Branden Colvin Jr. tries to sleep.
The 18-year-old spent Wednesday night struggling to rest on a large white comforter spread out in front of Davenport City Hall on 4th Street. It's not far from the pile of rubble that used to be a large portion of the apartment building where his dad lived.
Branden Colvin Sr. lived on the fourth floor of The Davenport — in the portion that collapsed Sunday. Sleep would offer his son some relief from the horror of not knowing what happened to him.
After the collapse, Colvin Jr. and his mother, Desiree Banks, tried in vain to reach Branden Colvin Sr. There has been no answer. They went to the corner of 4th and Main streets and stared at the huge hole that used to be Colvin Sr.'s apartment. There has never been any sign of life.
A senior at Rock Island High School, Colvin Jr. spent Monday night in his father's car, which was parked near the scene.
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"Honestly? I think it was so he could feel the presence of his dad," the 37-year-old Banks said. "When Branden Junior was little we nicknamed him 'Papas.' I don't even remember where that came from, but I couldn't going around calling everyone Branden and expect to get anywhere."
Banks smiled at the memory.
"Papas spent the the first few nights in that car. He did say he could smell his dad," she said. "My son is a quiet, reserved kid. He really doesn't like to talk much, especially about feelings and things like that.
"But he's talking, he's socializing. I've seen him accept hugs from people. So I'm letting him stay out here. Maybe it's his way of dealing with things. He's supposed to graduate from high school on Saturday, and I don't think he is even thinking about all that. Maybe this is his way of waiting and hoping that his father will come out of that rubble alive."
Colvin Jr. spoke with CNN.
"I'm supposed to be graduating in three days, walking across the stage," he told the network's Adrienne Broaddus. "I don't even know if I have the energy to go. We had finals this week, Tuesday, and I tried to go to school. As soon as I walked in, I just broke down and I was crying."
He said he wanted to hear his dad's voice again.
Banks said she wasn't surprised that her son hadn't given up hope. She called Colvin Sr. a man "who loved his family and loved to spend time with his family." She and Colvin Sr. were together for about six or seven years, and they remain close. She said he "always was there for his kids."
"Branden Senior has five children, and I know he takes care of things," she said. "He and Papas are close. He makes the effort with my son. And we are good, you know? There's money in my bank account right now that's from him.
"He is a good man."
Banks recalled how she met the father of Papas.
"Me and him lived in the same neighborhood, over in Rock Island," she said. "I was friends with his sister. I've known Branden Senior for a long, long time."
Banks said there's a reason she and her son hold onto hope that, somehow, Colvin Sr. will survive the collapse.
"Branden Senior is a fighter. He is tough, really tough," she said. "I haven't switched over to thinking he is dead."
But she's trying to prepare herself and her son for the worst.
"It will be hardest when they start taking that rubble away. It's hard to think that he's down there," she said. "It's going to be horrible. And if he's in there, dead, it's going to be shocking and devastating.
"My son ... I really don't know how it will go for him. All I can do is be here to comfort him."
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