Chapter 25 #2
‘Aye, well, I’m pretty sure the answer is Archie Butler,’ Cal said drily before they had started.
Niall laughed. It wasn’t something their biological father had specifically stooped to but sabotaging the distillery certainly had been.
Cal was five when Archie died, and Niall a newborn.
Cal therefore had more memories, albeit hazy, of their father.
The words ‘arsehole’, ‘dick’ and ‘fuckwad’ were usually how Cal referred to Archie Butler, if he ever came up in conversation.
They got to work on solving the escape room, unlocking combinations and finding keys to secret drawers and solving codes.
‘Can I ask you something?’ Niall asked Cal as they were both fiddling with levers and pulling at handles.
‘Aye, go ahead.’
‘Do you see anything of Archie in any of us?’
Cal stopped what he was doing and examined his brother quizzically. Niall didn’t blame him. This wasn’t exactly the ideal time to be picking fruit from the family DNA tree.
‘You want to talk about this now? We have to work out where Shuggie McKenzie put the spare key.’
‘Sorry. It’s not the time. I’ve got you on your own, that’s all.’
‘The answer is no,’ said Cal. ‘Although if you want to drill down into the finer detail you should ask Mum. We all look a bit like him – me, you, Jamie – but I hope that’s where the resemblance ends.
Mum did say he was kind of charming when she first met him, so I suppose we’ve got that.
’ Cal yanked open a drawer, pulled out the key they’d been hunting for and unlocked the pot still with it.
‘Right, there’s some sort of letter in here.
’ He passed the letter to Niall who read it out loud.
‘I think it means in one of these.’ Niall ambled over to the barrels.
‘Why are you asking about Archie?’ asked Cal. ‘You having an identity crisis?’
‘Not quite. I’m trying to figure out a few things. If I’m the black sheep and all that.’
‘Still?’ Cal’s face awoke with an understanding; he’d heard this before. ‘Bro, you’re no black sheep. You’re not even a sheep. You’re more like a goat.’
‘Like the greatest of—’
‘No,’ Cal cut him off. ‘Just a goat.’ And Niall laughed.
Maybe this was all he would get from his brothers in terms of insight.
Should he take that as a sign, that there was nothing to say because he wasn’t like Archie.
Yes, Mr McInally had instilled that in him at school and it had stayed with him, but it was established that Mr McInally was dead and his opinion dead with him.
‘Listen,’ Cal said, as they walked back to reception after solving the escape room. ‘Don’t let Archie Butler fuck with your life or get in the way of you being happy with Carli, okay? If you need to talk about it, we can chat later, and there’s always the phone.’
‘What? How?’ How did Cal know? Him and Jamie with their insight. He wasn’t possessed with the same skills, and it was no wonder he felt like the odd one out.
‘I might not have seen you in years, but you’re my brother,’ Cal said.
‘We’re blood. She makes you stupidly happy.
I remember how fucked-up things were when she left last time, and I can see – not to mention I heard last night – how much you like her.
And she likes you. So don’t let that bit of your head, that may or may not have a little bit of Archie Butler’s DNA in it, take over.
You’re not him. You decide how you live your life.
Not some dead guy that never put an ounce of anything into raising you.
You didn’t get more of his DNA than me or Jamie.
You just worry that you did. Having a few problems at school and driving a car half a mile down the road with a bit of whisky in your system was stupid, but it’s not the same as being an abusive husband or sabotaging your brother’s life. You know that, right?’
‘Aye, aye, I do.’ Niall did. Everything Cal said made sense.
Being here with his brother and hearing it said straight to his face made such a difference.
In Australia all he had to go on were memories and maybe he’d been stewing on things for far too long.
Being removed from his homeland he was detached from reality and all the memories became bigger and warped.
But he was here now and talking to his down to earth brother made things so much clearer.
‘Good,’ said Cal. ‘You’re Jimmy Butler’s son, not Archie’s. You’re a good person who works hard and has achieved things. And Dad is hugely proud of you, by the way.’
‘What?’ This got Niall’s attention because it shot straight to the core of the problem. How his dad saw him was the foundation that underpinned it all.
‘You think he isn’t, but he is. I know for a fact that Dad doesn’t see Archie in you.
He sees you. Your success, your hard work, your dedication to surfing, those kids you teach, and to making something of your life.
If there’s anyone he sees in you, it’s himself.
And if you want proof, I’ll tell you exactly where to find it. ’
Niall was about to ask Cal to please continue, to tell him where this proof was, but the ring of a phone interrupted proceedings.
‘It’s Mum. Hang on.’ Cal lifted his phone to his ears.
Seconds later, Cal’s face turned ashen, and he was gripping onto a nearby table whilst listening intently to his mum talk.
‘Shit,’ he said when he ended the call. ‘Dad’s taken a turn for the worse and he’s in hospital.’