His sister and parents crowded around the bed. Constance leaned in to give her son a kiss first, followed by Monica. Albert stood at the foot of the bed and nodded sheepishly.

“What happened?” Constance asked. “You look okay.”

“It’s kind of hard to explain,” Brian said. “At first I thought I’d been abducted by—Well, never mind about that. The police don’t think that’s what happened. But somebody kinda knocked me out and . . . did something to me.”

His family members exchanged nervous looks.

“Did what?” Albert asked softly.

Brian grimaced. “It’s easier to just show you. This gown thing is kinda open at the back so you can see it. Just don’t look at my butt, Monica.” He shifted onto his side, careful to pull up the covers so as not to expose too much of himself below the waist. Monica came around from the other side of the bed, and Albert moved up from the foot.

They all saw what had been done to him at the same moment, and there was a collective gasp.

“Oh dear God,” said his mother.

“What is that?” Monica asked. “Is that actually tattooed on there?”

“That’s what they say,” Brian said.

“Jesus,” said Albert. He reached out tentatively and touched the words SICK FUCK.

“Why would someone do that because of a dog?” asked Monica.

“Huh?” said Brian.

“Remember Mrs. Beecham’s dog?” she said.

Brian struggled to remember. “Oh, shit, yeah, the one I ran over.”

“She slashed our tires,” Albert recalled.

“You’d never confront her,” Constance said. “You never said a word to that awful woman.”

“There was no way to prove it,” he said. “It wasn’t like I got her on video or anything.”

Brian said, “Seems like a long time to hold a grudge about running over somebody’s dog.”

“This would never have happened if you hadn’t moved out,” Constance said. “I knew that was a mistake.”

“It really didn’t have anything to do with that,” Brian said.

Monica was still gazing at the tattoo, lightly touching the other words, just as her father had touched SICK FUCK. “Who was it, Brian? Who did this? I don’t think Mrs. Beecham could have done it. I mean, she’s an old lady.”

“I don’t know. I was asleep through all of it.” He rolled onto his back again. His lip started to tremble. “I’m glad you guys came.”

“Of course,” Constance said. “We came as soon as that police detective told us. When you get out of the hospital, you’re coming back to stay with us. Your room is just sitting there.”

Brian looked at his father. “I don’t know. I was doing okay on my own.”

“Oh, right,” his mother said. “And look at you now.”

Albert’s neck muscles had stiffened, and his face was turning red. “You wanna move home, that’s fine. But you went to Knight’s all the time, right? Even before you moved out.”

“Dad’s right,” Brian said. “This hasn’t got nothing to do with my leaving home.”