Chapter 23

Russ and his family left that afternoon, and Mr. Majors took David and me to a sports bar after dinner that evening for a couple of drinks. We talked about a lot of things, until at one point, Mr. Majors said, “How do you guys manage to keep so fit?”

“We do sit-ups and some weight lifting, but mostly we swim a mile of laps every morning at the YMCA,” I said. “They have a huge indoor pool, and we make good use of it.”

“I should think David would feel a little awkward in locker-rooms,” Mr. Majors said.

“Yeah,” David said, “I used to avoid them, but thanks to Kevin, I’ve learned to towel myself dry in the shower room, throw my towel over my shoulder, and walk back to my locker. I couldn’t have done that a year ago.”

“You don’t know how proud it makes me to hear you say that,” Mr. Majors said. “We all knew there was something deeply wrong when you came back home from over there, but nobody knew what.”

“That’s ancient history, Dad. Water under the bridge, as they say.”