The Driving Lesson by Rehder Ben

Author:Rehder, Ben [Rehder, Ben]
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub, azw3
Published: 2012-04-30T16:00:00+00:00

And there it was again, for the third time. My football photo. I couldn’t believe it. Why would a TV station in Flagstaff care about a small story all the way from Abilene? Didn’t they have their own things to worry about?

Then I saw the logo down in the corner of the screen. CNN. I am not kidding. It wasn’t just some local station, it was nationwide. Heck, even worldwide.

Now they were showing some other photos — from vacations and birthdays and holidays — photos that CNN obviously had gotten from my parents. Some shots of me. Some shots of Opa. Some shots of both of us together.

Meanwhile, the reporter was narrating: “...a rare form of bone cancer that is nearly always terminal. Henry Dunbar picked up his fourteen-year-old grandson Charles from school on Monday afternoon in Abilene, Texas, and the pair have not been seen since. Henry Dunbar’s son, Glen Dunbar, told authorities that his father had recently been researching physician-assisted suicide, which is currently legal in only two states — Washington and Oregon.”

Suddenly I was looking at my father’s face in a video clip. He was standing at the end of our driveway, the house looming behind him. Judging by the shadows, it was shot late this afternoon, just two or three hours ago. The camera was zoomed in tight, so you mostly saw Dad, but I could see an arm of the person next to him. Mom’s arm. Dad, looking somber, said, “We just want both of them to come home. My father is very sick right now, and a little desperate, and he needs the proper care. My son is really too young to understand this situation, and frankly we don’t want him exposed to this sort of thing. We don’t support it at all. I want to make that clear. And that’s not even really the point. My father didn’t have our permission to take Charlie anywhere, and we want him back.”

Now they cut to a second video clip — this one of a gray-haired man in a suit, standing outside a brick building. The reporter, narrating again, said, “According to Abilene police chief Walter Hoggins, there is an added wrinkle to the case.”

The police chief said, “Charles Dunbar is alleged to have taken part in a burglary at a home under construction with one of his classmates this past Saturday.”

I could feel my face growing warm. It was like a bad dream, when you show up at school in your underwear and everybody laughs at you. Very embarrassing. Now the whole world was going to think I was the kind of punk who steals things. Opa glanced at me quickly, looking puzzled, then returned his attention to the TV.

The police chief continued. “The charges against the classmate have been dropped, and we have no plans to pursue any charges against Charles Dunbar in that incident, but we think it might have contributed to his choice to flee with his grandfather. We have reason to believe they are on their way to the northwest.

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