I sobbed and rocked him as he whispered, ‘I want my dad, Keeks,’ and this time a single sob came out from him too. ‘I just want my dad,’ he repeated, and then several jagged sobs tumbled out. ‘I never said goodbye.’ With this came a howl, raw and primal, an animal dying. That sound imprinted itself on me, the sound of Malakai’s heart breaking in real time in an irreparable way, in a way I wouldn’t ever be able to fix, his pain lacerating through me.
