The roofer called his crew. They arrived the following morning and finished the roof in two days. My sister hired a licensed contractor to inspect the work, and it passed. The roofer also returned eleven thousand dollars of the seventeen thousand four hundred he had received, which was everything he claimed to have available. For the remaining amount, my dad’s lawyer prepared a payment agreement for two hundred dollars.

That evening, my dad watched the motorcycles ride back down his road from the same front window where he had spent six weeks waiting for the roofer. He was still wearing his slippers when Bertram reached the door. My dad took his hand and held it for a long moment without saying anything. Then he finally spoke about his years in the Marines and how he had never needed anyone to fight for him.