I’d believed she was careless, not cruel.

“No, Benji,” I said softly.

“Daddy didn’t call me.

I just knew I had to come home.”

Benji rubbed his nose on the green tail of his stuffed dinosaur.

“She said bad boys sleep in the doghouse when company’s here,” he whispered.

The word hung in the warm air of the car between us, heavy and cold.

“When did she put you out there, honey?” I asked.