"I've been good. Busy with work, but good. How about you?"
Patty was only a few years older than Knox. Attractive with short dark hair and hazel eyes, she always had a smile and a kind word for everyone. No matter how much of a jerk they were.
"I'm doing well. Nervous about today, of course." She gave him some side eye. "I'm surprised to see you here. Randy must have been very persuasive."
"He was and this was a mistake. I shouldn't have come here."
She placed her hand on his arm and leaned closer. "I know about the letter you wrote to the parole board."
Instinctively, he stiffened, suddenly wary of her friendly mood. "It's not a secret. I told Randy what I was going to do."
She nodded. "You did and he told me. Ben's lawyer reached out to me and I told him that you were going to send a letter, and to let me know when it arrived."
"I'm not sorry, Patty. Someone had to say it. Come on, you have to know the truth by now. My dad isn't ever going to change. He says he's found religion. I think it's just another in a long line of con jobs. He's played and abused every one of us. How can you let him continue?"
From the conflicted expression on her face he could tell that she did know the truth about her husband. She just didn't want to admit it. Then she'd have to admit that she'd been wrong hanging in there all these years.
"He's done good things too."
Knox could feel the heat on the back of his neck as his anger simmered. It wasn't her fault though. This was all Ben.
"I can't think of any recent things. He's left you with two young kids and no income. Let's not even mention all the other kids my dad has fathered and not bothered to support or care about. How many is it now? Ten? Or is twelve? I've lost count of the women he's left behind while he skips merrily through life without a thought to the consequences."
"He's paid his debt to society."
"That's a matter of opinion. And even if he has, he has a mountain of outstanding debts he needs to deal with."
Unfortunately, it wasn't Knox's opinion that mattered today. It was all up to the parole board.
"I wish you and your father could reconcile," she sighed. "He is your father, after all."
An accident of biology.
"There's more to being a father than being a sperm donor," Knox replied, the words blunt. "Being a father means being there for your kid, and he sure as hell was never there for me."
"He was young," Patty argued. "He's learned as he's aged."
"Good for him. The best thing he can do is be a better parent to his younger children. Clearly, I'm a lost cause at this point."
She opened her mouth to defend Ben again but Knox shook his head and put up his hand to stop her from wasting her breath.
"Please don't. I'm not going to change my mind and neither are you. Can we just enjoy seeing each other again? I don't have any issues with you."
He tried to give her his best smile and Patty simply chuckled. "You've got as much charm as your daddy. I think you could get away with anything."
She thought she was saying something nice but...
"I'm nothing like my father. I don't use my charm against people."
Ben did it to get his way and if he didn't get what he wanted, he acted like a toddler having a tantrum.
She finally let it drop and they chatted for a few minutes about innocuous subjects like the weather and who might make the playoffs this year. Patty was a die-hard sports fanatic.
"I wrote a letter too," Patty said abruptly when the conversation had begun to lag. "After I heard about yours. I wrote a letter saying that Ben sounded like he'd changed. I said that his children needed him."
Knox didn't know what to say at that point. He didn't think Ben was anyone to look up to, but clearly Patty with her sunny optimism saw something that he'd never seen.
"I shouldn't have come here," he said instead. "This was a mistake. I wanted to be here for Randy but I can't pretend that I think Dad should get out."
This time he walked away to the other side of the room, shoving several quarters into a coffee vending machine and drinking down the vile liquid in just a few gulps. He barely noticed the burn on his tongue and the back of his throat, his attention on his family and staying a few feet away from them. This is how they always ended up. Him on the other side of the room counting the minutes until he could leave.
I'm an adult. I can leave now if I want to. But what about Randy? That's why I'm here.
I can do this. I can stay until this is done. For him. Then I'll leave.
Sometimes he wondered if it was really him that was the issue and not his family. They didn't seem to have the problems with their father and mother that he had. They didn't seem to think that Cal's behavior was all that bad. It was always Knox calling them out and everyone else telling him to apologize and
