Chicago 1982 is a goldmine for the construction industry, and Eric and his two business partners are thriving. Once living as struggling orphans in a Catholic boys' home, they've overcome poverty and abuse to obtain success. Now living the lives they once only dreamed of, they're sure of one thing: they will never look back.<br><br>Then the past returns, by way of a cheap polyester suit and a smile Eric has never forgotten, and all the dark memories come crashing back. Lucky for him, Jimmy has no idea who Eric is, or who Eric used to be.

We Three Kings

Meryl lets go of my arm to shove the rest of his sandwich in his mouth. Through the tuna salad and the bread, he asks, “So what would happen if you show up at his door, eye the storm directly, and you tell him that you’re sorry?” He looks over when I don’t say anything right away. “Areyou sorry?”


He nods, reaches for the tea, and pops the lid off. He takes a long, trembling sip. “Then go be sorry. And if it doesn’t work today, be sorry tomorrow. And the next day, and the next, and the next. Be sorry until the sorry is accepted and thenmake things right. Nobody can tell you that you have to give up now.”


I watch him slurp steaming tea, and I wonder how in the hell this man got here. How one day he can be screaming at the top of his lungs in incoherent, terrifying phrases that make no sense, and then, the next day, he can be offering advice that makes him sound as wise as some mountaintop-dwelling guru. “You know, you can be pretty damn smart when you want to be.”


Chapter 41