Absolution(105)

It felt good.



“Your housekeeping’s improved,” Jack said, giving Callum’s living room a quick once-over. “This place is positively tidy.”

It had been Callum’s suggestion that he crash at his place for a couple of days, just in case. The deal had been crystal clear – answers to what was going on, in return for keeping the real reason for their little sleepover from Ally. Under the circumstances, a little white lie seemed to be the least of their worries. Ally thought Tom’s place had a gas leak that was being investigated. What was really going on was another story entirely. Whatever it was, it was enough for Jack to accept his help with little more than a token effort at refusal, and that was reason enough to worry.

“Yeah well,” Callum handed Jack a beer and they both sank down into opposite armchairs. “Ally can’t navigate through crap all over the floor, it’s dangerous.”

They both took a swig of beer, silently sizing each other up.

“What happened to your van?” Jack asked, making an attempt at casual conversation. “I haven’t seen it since I’ve been back.”

Callum humoured him, for now at least. “I sold it.”

“Really?”

“This guy offered me a good price and I took it.”

“Wow. I have to say, I never thought you’d give it up, especially after all the work you did on it.”

“It was just a van, Ally wouldn’t be walking now if I’d been all sentimental about it.” Callum let that sink in for a few moments before elaborating. “I was the one who found the program that taught her how to walk. After what happened, it became really important that she had something positive in her life. Small price to pay.”

“She told me about that,” Jack said, clearly surprised. “But she didn’t say anything about you selling the van to pay for it.”

“That’s because we told her Tom paid for it.”

He could see the mention of Tom’s name struck a nerve, although Jack took a swift drink to try and hide the fact.

“We thought she’d take it better coming from Tom, but really, we each paid half. I told her that I sold the van because it wasn’t practical anymore, which was true – it was too high for her to transfer in and out by herself, so I had to lift her. She never said as much, but I knew she hated that. It made sense to get a car because it was more accessible.”

“I didn’t realise,” Jack mumbled.

“Well, four years is a lot of stuff to miss.”

Jack stared at the bottle resting on his thigh. “Look, I’m really sorry you got caught up in this. But thanks – for letting me crash here.”

“Don’t thank me yet,” Callum leaned forward. “First, I want you to tell me what the hell’s going on.”

Jack nodded cautiously. “That was the deal.”

Callum placed his beer bottle on the coffee table between them and sat back in the armchair. “So, spill the beans – and I mean the truth – all of it, no bullshit fence-sitting. I think we’ve gone way beyond that now.”

Jack placed his bottle on the table, too. He sat forward, staring at his hands, grasped so tightly together his knuckles glowed white. “I got involved in some stuff.”

“What kind of stuff?”

Jack fidgeted, clearly uncomfortable. “Fighting.”

“What kind of fighting?” Callum hoped he wasn’t going to have to draw whatever this was out of him, one painful word at a time.

“The kind where large sums of money are involved.”

“Underground fighting? Like cage fighting or something?”

“Something like that.”

Callum whistled softly. “Well, that explains a lot.”

It was Jack’s turn to frown.

“The thing with Andy,” he clarified.

“Yeah. I guess.”

“I’ve never seen you fight like that – ever.”

“Learnt a few new tricks.”

“No shit,” Callum eyeballed him over the coffee table as Jack massaged his knuckles absent-mindedly. “So how does the big guy I saw at your place fit into all this?”

Jack seemed to disappear into himself and Callum waited until he found his way back, curiosity giving him uncharacteristic patience.

“The night you called me, when Dad died,” Jack began carefully, “I was supposed to fight this guy. Ben – my manager, I guess you’d call him – he had money on it. He said he was setting me up for something bigger, but I had to throw this fight for it to all work out.”