Chapter 6 - Things I Was Afraid to Tell Dad
Leo’s first entry was dated shortly after Susan died.
I’m angry Mom died.
The second:
Dad looks destroyed, so I pretend I’m okay.
Another:
Sometimes I hear him crying in the garage. He thinks I don’t.
I stopped reading.
I remembered those nights.
I would sit in my truck after work because Susan’s empty chair inside the house terrified me.
I thought I had hidden it.
Leo knew.
He always knew.
The notebook continued through college.
Fear of disappointing me.
Fear of debt.
Fear of graduating.
Fear that he wasn’t “built like Dad.”
Then one line:
I wish Dad knew strength can look like asking for help.
I closed the notebook.
That evening, I drove to the cemetery.
I sat beside Leo’s grave until sunset.
“You were smarter than me, kid.”
Wind moved through the trees.
“I thought I was teaching you how to be a man.”
My throat tightened.
“You were trying to teach me.”
For the first time, I didn’t apologize for an hour.
I talked.
I told him about Tyler.
Noah.
Frank.
Caleb.
Maya.
The Ladder Project.
I told him his idea was alive.
Then I made a promise.
“I’m going to learn how to listen.”
That promise would be tested sooner than I expected.
Because two days later, Maya called me at 1:17 in the morning.
Her voice was shaking.
“Mr. Mercer, I need help.”
I was instantly awake.
“What happened?”
“It’s Noah.”
May you like
And suddenly, another family was standing at the edge of the same nightmare that had swallowed mine.
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