The Impossible Knife of Memory

One day in December, Hayley takes the bus home. She worries when her front door is locked because her dad rarely locks it. She does not have her keys, and her dad does not answer the door. His truck is there, and she sees his uniform burning in the fire pit. She looks through the living room window; the room is destroyed and her dad is lying in blood on the floor. She screams and tries to break the window. Andy sits up and looks at her.

Andy reveals that Roy died while deployed. Hayley wonders, “Is there anything worse than watching your father cry?” (331) and thinks about how heroic he seemed when she was a child. Everyone in Roy’s platoon was killed or injured, and Andy states that the injured will “never be able to complain” (332) since they lived. He has broken many things in the house, and there is glass everywhere. Hayley cleans up while Andy keeps drinking. She tells him he should shower or eat, but he says no. He watches TV and drinks more.