“You tell me why you did it.”
“Fuck you, you’re just trying to get me to confess.”
I shook my head, but I certainly couldn’t blame him for thinking that. “No. I promise it’s not that. As you can see,” I said, holding out my arms, “I’m obviously not carrying a listening device of any kind. So even if I did tell someone what you said, which I won’t, it would be hearsay. Which is inadmissible in court.”
“Still. How do I know you’re not pulling something?” He dug the back of his tennis shoes into the ground and picked at a long stalk of grass next to his hip.
“You don’t. You have to trust me. If you can’t trust me as a navy vet or a Hobie firefighter then maybe you can trust me as family, because whether you like it or not, I’m going to be one of your uncles someday in the future. Whether that comes before or after a couple of years in jail for arson remains to be seen, but I promise you, it will happen.”
Hal looked off in the distance toward the site of where my childhood home had sat. I tried not to resent the kid in front of me for everything inside that had been lost, but it wasn’t easy. That’s why I desperately wanted to understand why he’d done it.
“My mom’s never wanted anything in her life more than to stay home and raise her kids.” His voice was quiet when he finally began speaking. His eyes moved around like he was checking out our surroundings for hidden microphones or cameras.
“She gave up her chance at college when my dad wanted to start a family, but then when he died, she lost the house. He didn’t have any insurance and there she was, pregnant and raising a three-year-old with no job and no house. Her parents, my other grandparents, took us in and when the baby came, the three of us shared one tiny room. Me and mom slept in a single bed and Cody slept in a portable crib. That went on for over two years. Eventually Mom got a job cleaning houses and she’d have to leave me and Cody with our grandmother during the day.
“I remember when she met John. My grandparents had made us start going to church regularly, and there was a picnic social mixer thing there on Saturday. A group of local college students were in charge of kids’ games or something. She told me later that John gave her unlimited tokens for me to toss rings at the glass bottles.
“She deserved that, you know? Someone who was sweet on her. I don’t remember much, but I remember being thankful that John took us away from my grandparents’ house and put a smile back on my mom’s face.”
“When we moved down here, it was all finally going to come together. The Walkers told John and my mom we could move into the main ranch house. We lived there for almost four years, Otto. Happy as could be. Eliza came and we had a huge yard to play in and a creek to walk to, plenty of space for our toys and games and family dinners. But then the rest of the family decided to move back and suddenly, we had to find our own place to live. John and my mom were shocked when the Walkers said they were giving the little house to Uncle Seth and Aunt Jolie.”
What he was telling me finally started putting the pieces together.
“So you were angry,” I prompted.
“Hell yeah I was angry. John and my mom deserved that house more than them! And then Uncle Seth freaking left! And now Jolie and tiny Tish have that place all to themselves. It’s not fair. Meanwhile, because Grandpa Walker took my dad’s promotion out from under him, all we can afford is a crappy little rental house. All our stuff is jammed in corners, and Cody and I have to share a room. Poor Eliza basically lives in a big closet. And there’s Aunt Jolie, living rent free in a Walker home when she’s not even technically a Walker!”
The fact that he’d referred to John as his dad during his passionate speech was not lost on me.
“Why start a fire at the little house?”
Hal laughed at himself and closed his eyes in embarrassment. “I just wanted to scare her off a little. I thought maybe if there was a little damage to the house, she’d move in with Uncle Seth and they’d get back together. Seth loves that lake house. Once they were all living there, I figured the little house would be free for us to move into. But then you showed up out of the blue and I freaked.”
“And when the fire didn’t work? What made you target my parents’ house?”