Part 1 — The Knock at Seven
My 13-year-old son sold his beloved guitar to buy a new wheelchair for a girl in his class. I thought it was an extraordinary act of kindness. But at seven the following morning, two police officers appeared at our door. What they told me about the previous day’s events left me completely unprepared.
My son Julian had secretly sold his favorite electric guitar to help a classmate whose wheelchair was falling apart.
I was still processing what he’d done when two officers knocked on our front door.
“Mrs. Vance, we need to speak with you about Julian.”
I instinctively reached for my son’s hand.
“Has he done something wrong?”
One officer glanced toward him.
“There’s something about yesterday that you haven’t been told.”
Julian turned pale.
Suddenly, I wondered whether selling his guitar was only part of the story.
Julian had treasured his custom Fender Stratocaster ever since his father and I gave it to him for his birthday.
