We Are Called to Rise

Avis and Jim attend a city council meeting together to watch their son, Nate, get sworn in as a police officer. Nate doesn’t know about his father’s affair, but they decide not to tell him until later. Avis remembers when she would walk Nate to school and take care of him while Jim was at work. We learn Avis became pregnant shortly after Emily died. She wasn’t prepared to have another child but accepted her fate.

At City Hall, Avis and Jim’s daughter-in-law, Lauren, joins them. Jim thanks Lauren for putting up with Nate, and Avis can see how uncomfortable this makes Lauren. Avis has already established that she fears her son since he returned from his last tour of duty in Iraq, but it’s unclear whether Jim is referring to anything specific. The three go through the motions, “only pretending to be together” (37). During the swearing-in of the new Las Vegas Police Department (LVPD) officers, Avis looks at her son and realizes how muscular he has grown from being a soldier.

The ceremony makes Avis think about Nate as a boy and how peaceful his childhood was in comparison to hers. She quickly returns to reality when Lauren begins to adjust in her seat; Avis notices Lauren has a bruise on her shoulder.