“He didn’t mean to swing the bat that hard,” Lena said.

Michael stopped on the bottom concrete step.

“He told the police Noah startled him in the kitchen, that’s all,” Lena said.

“Noah called me on his emergency speed dial while he was hiding in the pantry,” Michael said.

Lena looked down at the dead brown grass.

Her quick, defensive chatter fell into total silence.

“If you show Judge Vance those Warren County papers tomorrow, Travis goes to state prison,” Lena said.

“State prison is where he belongs,” Michael said.