Part 3 — The Police at My Door
The next morning, somebody pounded on my front door hard enough to rattle the frame.
Not knocked.
Pounded.
I froze halfway through the hallway.
Then it came again.
I opened the door.
Two uniformed police officers stood on my porch.
My mouth immediately went dry.
“Ma’am,” one of them said. “Are you Victoria?”
“Yes.”
“We’re Officers Daniels and Cooper. Is your son here?”
Every terrible possibility entered my mind at once.
Before I could answer, Alejandro walked into the hallway behind me.
He saw the uniforms.
His face went pale.
My hand tightened around the doorframe.
“What happened?”
Neither officer answered immediately.
I stepped slightly in front of Alejandro.
“What did my son do?”
Officer Daniels looked at him, then back at me.
“Ma’am, are you aware of what your son did yesterday?”
My stomach dropped.
“Yes. He bought his classmate a wheelchair.”
The officers exchanged a glance.
“He’s not under arrest,” Daniels said.
I exhaled so sharply it almost hurt.
“Then what is this?”
His expression softened.
“Someone wants to thank him.”
Alejandro stared at him.
Officer Cooper gestured toward the driveway.
“We need both of you to come outside.”
I turned toward Alejandro.
He looked as confused as I felt.
A patrol car waited at the curb.
And standing beside it was a man holding an officer’s hat in both hands.
I recognized him after a moment.
Nathan.
Elena’s father.
He stepped forward.
“Mrs. Victoria?”
“Yes?”
He looked at Alejandro.
“Would you both come with us?”
Ten minutes later, we pulled up outside Elena’s house.
The moment we walked inside, I smelled coffee, eggs, and pancakes.
Jillian and Elena were waiting at the kitchen table beside an enormous breakfast spread.
But Alejandro wasn’t looking at the food.
He was staring at the wall.
A brand-new polished guitar case was leaning against it.
He stopped walking.
“What is that?”
Nathan rubbed one hand over his jaw.
His eyes were already shining.
“Yesterday, I found out how bad Elena’s wheelchair had gotten.”
Elena looked down.
“And I found out how much she’d been hiding from us.”
Then Nathan looked directly at my son.
“And then I found out a thirteen-year-old boy sold the thing he loved most because he couldn’t stand watching my daughter struggle.”
Alejandro’s entire face turned red.
“She needed it, sir.”
Nathan nodded.
“I know, son.”
His voice cracked.
“And when I told the precinct what you’d done, some people wanted to do something about it.”
Officer Cooper stepped toward the guitar case and rested his fingers against it.
“The officers on the shift pitched in.”
Alejandro stared at him.
Cooper smiled.
“It’s yours.”
