The Power of Testimony

22 || ALL BUT NORMAL
• • •
On the night of the accident, John started vomiting and
experiencing an intense headache while lying in bed at home.
He returned to the hospital. The doctors diagnosed him
with a concussion and kept him for three days. After that he
returned home and suffered no further obvious effects.
His senior year, with all its excitement and anticipation,
was winding up, but John’s mind was on Bev, lying unconscious
in a hospital because of the accident he had caused.
He tried to visit her, but the Gilvins had denied him access.
Their pain was still too fresh. On the other side of town, Mr.
and Mrs. Thornton were deeply unsettled that their son was
now mixed up with a family so unlike them. At the same
time, they, like John, wanted to help the Gilvins if possible.
The problem for John was that no one seemed interested
in his feelings about the situation or offered to help him sort
out his responsibility—​not his parents, not the Gilvins, not
anyone. As Bev slept on, John sought counsel from Chuck
one night while they drove John’s newly repaired Corvair to
a bank overlooking the St. Joseph River.
“I hear what you’re saying,” Chuck said. “So, what do you
think you’re going to do?”
They both leaned against the hood of the car, watching
the river f low by like liquid time.
“How do I know?” John almost shouted with frustration.
“Nobody’s telling me anything! The adults are handling
everything. I’m not involved. It’s like they don’t even care
that I was there!”