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His hand reached up to grab for his necklace, fiddling with it nervously. He watched Becky’s eyes follow it, and the worry ease on her face.

“Alright,” she said slowly. “Then, is this goodbye?”

Will smiled, meeting her eyes. His chest was tight. He never would’ve expected to miss anything or anyone about this place, but he would. He would miss her. “For now,” he said.

Becky’s lips pressed together hard, then she nodded, stepping closer. She wrapped her arms around him.

“Stay safe then,” she said into his ear. “And get your big life, the one you deserve, okay?”

“I will,” Will said, a knot in his throat. “When you make it to Cali, love every second of it.”

“I will,” Becky said. He thought her voice sounded scratchy.

They parted and Becky’s eyes were glossy.

“Good luck,” Becky said.

“You too,” Will said. Then Will turned and went one way, down the crumbling sidewalk that lined the dead orchard, and Becky went the other.

The trailer park was quiet when Will got there. He could see all the lights on inside the other trailers, the muffled sounds of TV. His own trailer at the end was dark like a tomb. He walked up to the driveway and stopped on the gravel before it.

The trailer looked so small now. Like without him to fill it, it was folding in on itself, wasting away back into the earth.

Will stood for a long time just looking at it. He knew he should go in and make himself something to eat before going to see Itori. Do any number of things to tidy up his life before he left it.

But he didn’t want to. He tried to think of anything inside there that he might want, and couldn’t come up with a single item.

Instead, Will turned and walked back down the road, away from the trailer, and out of the park.

He needed to wait at least until the protest was underway and it was darker to head to the spring.

So Will turned in the opposite direction and started walking.

Will passed the library, the elementary school, and the automotive garage. As he walked, he found himself looking at every brick and mailbox and rusting sign along the way. He eyed the children’s toys left in front yards, the grass strips along the road punctured by armadillo holes, and the marks on the corner of the post office where Frank Little had run his car off the road after too many beers half a decade ago.

He pressed the details down inside himself like flowers between book pages. No matter what came next, he wanted to keep the memories of his old life. This life had been far from what he’d wanted it to be, but these parts still belonged to him. They were a part of him, no matter who he became next.

After a long while, Will found himself at his father’s trailer park.

The sun was starting to set, but there was still plenty of light to be seen by. He stopped before the road curved into the park, and could see his father’s trailer. The blinds were open, and the blue glow of a TV flashed from inside.

Will wondered what his father was watching. Wondered how long it would take the man to notice Will was gone.

He wouldn’t remember Will fondly. He would treat Will leaving like everyone else who’d abandoned him. He’d rewrite the story and make Will into the villain.

Maybe he’d even tell the police that Will had sabotaged the site. Will would undoubtedly become the prime suspect if he suddenly disappeared. His father would love jumping on that bandwagon. It would fuel his cause, be the tinder to the fire that both his wife and son weren’t worth missing.

Will had a thought then about his mother. She’d left Five Springs when he was young, gone in the middle of the night. Will had always held a bitter barb in his heart about it.

For the first time, he wondered if she’d made a decision like Will was doing now. If she’d needed to get out of the coffin before it buried her alive. If she’d had some love out there, some bigness waiting for her.

It didn’t absolve her of her abandonment, of the pain she’d caused him, but Will could understand needing to escape. It wasn’t like Will’s father was a nice man.

He stayed just a minute longer watching the flickering blue inside his father’s trailer.

Would he miss the man?

No.