Then Eli asked, "Did you kill people?"
Thomas's stomach tightened.
Children had a way of walking through doors adults spent years avoiding.
He could lie.
For a moment, he wanted to.
Then he remembered the gym.
Respect.
Example.
Truth.
"Yes."
Eli looked at him.
Thomas kept his eyes on the road.
"Was it bad people?"
Thomas breathed slowly.
"Sometimes."
"What does that mean?"
"It means war isn't a movie."
Eli was silent.
Thomas continued.
"Sometimes you know exactly who the dangerous person is. Sometimes you don't know until it's over. Sometimes everybody involved thinks they're protecting somebody."
"Do you feel bad?"
Thomas glanced at him.
"About some things."
"Do you regret being a soldier?"
That question stayed in the truck.
Finally Thomas said, "I regret some things I did. I regret some things I couldn't stop. I don't regret everyone I helped."
Eli nodded slowly.
Thomas expected another question.
Instead, the boy said, "Coach Ryan was being a jerk."
Thomas laughed.
A real laugh.
The tension broke.
"Yes."
"You could've punched him, right?"
"Yes."
"But you didn't."
"No."
"Why?"
Thomas looked toward the highway.
"Because being able to hurt someone and needing to hurt someone are two different things."
Eli thought about that for the rest of the drive.
Thomas thought the story would end there.
It didn't.
By Monday morning, a twelve-second video from Harbor Point had been viewed more than four hundred thousand times.
Someone had recorded the confrontation despite Thomas's request.
The clip began with Ryan charging.
It ended with Thomas putting him on the floor.
The caption read:
ARROGANT BLACK BELT CHALLENGES 62-YEAR-OLD GRANDPA — INSTANTLY REGRETS IT.
Thomas discovered it when Rachel called him at 6:15 a.m.
"Don't open Facebook."
"I don't use Facebook."
"Good."
"What happened?"
"You went viral."
Thomas closed his eyes.
"How viral?"
"Enough that three news stations emailed the gym."
He hung up.
Ten minutes later, Daniel Reeves called.
"I am so sorry."
"Take it down."
"We're trying."
"Trying?"
"It's already everywhere."
Thomas looked through his kitchen window.
A squirrel climbed along the fence.
His coffee had gone cold.
Daniel continued.
"There's something else."
Thomas waited.
"People found the military connection."
His stomach dropped.
"How?"
"I don't know."
"Nathan?"
"He says he didn't talk to anyone."
Thomas believed him.
Briggs had been careless Saturday.
He wasn't malicious.
Daniel said, "A local reporter found an old defense article. Your name's in it."
Thomas stood.
"Which article?"
"Something from 1998."
Thomas didn't answer.
Daniel lowered his voice.
"Tom, are you okay?"
"Send it to me."
He opened the link five minutes later.
The photograph was grainy.
Four men stood beside a helicopter.
Their faces were younger.
Their uniforms belonged to another lifetime.
Thomas recognized every one of them.
Nathan Briggs.
Michael Reed.
Calvin Ross.
And himself.