Now he was sitting on his bed just waiting. That was the worst of it. Brendan had said he’d be back. Hadn’t said when. The door unlocked. The unguarded forest just near. Some fellas had run off only months before. They’d been caught. They were all caught eventually.

This fear, though? Same thing he’d done to her. Same exact thing. Melissa waiting at home for him to return, probably feeling this same terror. Hoping that he’d changed. Despair when she heard his angry footsteps. When she saw his eyes.

He stared at the ceiling, rubbed at his own eyes. Where was the evil born in you? Dad had been Dad. He’d been alright. Never struck him, nothing beyond a smack. Never struck their mother. He hadn’t been exactly kind, though. Just a numb type of anger whenever Caleb got something wrong. That or complete apathy. One of those dads who sat in the car the duration of their son’s footy game instead of cheering on from the sidelines. Yet he’d taught him how to kick. Even now Caleb didn’t really know his father. Couldn’t tell what made the man tick. What he valued.

This again. Why he never let the cat in. As soon as he did it was endless misery. There was nobody else to blame for his actions but himself. What was he thinking? That because his father hadn’t said nice words to him Caleb beat his wife? Maybe there wasn’t some grand reason, some deep philosophy. Maybe he was just an arsehole, deep down, right in the pit of him. Kelly had said God doesn’t make mistakes but maybe he had when he’d made Caleb.

Hopefully Reverend Kelly had told his father about Brendan. He prayed his father would be coming. Please God. Even though he didn’t deserve mercy, he prayed.

He heard the door at the end of the hall open and then two sets of footsteps. He knew them instantly. Angry eyes soon stared at him through the window in his door. Caleb sat up.

‘You going to let me in or what?’ the voice said. Brendan. In his eyes a greedy joy.

The governor’s voice nearby. ‘You remember now, don’t hurt him too bad.’

‘Yeah, yeah.’

‘I mean it. Nothing permanent. None of that bruising you gave him last time. Hard to explain when higher-ups come and visit.’

There was a window in his room above his bed. He scrambled at the latch, trying to fumble it open. The cat had returned, running wild, chaos within. He the brainless mouse.

The governor, after a moment, said, ‘What are you waiting for?’

Brendan said, ‘You to unlock the door.’

‘It’s not locked. It’s minimum security,’ the governor said.

Brendan laughed. The sound of the door opening. Caleb still scrambling at the latch. Two thick hands quickly grabbed his shoulders. Feet kicked at his calves. He called out ‘Governor!’ as he fell back onto the bed, but the governor wasn’t there. He went down on his stomach, Brendan’s knees in his mid-section. A couple of slaps on the neck, almost playful.