Free Crashing Down by Kate McCaffrey Page A

nervous. He’s so unpredictable. So volatile. She sits next to him.
    â€˜Where have you been?’ he asks, his tone soft, almost sulking. ‘I’ve been waiting and waiting. That fucking priest won’t leave me alone. I can’t stand this place.’ He glances at the ceiling, blinking tears.
    â€˜What priest?’ His tears are more upsetting than his rages. This is not her Carl — this is someone completely different.
    â€˜The bald dude.’ Carl points at the doorway. ‘The one who just left.’
    â€˜That’s your dad!’ Lucy says in horror. ‘Don’t you recognise him?’
    â€˜My dad?’ Carl frowns, his black eyes searching her face. ‘Thought he looked familiar. Thought I’d seen him before. But it’s this place. They’re messing with my head. He told me they were. Why would my dad say that?’
    He looks so confused. Lucy can’t bear it.
    â€˜Carl, you’ve had an accident. You’ve hit your head pretty badly. They’re trying to fix it. You keep forgetting things.’ Lucy takes his hand gently, noticing where the leather strap has bitten into his skin. ‘You look really tired.’
    â€˜I am,’ he agrees. ‘I’ve been here so long. Nothing changes. The interrogations are the worst. The questions they ask me. It’s relentless and I don’t know what they want. I thought for a while it was you they were after. But you’re here. So it can’t be.’ He is starting to ramble and whisper, glancing around.
    â€˜Carl,’ Lucy begins, but he interrupts her.
    â€˜Shhhh,’ he says, ‘someone’s coming. I need a knife — something.’
    â€˜Carl!’ Lucy shouts. ‘You’re safe, you don’t need anything.’
    He narrows his eyes at her. ‘That’s easy for you to say,’ he hisses, ‘you’re not being held prisoner.’ He looks around wildly. ‘Pass me that pen, my stupid hand won’t pick it up.’
    â€˜No,’ Lucy says firmly, despite her terror. What is the right thing to say to him? What will or won’t tip him over the edge? She breathes a sigh of relief as she sees Mrs K in the doorway.
    â€˜Who are you?’ Carl asks, narrowing his eyes again. ‘You look familiar. Are you an actress?’
    â€˜Carlo?’ She shakes her head at Lucy. ‘Oh, mio dio,’ she says, rushing at him.
    â€˜Who the hell are you?’ He pushes her away with his shoulder. ‘Stop crying and kissing me.’
    Mrs K dissolves. ‘I get sister. I get father,’ she says, rushing off.
    Carl turns to Lucy. ‘Great. More nuns and a priest. What is this place — a seminary? You told me that dude wasn’t a priest.’
    â€˜He’s not,’ Lucy says, overwhelmed by the display in front of her. Carl’s parents hover in the doorway, and she looks at them for help. What is she meant to do?
    â€˜Carl,’ Mr K says softly, ‘you know me. No?’
    â€˜Not sure, mate,’ Carl says angrily. ‘Is that a trickquestion? Are you asking me if I know you — or telling me I don’t?’ Carl seems to find this funny and starts laughing loudly, but just as quickly stops. ‘What’s wrong with you lot — someone remove your funny bones?’ This also seems to strike him as particularly funny. ‘For Christ’s sake, why don’t you all just fuck off,’ he snaps, irritated.
    â€˜You no speak in front of your mother like that,’ Mrs K says, wringing her hands.
    Carl straightens at her words and leans forward. ‘You know, I’ve been meaning to ask,’ he says casually, ‘that old Immaculate Conception thing — it was a scam, wasn’t it? You just came up with the greatest lie ever to excuse yourself for bonking some other bloke. Did they ever let on to old Joseph that you’d deceived him with the Almighty’s spawn? Or