CHAPTER 39 – TOM
CHICAGODustin died peacefully on a particularly hot July Wednesday, when the sunflowers in the front yard were not only in full bloom, but so open that they were beginning to lose their petals. No amount of expectation could have prepared Tom for the overwhelming sense of loss. He felt this loss selfishly, as if this new found part of himself that Dustin had uncovered was being slowly, and painfully ripped away from him, like the sticky plaster on a wound which had just begun to scab over. But the pain only strengthened his resolve that he would fulfil his promise to his newest, but at the same time, closest friend.
He chose not to go to the funeral, but instead he sat on the bench by the table at which he’d first seen Dustin, and he soaked up the sun’s rays, opting for
