What a tragic story.

Most childhoods were, but Arthur couldn't call his own that.  If it was, it was his own fault, so he'd never let himself think about it long lest that the conclusion he truly arrived at.

And Malachi said it all like it didn't bother him, but it must have.  Why else would he want his mother dead?  Not his mother - that woman.  If Malachi thought she deserved to be dead, Arthur believed him.

He glanced at Malachi out of the corner of his eye.  "Would you like to?  Kill her, I mean.  Not hypothetically."

The question wasn't definitive, either.  Just curious.

Because if he did, well.  Arthur couldn't see a problem with that.  Malachi wouldn't be sacrificing anything, he was already a murderer, and that woman deserved it as far as he could see.

And if he didn't, that was his own choice.

But if he did...