AllFreeNovel
Share Us
‘Your father. Have you contacted him?’
‘No. No, I haven’t.’
‘Are you going to?’
‘Harry, that’s none of our business,’ Barbara chastised.
‘I really don’t know what I’m going to do yet, Mr White.’
He softened at this. ‘Call me Harry.’
‘Thank you.’
‘How do you feel about him being released?’ he asked.
‘I don’t know that either. I’m struggling to come to terms with it all. I’m guessing you’ve read in the news about that drug he was taking?’
‘We’ve read everything,’ he said, reaching across to take his wife’s hand in his. ‘We knew he’d be released one day. I must admit, we were both shocked when we heard he was coming out early, but I suppose?—’
‘No.’ Barbara snatched her hand back. ‘There’s no suppose about it, Harry. Whether he was taking a drug that messed with his head or not, at the end of the day, he killed our Stephanie. He murdered a child. He should never see the light of day again.’
‘Barbara and I have different views on justice, Dawn.’
‘Harry will forever be a policeman,’ she said. There was an edge to her voice. ‘He believes in law and order, and justice. He doesn’t see that the law isn’t working, that it’s the criminals who are looked after before the victims and their families. Dominic is getting his life back after twenty years. Are we getting Stephanie back? No, we’re not. So he shouldn’t be released.’
‘He’s not getting his life back, Barbara. We’ve been through this countless times. He’ll be released on licence. He’ll have a probation officer. He’ll have to report to the police. He’ll have to ask permission to move house, change job, go on holiday?—’
‘But he’ll still be able to do those things, Harry,’ Barbara said, jumping up and walking over to the window. ‘Stephanie can’t go on holiday. She’s dead. She’s not coming back. He stole her away from us, and he should pay with his own life.’ She turned and went into the kitchen.
‘I really shouldn’t have come here, should I?’ I asked.
Harry shrugged. ‘You did what you thought was right.’
‘Turns out I was wrong.’
‘Not at all. We go through stages like this. Something happens that reminds us, takes us back to those dark days, and we have the same argument over and over again. I was a detective for over twenty-five years. I have to believe in the justice system, or it makes everything I worked for a sham. I’m sure you’re the same, now you’re in the legal profession. Dominic was sentenced in a court of law. He’s served his sentence, and he’s getting released. That’s all there is to it.’
‘It’s admirable that you think like that,’ I said. I meant it too.
‘Could you repeat that to my wife?’ he said, with a hint of a chuckle.
‘Dawn?’
I looked up and saw Barbara standing in the doorway to the kitchen. Her eyes were red from crying.
‘I’m sorry for my behaviour. I shouldn’t have reacted like that and dragged you into our argument.’
‘That’s fine. I’m sorry. I probably shouldn’t have come here.’ I stood up and reached for my coat again.
‘No. I’m glad you came. And you deserve to know who your father is. Nobody can help who their family is, can they? Remember your cousin Shaun, Harry?’
‘Let’s not go down that route, Barbara. The less said about Shaun the better.’
‘Precisely my point. There are bad apples in every family.’
I smiled. Once again, Mrs White had a way of making everything seem better. I was suddenly back in English class and worrying because I couldn’t understand why Miss Havisham was being such a cow to Pip and Estella.
I started crying. I’ve no idea where the tears came from or why they were falling, but once they started, I couldn’t stop. Barbara came towards me and put her arms around me. I towered over her, so it must have looked strange from Harry’s point of view.
