Red Man Down (28 page)

‘Oh, you must be just bursting with pride!’

‘I never thought there was any doubt at all but I could never convince Tom. He said, “You’re my dad, what else are you going to say?”’ Leo laughed. ‘God, it’s going to be good to have all that angst out of the house.’

‘Listen, can we come and watch? I’d like to bring Denny, too – she’s getting kind of interested in what we do for a living.’

‘Sure, if you … are you sure? You’ve seen it so many times before, haven’t you? And it’s pretty dull stuff, you know, speeches and all that.’

‘I know. And I always love it.’

Aggie didn’t think she was up for that much standing and walking, and Will opted to stay home too; he had a project going and said he’d heard enough speeches, he thought, to last him for the rest of his life. So Sarah drove and Denny watched the red-tail hawks sailing on thermals over the desert.

They got good seats. It was a beautiful clear day, with a little breeze. The class marched in proud single file, with their own guidon leading the way. The American and Arizona flags were posted by the podium, and stirred lazily in the breeze as the crowd sang the national anthem. There were speeches and prizes, and a judge to administer the oath of office. Then the recruits stepped forward one at a time to receive their badges, and Tom Tobin, slim and handsome, received his from the chief who had recently congratulated his father on a job well done. Sarah turned to smile at Leo and saw that he and his wife were holding tight to each other’s hands as if they feared falling down, and both had tears in their eyes.

The class marched out as the audience stood and clapped. Sarah put her arm around Denny’s shoulder then and said, ‘Did you enjoy that?’

‘Oh, Aunt Sarah,’ Denny said. ‘Oh, wow. Did you see the parents’ faces? They were all crying!’

‘Well, they were so happy.’

‘They were beyond happy. They were plotzed. It was beautiful!’

They drove home toward the good little pork roast Will had said he was going to cook ‘in Denny’s new gadget.’ Denny was silent for the first couple of miles and then said, ‘Do you think I could do it?’

‘What? Make it through the police academy? Of course you could do it if you made up your mind to. It’s hard, though, so I would urge you to consider everything else available before you decide.’

‘I will. Everything else is going to have to brighten up, though, if it wants to compete with that. Do you think Will Dietz would be offended if I offered to make the gravy?’

‘What?’ Sometimes Denny’s lightning changes of pace still left her behind. ‘No, I shouldn’t think so. Why?’

‘Because he is a very good person and I would never want to hurt his feelings, but he is really an awful bust when it comes to making gravy.’

‘Ah … well, I suppose it’s not the worst flaw a man could have.’

‘Not at all, especially if he lets me make it instead. Oh, Aunt Sarah, do you really think I could do that?’ She spread her arms out, toward the soaring hawks, toward all the beautiful possibilities out there.