'We're here,' my father said.
I nodded and made a small hand wave at them and stepped up into the train. I found an empty seat by the window and looked out it and cried as the train pulled out of the station.
Chapter 47
'I wished they could come with me,' I said.
'You were never away before,' Susan said.
'Except for my trip down the river with Jeannie,' I said.
'Of course you were homesick. How did college go?'
'I played strong safety,' I said. 'And returned punts. At the start of my junior year, I tore up my knee and couldn't play anymore.'
'And you didn't stay in college?'
'No,' I said. 'Without a scholarship we couldn't afford it. So I quit and boxed for a while.'
'You were good?'
'I was good, and I got a lot of fights. The Great White Hope and a former college kid to boot.'
'But you didn't like it,' she said.
'I fought a couple guys who became contenders, one became champ for a while. And I realized the difference. I was good. They were great. And the only way I was going to get to the top was to play the White College Boy thing.'
'Which you didn't want to do,' Susan said.
'Correct,' I said. 'So I moved on and took the exam and got on the state cops and you know how that all went.'
'And you weren't tempted to go back to West Flub-a-dub?' Susan said.
'My father and I talked about that,' I said. 'He was certain that Boston was where I should be and I was too. So I stayed and missed them every day.'
'They were here,' Susan said.
I looked at her for a moment.
'They are here now,' she said. 'With us. Wherever you are, they will be. You contain them.'
I felt my throat tighten for a moment. I nodded slowly.
'Yes,' I said. 'With us.'
