"Yes, I work in a psychiatric hospital. I used to do marriage counseling but I needed a change. I've been doing this a few years now."
"Have you been following the case of Joe Sanders?"
"I've heard the stories on the news."
"Have you ever had patients who were criminals?"
"I've had many. They can be hard to counsel because of their need to rebel."
"Do you have any idea where someone like Joe would go to hide out?"
"It's hard to say, not knowing him, but if he's like other escaped convicts, he'll hit the road and try to get as far away as he can. He might try to change his identity, although a lot of those guys have tattoos that give them away."
"Now I know why you wanted to come here," Eve says, taking another taco. "You just wanted to question my dad."
"That's not why. I didn't even know he'd be home."
She smiles at me. "I'm just kidding. Fire questions at him. He doesn't care."
"I'm Rick, by the way," he says, shaking my hand. "I wish I could offer you more help but without knowing the man's history, it's hard to predict where he'll go. Does the boy have a good relationship with his father?"
"He doesn't really know him. His dad went to prison when Jake was really young. And before he went to prison, Dean said Jake was living with their grandma a lot."
"But Dean didn't?"
"No. He wanted to stay with his mom and try to protect her. His dad was abusive."
Rick nods. "Almost killed her."
"He did?"
"It was in one of the stories online. He beat her and left her for dead."
That's why Dean is so afraid of being with me. He thinks he'll hurt me like his dad hurt his mom. Why would he think that? He would never do that.
"Is that kind of violence genetic?" I ask.
"There can be a genetic tendency to violence but in most cases it's learned," Rick says.
"But it can be unlearned, right?"
"Dean thinks he might hurt her," Eve casually says as she takes another taco from the bag.
"Eve!" I say, wishing she hadn't said that. I told her what Dean said tonight but I assumed she knew she wasn't supposed to tell anyone.
"What?" she says, like it's no big deal. "You have an expert here. Why not ask him?"
Maybe she's right. Her dad seems to know what he's talking about.
"Seeing violence in the home doesn't mean a child will repeat it," Rick says. "But it does happen. A person can promise themselves they'll never be like their abusive parent and then turn out to repeat those patterns just because it's all they know. It's all they've seen."
"So how do you stop it?"
"The first step is being aware of it and accepting it. Next is counseling and behavior modification. You learn what triggers you to react in a violent way and you stop it before it happens."
"Dean said he leaves the house when his brother makes him angry."
"That's one technique. It removes him from the situation, but that's not always an option. He needs to find other ways to cope with his anger. Imagery. Deep breathing. Other relaxation techniques. If he saw a counselor, he could learn what works best for him."
