Joseph DeCarlo was dead on arrival at Modoc Medical Center in Alturas. I spent the day trying to keep Austin sane and out of jail. There are times when the truth must be repressed so the living can go on living, and this was one of them. Although Austin repeatedly told me he wanted to die, I knew that wasn’t true, so I lied and acted confused and eventually muddied the waters enough so the county sheriff’s department found it convenient to believe that Austin had killed his father in order to save my life.
I, on the other hand, knew the enormity of the lie. Since the year of my birth Austin had been struggling to gather the courage to stand up to Joseph’s contempt, but in that final moment had found not courage but murderous rage. There would be an inquest, and he’d be exonerated, but for the rest of his life he’d have to live with the knowledge that in his love-hate relationship with his father, hate had won.