The pain in my chest has nothing to do with the knife anymore.
00:00:04
I watch them scramble up the ladder, watch my brothers carry the women to safety.
City is the last one up, and he looks back at me one final time.
I lift my hand. A salute. A goodbye. A final order.
00:00:03
And because I’m still me, even now, I manage to grin. “Tell Bayou he’s a pussy for me!”
00:00:02
The words echo in the corridor, and I hope they carry. Hope my twin hears them somehow. Hope he knows that even at the end, I was thinking of him.
As the ladder disappears from view and I’m left alone in the flooding corridor, pinned beneath steel and dying, I let my mind go to the only place that brings me peace.
Kaia.
I think about the morning of our wedding, the way she looked in that dress. The way she promised to love me for better or worse, in sickness and in health, till death do us part.
Death came sooner than we planned, baby.
I’m so fucking sorry.
I think about Immy’s laugh, the way she runs to me when I come home, the way she fits perfectly in my arms.
Be strong for Mama, princess. Take care of your siblings for me.
I think about the twins, the ones I’ll never meet. Never hold. Never teach to ride a bike, throw a punch, or stand up for what’s right.
I hope you have your mother’s kindness and her strength. I hope you grow up knowing you were loved before you were even born. I hope you know your daddy didn’t leave you by choice.
The water is up to my chin now. My vision is starting to fade.
But I’m not afraid.
I did what I came here to do. I saved them. The women, my brothers, they’re all safe.
That’s what being president means.
That’s what being a father means.
That’s what being a man means.
You protect the people who can’t protect themselves, even if it costs you everything.
00:00:00
My last thought is of Kaia’s smile.
Then a blinding white light sears through my closed eyelids. The shockwave hits like the fist of God, but there’s no pain.
Just heat.
Just light.
