That’s all I can think about. Haven’t I loved him enough? Haven’t I been good enough for him to stay? He can’t die. He can’t leave me. I can’t lose him. I call Mommy, because I don’t know what else to do, but she doesn’t say anything. “Mommy?” I ask, my voice barely a whisper. I can hear her breathing and finally she talks and I know everything will be okay. It has to be. “Shay, baby,” she says softly to me, the way she does when I get scared. “Is Tonya with you?” I nod my head but she can’t see me. “She’s with Uncle Nate,” I say out loud. “She called the police.” “And Uncle Nate?” she asks. “Is he still lying on the ground?” I feel my bottom lip start to quiver when I nod my head again. “Shayna?” she asks again. “He’s still on the ground, Mommy.”
