Read Online Eyes Wide Open by Andrew Gross - Free Book Online Page B

days after having attempted to acquire a gun. How they were being stonewalled from getting even the simplest answers to their queries. How the Harbor View facility didn’t even have a clue what kind of patient they were dealing with.
    I jumped in and said, “ The police . . . they just seem to have washed their hands of all this. They want to get rid of the case as quickly as they can. Maybe it’s because my brother and sister-in-law aren’t important here. They live on welfare. To be frank, they’re concerned that because they draw their income from the state, everyone’s just stonewalling them in the hope it will all just go away. They’re convinced they have no right to look into their son’s death.”
    The reporter glanced at her cameraman, basically asking, You getting this?
    “Look, I’m a doctor, for God’s sake,” I said. “Wouldn’t you want to know how a twenty-one-year-old kid goes from twenty-four-hour suicide watch in a locked cell to an unprotected halfway facility in just a matter of days—and then ends up at the bottom of a six-hundred-foot cliff?”
    At this point, I no longer cared whose feet I was stepping on.
    “All they’re getting from everyone is just, We’re so sorry. That’s tragic . Well, sorry simply isn’t enough. They want someone to take responsibility. They want some answers. You’d want that if it was your family, wouldn’t you, Ms. Rodriguez?”
    “Yes, I would want that.” The reporter nodded, the cameraman shifting to get her reaction. I could see it was affecting her too.
    She asked us for names. And we gave them to her.
    The doctor, Derosa, who was clearly ducking my calls. And Anna Aquino, who ran the care facility Evan had been dumped in.
    And Detective Sherwood.
    She promised she would contact the hospital and speak with officials there.
    “God bless you.” Gabby wrapped her arms around her and thanked her. “For whatever you can do.”
    “I want them to know they can’t just shit on us,” Gabby said after they left, coming up and giving me a grateful hug. “We may be poor, but our son deserves some answers too.”
    Charlie sat there, distracted, unconvinced. He picked up his guitar and strummed a few chords. “You’re going to go home, Jay, but we’re still here. These people own us. Maybe we just should have let it lie.”

Chapter Fourteen
    T hat night, Gabby asked me over for dinner.
    I came up with maybe a dozen reasons why she shouldn’t go to the trouble, but she insisted.
    “You are here, Jay, and I’m allowed to invite you to our house. Maybe it’ll take my mind off everything.”
    Sherwood had called earlier, saying we could come and look at Evan’s body tomorrow, which didn’t exactly elevate the mood.
    In spite of it all, she threw together a pretty good meal.
    A paella of chicken, sausage, and shrimp on a bed of yellow rice. I bought a local sauvignon blanc from a store called Scolari’s Market.
    “What the hell,” Gabriella chortled, pouring a glass for herself as well. “I think tonight God will forgive me if I drink a little too.”
    We ate and polished off the wine, and despite all that was going on, the mood managed to stay upbeat and light. We talked about Kathy and my kids. How adult they had become. I always tried not to build them up too much. Sophie and Max, who took AP courses, played on the lacrosse and field hockey teams, volunteered at food banks, went to the Bahamas on spring break. Even in their most ordinary moments, they had more to show than Evan had accomplished in his life.
    Sooner or later, as it always did, the conversation came around to our dad.
    Leonard the Good and Lenny the Louse, as he always referred to himself.
    You never quite knew which one you would get.
    No one could charm a room like my father. No one could be warmer or more captivating.
    And no one could cast you out as quickly when he suddenly felt betrayed.
    He always surrounded himself with a constantly shifting circle of wealthy,