Father Thomas’s voice brought Aaron back to the present. “One of the things we did together was woodworking. I have a shop in my backyard. He’d come over a few days a week, and we’d work some small project.” He lifted the box up out of his lap high enough for Aaron to see it. “This was the first project he crafted on his own. I know it meant a great deal to him.

“Anyway, a couple of weeks ago, he came to my house late one night. His mother, my sister, died a few years ago so I was the only family he could go to when he had a problem. He said he’d gotten into some trouble with some guys and thought they might try to rough him up. He usually hung out with a rough crowd, so I gave him my standard lecture on choosing his friends more carefully.&rd...

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