That Sweeney would one day commit an act of violence that would traumatize my family for the rest of our lives did not occur to me, but my uneasiness when we met was a “gift” I declined to accept. What I listened to was my sister’s boyfriend address me with exaggerated respect, but what he was really saying to me that evening was he was just like the Sheik, a character capable of violence and obsessively in love with a girl he did not believe he could keep.
