Catering with Benefits (2) - Second Course - 25. THOSE FILTHY FAGS

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A few days later, they had not heard anything from the police or from Brendan, so they assumed he must still be in custody. That night on the evening news it was reported that the only suspect in the toilet bashing case had been formally charged and refused bail. A blurred image of the suspect was shown in the report and his name was revealed publicly for the first time. The whole household heaved a joint sigh of relief.

During this time Craig had kept busy with business matters so that Justin could spend most of the time with his mother. They all ate the evening meal together, but other than that Craig let them have their private time to console and support each other. Justin finally asked his mother, one day, why his father had always been so aggressive, unstable and homophobic, yet seemed to still maintain his faith and belief in the Catholic Church.

Jessica told Justin “There is a lot about your father that I’ve shielded you from. Perhaps I should have told you before, but at first you were too young to understand or be burdened with it and as you got older I hoped it could all be forgotten and I would not need to tell you. I’ve spent most of your life trying to protect you from him. But when he found out you were gay I could not do it any longer, so in fact he did us all a favour by throwing you out of home. Had you tried to stay at home he would have made life hell for both of us. So, in some way I had to give you up to maintain some relative peace at home and ensure you completed your education away from that environment.”

“Then why didn’t you leave him years ago Mum?”

“While I stayed with him I could keep him a bit under control and usually knew where he was. Thankfully that was away from you. I owe your aunt a lot for what she and Hannah did for you.”

“But what made him like that?”

“Well when I met him he was a gentle loving man, we fell in love and married, then shortly afterwards I became pregnant with you. It was while I was pregnant that I first saw a change in your father. He would have periods of being depressed - he would drink more and sometimes got very angry over the slightest thing that annoyed him. These periods would come and go. Sometimes he was the loving man I married and sometimes he seemed like a complete stranger. At first I thought he might have been missing his bachelor freedom and was finding marriage and impending fatherhood a bit daunting. Friends told me that they sometimes saw that in their husbands, but eventually they settled down as they learned to cope with and embrace their new lifestyle, especially if they had a son. But your father was not like this, even when you were born, he did not get any better. In fact his bouts of anger became worse. When you were about two, I finally talked him into seeking professional help. He attended his counselling sessions regularly and seemed to be improving slowly. But when I would ask what he talked about to the psychologist he would not tell me. I assumed it must be me if he would not tell me. If it was me, then I needed to know so I could help him through this rough period. Every time I pressed him on the issue he would get angry but I kept on trying. Eventually one night he got so angry that he lashed out at me physically and knocked me across the room. I was so shocked and scared that I went into your room, locked the door and slept on the floor next to your cot that night. He did not even knock on the door or say anything to me through the door. I did not hear him leave and assumed he went to bed when I heard the TV turned off. The next morning I heard him leave early for work and it was then I felt it was safe for us to leave your room”.

“When he came home at the end of the day he seemed to be acting normally as if nothing unusual had happened last night. I said nothing about it until a few days later when I said we had to talk about it. I told him I was scared of him and scared for you as well. This time he did not get angry, he had not had a drink when he came home, as he usually did. He told me he was sorry and embarrassed about what happened and that he would never want to hurt me or you and that he thought he owed me some explanation but could not bring himself to tell me. I asked him if he would go again to his psychologist and ask him if he thought it would be useful for as to have a joint session as they did in marriage counselling. He agreed to this and I accompanied him to his next appointment and sat anxiously in the waiting room until he had run the idea past his counsellor. He agreed and I was invited in. Your father told me in the session that he had been able to discuss his problems with the counsellor, who nodded in agreement with this. Then for the rest of the session with the counsellor’s encouragement your father told me about his childhood.”

“His family were strict Catholic, went to mass and confession regularly and he attended Catholic school. When he was old enough his mother took him to the parish priest to be enrolled and trained as an altar boy. He completed his training and served as an altar boy in St Patrick’s parish as well as attending primary and secondary school at St. Pat’s. Justin, in light of recent revelations about the Catholic Church, I don’t think I need to tell you what happened to him at the hands of the parish priest. Like most young men who were abused by priests and brothers, he kept quiet about it because he was frightened to speak up and thought his parents would probably not believe him anyway. Which as we now know was so true in many cases. So your Dad carried this secret and the shame he felt through his formative years and into adulthood. Sometimes he could forget about it for a while and then an event would trigger the memories and he would be powerless to stop the rage in himself.”

“So, why does he still think the church is so wonderful and still maintains his Catholicism, Mum?”

“You see, he thinks the church and most of the hierarchy are blameless and just blames the individual perpetrators because in his eyes they only committed these crimes because they are homosexual. He clings to the church teachings against homosexuality and that supports his homophobia. His counsellor said that he clings to those beliefs because he can then excuse himself from his actions. He does not see his anger and the consequences of his actions as his fault. To put it in his words – It’s because of those filthy fags. So, it was a huge blow to him when his sister, your aunt Julia came out. That is why he has never spoken to her since. Then back in 2013 when the Royal Commission started and the individual stories were told by those brave people who had suffered in silence for so long, it brought back all his painful memories. His bouts of anger became more frequent and I just had to stand back and let it happen while protecting you and myself from his anger.”

“As you know, I was unaware at the time of your encounter with the school maintenance man. But when I found out and it was confirmed that you were gay, I knew there would never be any way of reconciling your father to that. He had been a potentially dangerous man for many years. But I knew that a man with his twisted beliefs and inner demons would never be able to accept having a gay son. That’s why I took you to your aunt’s to live. It was extremely heartbreaking for me to have to give you up.”

“But, Mum I know you did it for love and have always known that, even if I didn’t tell you.”

“.... and now we find ourselves in this situation. Despite not loving the man anymore, he is still my husband and I will have to give him some support during his trial. At the very least I have to get him a good lawyer.”

“OK Mum and I will support you in any decision you make. Then maybe we should call that policeman who left his card with you, to find out what’s happening to Dad and how we go about getting him a lawyer.”

“Yes, you’re right son I’ll call him right now.”

When she called Detective Urban he told her that her husband had been formally charged with the bashing and unintentional killing of Sam Hiscock. However, if more evidence comes to light that shows premeditation the charges could be upgraded to murder.”

“Then should I get him a lawyer?”

“He already has a duty solicitor assigned to his case, so unless he says otherwise or you wish to speak to him about changing solicitors, then that won’t be necessary. It is his right to choose his own legal representative. Do you wish to visit him?”

Jessica looked at Justin for guidance “He wants to know if I want to visit your father.”

“My feeling would be no.”

“I think you are right again, it might antagonise him and the police know how to handle him and his outbursts. I might make it worse.” Jessica returned to her phone “Officer, unless he especially asks to see me, then I don’t want to visit him.”

“Thank you Mrs. Haynes, your wishes have been noted. At this point your husband has not requested we call you, but I will advise you if there is any change.”

“So what happens next, Detective?”

“We will continue to collect evidence and eventually pass it on to the Public Prosecutor and Mr. Haynes’s solicitor will keep you up to date if you so wish.”

“Yes, I would like that. Thank you Detective Urban.” They ended their conversation there and Justin and his mother gave each other a long hug. Then Justin asked his mother “Can I tell Craig what is happening, I know he has given us our own space this week but I think I should now bring him up to date.”

“Of course you must tell him the news and also tell him, while we appreciate him keeping his distance he does not need to do that any longer. As your loving partner he should be included in all discussions from now on.”

***

Detective Urban found two large envelopes on his desk. One contained a coroner’s report stating the cause of death of Hiscock, the other, the results of testing the blood from Haynes overalls. The blood results showed blood samples from two people. One was Haynes blood, the other was Hiscock’s blood. Urban looked towards his assistant and said “Get me one of those PP95 forms. I’ve got all the evidence I need to push this case up to the Public Prosecutor.”

***

Neither family had been contacted by the media up to this point as they had not been to the police station and Jessica was staying at the Simpson’s property. The media could not make a connection between the Haynes’s and the Simpson’s. Neither family had given this any thought until Justin found a message on his social media page, asking him to contact a Martin Stroud at The Australian newspaper. Justin was alarmed by this and immediately told Craig and his mum. All three of them tried to work out how the journalist had found him. Their assumption was that they probably spoke to the Haynes’s neighbours and got some info about their names and knowing the name of the suspect they then trawled through social media pages and made some connections. Craig contacted his father to seek his advice. As far as they were aware the press obviously did not have their address yet, but would probably find it soon, so Harry Simpson hired a private security company to post an officer at his mother’s house 24/7. The security officers were instructed not to be in uniform as this may make neighbours suspicious. They were to remain invisible but alert.

Justin, of course did not reply to the newspaper request and thought of taking down their accounts. They each had their own accounts and there was one for the business. He mentioned this to the security officer who advised them not to close the accounts as this might alert the media to the fact that they had found the right people. To ensure the media were not camped outside the Haynes house, a security guard was sent by late at night to investigate. When he was certain it was clear, Justin drove his mum there and she hurriedly packed some more clothes and personal items to take with her. After a few days the murder was replaced by some other tragedy in the news and the media seemed to lose interest in the story.