My Son's Funeral, Her Lover's Feast
My son, Leo Hayes, is the city's top SAT scorer. He dies in a horrific accident while working a part‑time job, his body left broken beyond recognition.
And on the night he takes his last breath, his mother and my wife, Madeline Shaw, stands beneath chandeliers, toasting the graduation of her childhood friend Jeffrey Locke's son, Melvin Locke.
For 18 years, Madeline spends everything we earn on Melvin's medical bills, and our debts soar past the million mark.
To hold our family together, I grind through 14-hour days every day, while Leo shoulders five jobs after school.
But on his way to a shift, Leo is mangled in a terrible crash.
The impact fractures his skull and rips open his abdome