Back Roads

Harley spends Monday calling anyone he thinks could help his mother get out of prison. No one is interested in helping him. Thinking about his mother causes him anxiety but thinking about Misty frightens him. Harley works on Tuesday. Bud and Church both offer advice on the pipe. Rick tells Harley not to come back to work until he’s had a bath. Church claims he told his mother what Rick said and she thought it was unkind because Harley is a nice person.

Amber comes to the Shop Rite to tell Harley she’s leaving. She claims Dylan has moved in with his friends and wants her to live with him. Harley asks what he can do to make her stay. He asks if she would like him to hit her like Dylan does. Amber claims Dylan didn’t hit her, but Harley knows she’s lying. Harley asks if she thinks abuse is love. Amber asks if Harley wants her to stay, and Harley tells her he wants her to stay until she figures things out. Amber agrees to stay. Church assumes Amber is Harley’s girlfriend.

Harley arrives home after the girls have gone to bed. He finds a note Misty wrote on the table. The note refers to Amber and Harley loving each other, implying that their relationship is more romantic than familial. Harley briefly faints.

Harley takes Bonnie’s Bible to bed with him. He doesn’t dream, but he imagines a woman coming to bed to lie with him. They move into each other, and she makes sounds of pleasure. Harley fully wakes up and remembers he doesn’t dream anymore. He pushes the woman away and sees that it is Amber. She is naked, telling him that he’d wanted her to stay and was enjoying her touch. She accuses Harley of thinking she was Callie. Harley rushes out of the house and vomits. He spends the night in one of the doghouses.

Harley waits inside the doghouse until he hears the school bus come and go. He goes into the house, down to his bedroom, and dresses. In the kitchen, he eats cereal and drinks beer. Misty comes into the house and tells Harley that it’s the last day of school, so she doesn’t see the point in going. Misty tells him she heard his fight with Amber the night before. When Misty says she heard Harley tell Amber to put her clothes on, Harley tells her she heard wrong. Misty then asks Harley to take her to get a tattoo, but he refuses. He claims a tattoo is permanent and he doesn’t feel comfortable making that kind of decision for her. Misty tells him she respects his reasoning.

Misty comments that she and Harley are strange. She says she’s more like a boy because she is a good shot, and Harley is like a girl because he prefers art to most masculine pursuits. Harley points out that their father loved spending time with Misty. However, Misty insists he would have rather spent time with Harley. She says she tried to make their father love her but failed. She expresses jealousy over their father’s relationship with Bonnie. Misty points out their father never hit Bonnie. In that moment, Harley realizes that Misty wasn’t sexually abused by their father. Instead, Misty felt betrayed by a mother who never protected her children from their abuser.

Misty brings up Harley’s relationship with Amber again. Harley thinks about Jody’s notes and realizes that Misty is teaching her that incest is okay. He tells her that he knows she was the one to kill their father. Misty calmly tells Harley he should have been the one to do it. Harley becomes violently ill while Misty settles in the living room to watch television.

Harley gets to work late and is yelled at by his boss. Harley and another employee, Ray, go on deliveries. Harley is confronted several times about his body odor and the fact that he’s wearing his father’s hunting jacket on a hot spring day. After their last delivery, Harley has a panic attack that causes Ray to kick him out of the truck on a busy road. When Harley calms down enough, he walks to a convenience store, where he uses a pay phone to call Betty. However, he has trouble remembering the number of her primary office that plays on the answering machine. It takes him several tries, but he finally manages to call her primary office. Betty answers and gives Harley the address of her primary office.

Harley walks to Betty’s office. When he arrives, he tells Betty that he remembered how when they were children Amber would come to his bed and touch him. Harley tells Betty that Amber would touch him in a sexual way until he ejaculated. Betty asks why Amber would come to his bed and he tells her it was because she was afraid of their father. Betty explains that neither Harley nor Amber are bad people, they were only seeking comfort and pleasure from one another. When Betty asks what made Harley remember, he tells her what happened the night before. Betty expresses concern for Amber, telling Harley that Amber must be feeling all the same things he is, but she is also feeling rejection. Then Betty gives Harley a sleeping pill and tells him he needs to get some rest.

Harley dreams that he goes searching for women with God. Harley is confused as to why God would need to seek out women willing to have sex with him. An angel tells Harley that carnal love is one emotion God can’t read. When God finds a woman he wants, he goes to her instead of using immaculate conception to create a child. Harley imagines the experience makes the woman glow from the inside out.

When Harley wakes, he realizes that Callie will be waiting for him at the mining company office. He sneaks out the window of Betty’s office and walks to Barclay’s to pick up his truck. Harley thinks not of the sex, but of the mindlessness of instinct and physical stimulation. Harley parks on the side of the road and rushes to the office, afraid he is too late. However, when he arrives at the office, he finds Callie lying just inside the door. At first, he doesn’t want to go inside, but he knows he needs to make sure. He discovers Callie has been shot in the face. Harley vomits, then holds Callie’s hand as he cries. He hears movement outside and is not surprised. He slowly goes out to confront Amber. She says she didn’t know what else to do. Harley goes to her and gives her what he believes she wants.

Harley requests a phone call. The sheriff insists Harley sign his confession first. Rather than call a lawyer, Harley calls the house. Uncle Mike answers and Harley asks to speak to Jody. Uncle Mike refuses, stating that Jody is asleep. Uncle Mike says that word has already started spreading and people are throwing things at the house. Uncle Mike says he and Jan will take the kids to their home in the morning. Harley begs him to take Elvis, afraid the dog will feel abandoned if they leave him behind. Uncle Mike refuses. Harley tells Uncle Mike he needs to get Jody a fortune cookie every month, then hangs up.

The sheriff questions Harley’s knowledge of guns, suggesting he could have shot Callie from a distance with the gun he used. The sheriff says if Harley had shot her from a distance, he could have claimed it was a hunting accident. Harley asks if they spoke to Brad, and the sheriff says he spoke to him on the phone. He says Brad was stunned to learn it was Harley who confessed to killing Callie because Callie was helping him. The sheriff asks if Callie made Harley feel better. He says she won’t anymore. Harley becomes angry and tells the sheriff to shut up. One of the deputies grabs Harley’s shoulder. The action reminds Harley of the bruise on Amber’s shoulder from the gun, a bruise he saw when she undressed for him outside the mining company office. Harley screams that he wants to go to jail. The sheriff questions Harley’s motive, suggesting that men don’t usually kill women they love and then vomit beside their bodies. As the sheriff continues to question Harley, Harley says that he has a split personality, and his therapist can confirm it. Harley signs his confession.

The Epilogue recounts what happened after Harley confessed to murdering Callie. Betty spoke to the police and told them about Harley’s mental health condition and his incestuous relationship with Amber. The police also visited the Altmyer home and found Elvis chewing on Amber’s blood-stained clothing. Amber was arrested for Callie’s murder and Harley was admitted to a psychiatric hospital, where he is now. Jody has sent Harley her fortunes, with a picture and a letter. Jody and Misty are living with Uncle Mike. Along with Jody’s gifts, Harley has Bonnie’s Bible, the map, his parents’ wedding picture, and the crocheted doll he took from Uncle Mike’s house. He also has a card from Church. It’s a congratulation card. Harley fears Church’s mother no longer thinks he is a nice boy. Uncle Mike abandoned Elvis at the house, but Betty found a good home for him. Harley is still convinced Elvis feels abandoned by him.

Harley refuses to see Betty, but he’s working with a new therapist. This one is a man who tells Harley he is perceptive and witty. Harley struggles thinking about Misty and Callie, often dwelling on Callie’s final seconds. He worries about Esme and Zack growing up without Callie. He also worries that Callie will forever hear her children call for her. Harley can think about Amber now, including the parts of their childhood he once blocked out. His therapist says that he isn’t remembering everything yet. Harley still sees words in the air, and he writes them down to tape on his wall. The word he’s taped up most often is “truth.” Harley has concluded that the truth was always in front of him but he ignored it because he didn’t like it. Harley understands that he spent a lot of time lying to himself. He also understands that he always thought Skip was wrong for scheming to kill his brother.