Chapter 7
John never knew his sister. Sophie was a name and a handful of photographs.
He’d only asked about her once and Mommy had looked like she was going to cry. Daddy had taken him into his bedroom and explained that the little girl in the photos was his sister Sophie and she had died before John was born.
John had never asked about her again but sometimes he would retrieve the album from it’s place on the shelf in the dining room and study the photos intently.
What would she have been like? Would she be fun like Lisa down the street who likes playing kickball and climbing trees? Maybe she would be boring like Julie, who only likes to play house or with her silly dolls.
She would be seven years older than him if she alive. She’d be the same age as Paul’s oldest brother. Pete’s in middle school. Would she want to play with John if she were around? Pete will sometimes play catch with him and Paul but mostly he likes hanging around with his own friends.
Does he miss her? He wonders. Mommy misses her, anyone can see that, and Daddy too but does he? He didn’t ever know her. Is it possible to miss someone you never knew? He’d like to ask someone but he doesn’t want to upset Mommy and Daddy’s away again.
When he leaves for the army, John has just enough time to sneak a photo out of the album and have a copy made for himself. It goes with him everywhere. He has it through basic, through Ranger training, through Special Forces training. It is with him throughout all five of his deployments, in Iraq and in Afghanistan. It was with him in Mexico. He kept it hidden from Kara and Mark while he’s in the CIA. It is with him when he is living drunk on the streets of New York. When Finch offers him a job, the photograph is the only thing John takes with him. Number after number and the photograph is still with him. It is tucked safely in his wallet when he’s on the rooftop on the last day of his life.
It is found on the street in the aftermath of the missile attack - faded, bloody and battered. It shows a young soldier in uniform with one arm around a pretty woman and the other holding a little girl. On the back is written “Conor, Margaret and Sophie.”