The Turning

Vic Lang (narrating in the first person again) is sent by his mother (Carol) in search of his father (Bob). Carol has just received her cancer diagnosis and would like to see Bob again before she dies, calling Vic to ask at five in the morning. Vic is stunned but feels unable to decline. He eats breakfast, studies the map, calls in to the office, and sets out that morning. He has not seen his father in nearly 27 years; the only information on his whereabouts his mother has is a bar called Sam’s Patch, Bob’s last known address. Vic drives out of the city, through the suburbs, farms, and abandoned industrial areas, until he starts to cross the desert, listening to the radio reports about a royal commission investigation into the police.

Once Vic passes Kalgoorlie he turns off the highway, driving on smaller roads until he reaches Sam’s Patch. He runs over what he will say to Bob, and how he will convince him to come see Carol. Bob is an alcoholic, and Vic is nervous about interacting with him. At Sam’s Patch Vic asks an old man, visibly alcoholic, about his father, who the man calls “Honest Bob” and “Bob the Banker.” The man draws Vic a map showing where Bob lives. Vic considers buying drinks to ply his father with, if necessary, but decides against it.

Vic arrives at his father’s home, which is tucked into a small, sparse woods of eucalyptus trees and saltbush. Bob and his dog come out to greet him, asking if he has come because of Carol. Vic tells Bob that Carol wants to see him. Bob agrees at once to go, but tells Vic he needs time to prepare, and invites him in for a cup of tea. Vic observes Bob’s home, a small, spare, and neatly organized one-room shack, decorated which pictures of Vic, his mother, and his sister. Vic asks his father how long he has “lived like this,” and Bob misunderstands the question, answering that he has been sober for 15 years.

Bob suggests that they leave in the morning, as local kangaroos make nighttime driving dangerous. He offers to let Vic stay, but also says that Sam’s Patch has rooms if Vic is uninterested. Vic agrees to sleep at Bob’s and asks him how he survives, mentioning his nicknames. Bob explains that he lives off of his pension and small fees from other locals, who entrust him with their valuables, for fear of theft or their own addictions: he is one of the only sober residents. Vic struggles to accept the notion of “Honest Bob”; while his father was an honest policeman, the way he abandoned their family seems, to Vic, to contradict that picture of him. Vic reflects on how much his father’s absence hurt him and made him bitter, noting that without Gail, he may have lost his ability to forgive entirely.

Before they can leave the next day, Bob needs to see his clientele and explain the situation. As they drive around, Vic observes the pitiful conditions local people live in. Vic asks his father if he has been following the royal commission, implying a connection to Bob’s own time as a policeman, but Bob is uninterested, brushing it off as something that happened long ago.

Vic and Bob return to Bob’s house for dinner as night falls. As they eat, Bob asks Vic about his life as a labor lawyer, approving of his career. He asks if Carol is sick, and Vic confirms that she is; moreover, she is dying. Bob is strangely relieved, saying that at least he did not sober up for nothing, as he could not have gone to see Carol while he was still drinking. While they both express frustration, not understanding her desire to see Bob again, Vic realizes that what Carol really wanted was for the two of them to be reunited.

Vic finally asks Bob why he left them; Bob is unable to give him a clear answer. Vic asks if Bob expects to be named in the royal commission, but Bob does not. He implies that there was a conspiracy of some kind in the police force, one that he was perpetually outside of. He mentions the boy in Angelus with the sheepskin coat whose legs were broken; apparently, the boy was seen getting into a car with detectives from the city earlier that day. Bob never uncovered the truth, however, and his paranoia drove him to drink more and more. He expresses regret at his cowardice, wishing he had quit the police sooner, even though the job had been his lifelong dream.

Bob gets up to do the dishes, and Vic mulls over what he has said. He pities Bob, even if he cannot bring himself to forgive him. He asks once more about the royal commission, but Bob again brushes it off. Vic asks Bob how he got sober, and Bob tells him he went to one Alcoholics Anonymous meeting and was so disgusted seeing others like himself that he walked out into the desert in a dissociated state; eventually he realized he had not drunk in months. Overnight—he in Bob’s bed, Bob on the floor—Vic cannot sleep. The smell of Bob and the memories push him to cry into a pillow all night, and when he wakes up, Bob is already packed and ready to go.