS.
Lord, how many years have I carried all that hatred around and let it shape my life?
Sitting in an all-night café, Roman asked God what he should do next. He got an answer as the sun came up. Exhausted, but resolved, he went to the elementary school and asked for the names of the second-grade teachers who’d been there the year he was seven. He recognized the name of one and asked where he might find Morgan Talbot.
“Mr. Talbot is still here. He’s on break right now.”
God’s perfect timing. “Could I speak with him?”
The secretary made a call to the teacher’s room. A few minutes later, Mr. Talbot entered the office. Roman recognized him immediately. Talbot’s hair was now gray, not red; his shoulders stooped slightly, and he wasn’t nearly as tall as Roman remembered. He’d seemed a giant to a seven-year-old boy. Talbot’s eyes were still kind.
“You probably don’t remember a seven-year-old kid named Bobby Ray Dean.”
“I remember.” His smile was wistful. “You were the first boy I had to turn in to CPS. I’m sorry to say there have been others since.”
“I don’t imagine it gets easier.”
“No. It doesn’t.”
“Maybe it’ll help to know you saved my life that day.” Looking back now, Roman saw how God sent Talbot at the exact time Bobby Ray Dean needed rescue. “The landlord had just sold me. If you and that police officer had arrived five minutes later, I would’ve been gone and probably long dead by now.” He felt gratitude well up inside him, not just for Talbot, but for God, who sent him. He held out his hand. “I’m late in saying it, but thank you, sir.”
Mr. Talbot’s eyes moistened, and he shook hands with Roman. “I was just doing what was right.” He cleared his throat. “The officer was my cousin. He’s retired. Living in Montana now.”
“How about you? Are you retiring soon?”
“He’d better not.” The secretary spoke up from behind the counter. “He’s the best teacher we have.”
Talbot apologized and said he needed to get back to the classroom. Break would be over soon, the children lining up. He paused in the doorway. “You were very good at art, as I remember.”
“I make a living at it. Under a different name. Roman Velasco.”
“Didn’t you just do a big project in Los Angeles?” The secretary intruded again. “Something on the side of a church building. I saw it on Facebook.”
Roman addressed Talbot. “If you’re interested, you can see it online. The work wouldn’t exist if you hadn’t done what was right.”
“I’ll look you up.” He smiled. “Thanks for coming by, Bobby Ray. It’s nice to know one of my pupils is doing so well.” He went down the hall, his back a little straighter.
“He needed to hear that.” The secretary nodded. “Most students remember the upper-class teachers in high school and forget all about the ones they had in the first few years, the unsung heroes who teach the basics.”
Outside, Roman took out his phone and called Jasper Hawley. He told him he had time on his hands and would like to come up and see him, and Chet and Susan. “Unless you already have plans over the next few days.”
“I’m in Portland right now, but I’ll be back day after tomorrow. Something happen, Bobby Ray?”
“Just taking another look at my life from a new perspective.”
“It’s about time.”
Roman had other things he needed to do, and he might as well get one errand done before he headed back to the hotel for some much-needed sleep. He went to the coroner’s office on Bryant Street to find out everything he could about the circumstances of his mother’s death and where she had been buried. The clerk told him the medical examiner’s office retained dental records, tissue samples, a full body X-ray, and DNA of everyone brought into the morgue. His mother had died of an overdose of heroin. Her body had been cremated, her remains placed in storage. Roman filled out all the necessary paperwork and paid the fees to have her ashes released to him.