Part 3: The Call to Dad
Marcus turned his head just enough to see Caleb.
His little brother was on the grass beside the sidewalk, tear-streaked and shaking, his science project crumpled beneath him.
Marcus forced his voice to stay steady.
“Caleb.”
The boy froze.
“My jacket pocket,” Marcus said. “The phone. Call Dad.”
Caleb didn’t hesitate.
He scrambled forward on his knees, hands trembling as he reached into Marcus’s jacket pocket.
Officer Pruitt looked down sharply.
“What are you doing?”
Caleb flinched but kept moving.
His fingers closed around the phone.
Marcus kept his face against the concrete.
“Call Dad,” he repeated.
Caleb unlocked the phone.
He knew the code. He had always known it because their father said family did not keep secrets from family.
His shaking thumb scrolled through the contacts.
Then he found it.
DAD ⭐
Caleb pressed call.
The phone rang once.
Officer Pruitt tightened his grip on Marcus.
May you like
The phone rang twice.
And somewhere far away, on a military base where men listened when Colonel Jerome Washington spoke, a father was about to answer.
