The boys were embarrassed, but nobody was seriously hurt.
A year later, Logan skipped an afternoon class to attend his best friend Marcus’s soccer tournament.
Marcus’s father had left years before, and his mother worked nights.
Logan didn’t want his friend looking into the stands and seeing nobody cheering for him.
The school contacted the authorities when they couldn’t locate him.
He received a suspension and a long lecture at home.
But I understood why he’d gone.
Then came the water tower incident.
Someone had painted graffiti on the side of a structure near the high school.
A witness mentioned seeing a teenager wearing a gray hoodie nearby.
Logan had walked past that location on his way home.
Officers questioned him, although he hadn’t been involved.
The actual teenagers responsible were identified shortly afterward.
Still, I remembered sitting beside Logan while he answered questions.
