Long Way Down

Will gets in the elevator and hits the lobby button. Another man gets in, wearing a gold chain around his neck. He keeps looking back at Will, and Will gets irritated. He asks if he knows the man, and the man smiles and shows him the screen-printed photo on the front of his shirt, which says, “RIP BUCK YOU’LL BE MISSED 4EVA” (79). Suddenly Will is terrified. Buck was Shawn’s mentor, an older boy he had known longer than the boys knew their own father. Buck is dead. Will sputters questions, and Buck confirms he is, in fact, dead. Will asks why Buck is here, assuming he plans to take Will to the afterlife. Buck says, “I came to check on my gun” (90).

The elevator seems to be taking forever. Buck tells Will to relax—after all, it’s “a long way down” (97). Buck tells Will he instructed Shawn to put the gun in a place Will would never find it. Shawn had the ability to use the gun, but Buck says Will doesn’t have it in him to follow