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I am between them in a flash, and push him away. ‘Ariella.’ I keep my voice low and level.
‘Caleb!’ She smiles. ‘I’m so glad you’re here.’
‘I’ve been trying to reach you.’ I pull her into a hug. She holds on tighter than I expect. It worries me. I’m relieved she’s okay. Dahlia would have murdered me, which would have been preferable to whatever Hugh Mason might dream up.
‘I’m sorry. I lost my phone yesterday, but the kids went back to the shops we visited and found it this morning! It’s charging. I was going to call…’
‘Are you okay?’ I ask, inspecting her face.
She nods. ‘I’m sorry about your—’
‘I need you to listen to me right now.’ I hold her gently and look directly in her eyes. ‘Please stop what you’re doing and get your stuff,’ I state calmly.
‘Hold on, son…’ my father starts.
‘I’m not your son. I’m here for her and that’s it.’ I try to stay calm.
‘But your mom, Caleb…’
‘Ariella, get your stuff right now. We’re leaving,’ I reassert.
‘You can’t—’ he starts again.
‘I can do anything I like. You think wearing matching football tops makes you less of a monster?’
He has the decency to look embarrassed.
‘I’m sorry,’ Ariella says to my father as she pulls the tea towel from the back pocket of her jeans.
‘Don’t youdareapologise to him.’ I realise that I am shouting at her. That’s not my intention. I just want to get away from here.
‘Please don’t yell at me, Caleb,’ she shoots back in a tone that is anything but pleading.
She’s cross at me? Cross can’t even begin to describe what I am feeling towards her, now the worry has abated. She walks past, annoyed. She, I can deal with later. My father starts to follow her, so I stand firmly at the door, blocking the hallway.
‘It’s been years, Caleb.’
I look at the psychotic, violent, racist, alcoholic bully. He is older, frailer, greyer, weaker and more pathetic than I remember.
‘You haven’t changed,’ I respond.
He turns and makes his way, very slowly, to the dining table to sit.
‘Stop making it look harder than it really is. I have no sympathy for you.’
‘Things don’t work the way they used to.’ He smiles at me.
‘Years of alcoholism and evil eventually catch up.’ I watch carefully just in case the animal surfaces. ‘Is the ward looking after her?’
‘I haven’t been. Someone’s got to look after these little fuckers.’
‘I thought that was what Ariella was doing.’
‘With my help…’
‘You’re a burden.’
‘I’d be a burden to that arse, those tits…’ He licks his lips. I punch him before I know what I’m doing.
