It was very late on the last night of Michael's Spring Break when they got the phone call. Valerie and Michael were spooned together in his bed, exhausted after all the s*x they had enjoyed since coming home. Valerie had sighed and retrieved her phone. She did not recognize the name, but it was a local number.
"Hello?" she said.
Michael watched the color drain from his mother's face. She nodded mutely as she got the details. Michael found himself thinking that over the phone, that gesture was a waste. Whoever was on the other end of the line, they couldn't see her nod. He helped his mother sit on the edge of his bed, and rubbed her shoulders gently. He could hear bits of the phone call, but was shocked when his mother hung up and told him what had happened.
Tom Henderson had suffered a
