Ring of Silence Read online

  “There’s certain things to watch for around here. One is when Mrs. Talucci goes into full protection mode. She doesn’t do that unless something is really wrong.”

  “That’s pretty observant.”

  “And Ben was worried. You know how I try to let him be competitive when I play chess with him?”

  “Yeah.”

  “He didn’t even try. He was too distracted to finish. You guys really love each other.”

  “Yes, we do.” He sighed. “We’ve talked about my job.”

  “Yeah, but this felt different. All the violence in all the papers. All the fear that’s attached to being a cop, a detective, seemed worse this summer. Or I was more scared.”

  “I’m sorry you were scared. You know I take every precaution.”

  “Yeah, but that doesn’t stop there being bad people in the world.”

  Paul said, “I don’t think there’s anything that can stop there being bad people in the world. We’ve been at this as a species for what, millions of years, and at what we call being civilized for thousands of years, and we still haven’t figured out how to stop being mean to each other.”

  “I want it to stop.”

  “Me too.”

  “That’s your job. To stop it.”

  “It’s my job to do what I can. What’s most important to me is being kind and loving to you boys and to Ben, and to myself if I can manage that, too. To teach you boys that’s the best way to live. Even then, I don’t always succeed, but I always try.”

  “You know dad, sometimes you do weird stuff.”

  They smiled at each other. “All parents do, I think,” Paul said.

  “But you believe what you say. And you try to live by those beliefs. Lots of people say stuff and don’t mean it.”

  “I do my best.”

  “I know.” They were silent several moments then Jeff whispered, “There’s so much violence in the world.”

  Paul whispered back, “I know.”

  “Can anybody make it stop?”

  “I don’t know,” Paul said.

  They watched the darkness in silence a bit longer.

  Distant lightning flashed far to the west. A very far rumble of thunder nuzzled their ears.

  Jeff said, “Storms are some of my earliest memories. Brian used to run to wherever you were. He was always scared.”

  When Brian was small, this was true. He was far too superior to the elements by this point in his teenage life to admit such had ever happened.

  “I remember that too.” Paul said, “He’d stay close and watch television. You’d watch him with your little brother eyes.”

  Thunder rumbled.

  Jeff said, “There’s always going to be storms.”

  “Yes.”

  The boy nodded then said, “I still like storms especially when you’re around.”

  About the Author

  Mark Zubro is the author of thirty-five novels and five short stories. His book A Simple Suburban Murder won the Lambda Literary Award for Best Gay Men’s mystery. He spends his time reading, writing, napping, and eating chocolate.

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