Page 24 of This Is Why

TY

Gabe grabs my hand. “Come on,”he says. “Let me show you my room.” He leads me down a short hallway, chattering away the whole time. “Mom painted my wall red. It’s my favorite color.” He pulls me inside a small room with a twin bed tucked into a corner, the Transformers sheets and blankets a rumpled mess. His toys are organized in bins and stuffed into cubbies. Posters line the walls and there’s a row of rocks placed in a neat line on the windowsill.

“What are these?” Iask.

“Those are my treasures.” Gabe stands next to me, admiring the rocks. “I find them when we’re out. See? They look like ordinary rocks, but when you look close, you can see they all have some crystals inside.” He hands one to me and I study it before giving it back. I stand in the middle of the room and take it all in, memorizing every last detail. Every poster, every toy, the tidy bins and unmade bed, they all tell a story as to who my sonis.

“Can you play that?” I ask, pointing to a full-sized electric keyboard on a stand near thewall.

Gabe beams. “Yep. Mom’s friend Liam teaches me. He gave this to me for my birthday. Claire got one, too.” He turns the thing on and plays a wobbly version of Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star. He sticks his tongue out and bites down on it as he concentrates on his hands and then flips the thing off when he’sdone.

“Not bad at all.” I say. “How long have you been playing?”

“I don’t know. Forever, I think. Mom wants me to keep practicing, but Claire’s much better than me. I’m getting better though.”

“Do you like it? Playing the piano?”

Gabe shrugs. “It’s not bad. I mostly do it because it makes Mom smile.”

“That’s not a bad reason.” My gaze falls on a table strewn with Legos. In an otherwise tidy room, the haphazard mess seems out of place. “What’s this?” I pull out a Gabe-sized chair at the Gabe-sized table andsit.

“Oh that?” Gabe makes a face. “That’s supposed to be a house, but I can’t ever get it right.”

“Maybe I can help. Take a seat, my friend, and show me what you’re trying todo.”

Gabe sits, obviously frustrated, and explains how he wants the house to look and why it keeps ending up wrong. “I kept trying to get it right but it’s always wrong when I’m done. I’m really bad at Legos.”

“Maybe you’re bad at it and maybe you’re not. Maybe you just need a little more knowledge to make your idea work. But there’s one thing I know for sure, if you give up because it’s hard, you’re never going to get anywhere.” I grab a handful of Legos and fit them together.

“I didn’t give up. I kept trying. It just kept not working.” Gabe picks a building block out of the pile and hands it tome.

“I like to hear that. It’s a big deal, being able to stick through something even when it’s hard.” I hand him some blocks and give him some information on how to build a solid base. “You know what one of the most important things in the world is? One of man’s most powerful tools?”

“What?”

“Knowledge. Knowledge is power, my little friend. When you don’t know how to do something, ask someone who does. And if you can’t find someone who does, then search out what you need because surely, somewhere along the way, someone has written itdown.”

Gabe nods and fits a few more blocks together. “Do you know how to build a house like Iwant?”

“I think so. Why don’t we work on it for a while and you tell me if it’s turning out the way you imaginedit.”

We talk as we work and I ask as many questions as he’ll answer, just so I can get to know him better. He loves sports, football especially, but soccer and basketball are pretty high up there, too.

“Do you ever go out and play in the backyard?” Iask.

“I do sometimes, but it gets really boring by myself. Mom comes out to play with me, but she’s really bad at sports.” He shrugs. “There’s a kid at daycare who plays with me, though. His dad teaches him all the rules, so he teachesme.”

Before I leave at the end of the week, I will take Gabe outside and throw a football with him. We’ll stay out there all day, until his arm is so tired from throwing he can’t lift it. I will teach him everything I know and damn it, after playing four years in high school and then again as in my freshman year of college, that’s a whole hell of alot.

There’s a rustle in the doorway and Gabe glances up. “Look, Mom! Ty showed me how to build my house.” He bounds out of his chair and grabs Lexi’s hand before pulling her over to crouch in front of the table.

“It looks great guys.” Her eyes soften when they meetmine.

“Ty told me what a man’s most powerful tool is.” Gabe grins, his face full of solemn pride.

“I’m almost afraid to ask what that might be.” Lexi makes a face at Gabe and then arches an eyebrow atme.

“It’s knowledge.” Gabe crouches down to get a better view of our handiwork. “Knowledge is power, rightTy?”

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