“My, are we well informed. How does everybody know so much about my business?”
“You're well known. These things get out.”
“Apparently.”
“So what are you going to do?”
“Oh, this and that. It'll keep me going. It doesn't make me whole, but I make ends meet.”
“Is this about Kari? She's not staying with you forever, is she?”
“Might. Don't know yet.”
“You can't be serious! Why can't she go home?”
“Problems.”
“What sort of problems?”
“Stress.”
“Kitt, are you nuts? Let Jeff solve his own problems. Hasn't he done enough? You don't have to get stuck with his kid too!”
“Wynne, let's drop it.”
“No, I'm not! You had a future. You still do if you stop acting like an idiot. You could have your picture on the front page of every sports magazine. The talk shows would be fighting over you. Your name is a household word now, but you won't stay in the public eye if you don't make it a point to stay there.”
“And we both know how I crave the public eye.”
She ignored him, pursuing her own line of thought. “You might be able to turn this notoriety into a public relations bonus. If it's handled right, it could work to your advantage.”
“Ah yes, I could go on TV and sob about how my brother done me wrong and rag on him a little. But not too much—we don't want people to think I'm a nasty little brother. Think of the tears they'd shed over the poor orphan.”
“Don't knock it, Kitt. There's no limit to how much money you could make.”
“Back to the number one issue, I see.”
“You're not going to get anywhere staying in this dull town playing daddy to a messed-up kid.”
“Give it a rest, Wynne. If I want your help running my life I'll ask for it.”
“Maybe you should. You're not doing so hot on your own.”
He inclined his head sarcastically. “Thank you.”
“You can be very annoying, you know that?”
“Funny, I was just thinking the same about you.”
“Can we have a truce?”
“What did you have in mind?”
“Dinner, a movie, dancing, whatever.”
“I promised Kari I'd be here.”
“How silly is that! She's twelve years old.”
“I promised. She's gone through a lot lately. It makes her feel better to have me close by.”
“So you're going to spend the rest of your life babysitting?”
“Hardly the rest of my life. In a few weeks she'll have herself together.”
“Oh, sure.”
Once again the conversation went nowhere, and to put an end to it, he walked into the kitchen, poked around in the refrigerator.
“I'm gonna send for a pizza. Want to stay?”
“Can you afford it?”
“Funny, Wynne. Real funny.”
“Cheap pizza for you and gourmet cheese for your mutt. No, thanks. I'm in town for a while. Call you in a couple of days, see if Kari can let you go for an evening.”
After the front door closed Kari came back into the room.
“Is she coming back?”
“Not tonight, why?”
“She's not your type, Uncle Kitt.”
His mouth dropped open, but she left the room before he could think of something to say.
For Kari's thirteenth birthday Kitt tried to persuade Laura to come down with the children, but she declined and sent a card with ten dollars tucked inside. Jeff, who was in town, ignored or forgot the occasion, and Kitt knew it was up to him to salvage the day.
Wynne shrugged it off when he asked for suggestions. “There are places that cater these things,” she told him. “At short notice, you may not get the best, but they'll put together a party for her and her friends.”
“She doesn't have a lot of friends.”
“So invite classmates. They'll do the whole thing. You drop her off, and they take care of the rest.”
He resisted the temptation to ask how much it would cost. The idea of a surprise party didn't thrill him. Surprises were probably low on her wish list. His judgment was confirmed when she nixed his suggestion of getting some friends together for her birthday.
“What do you want to do then?”
“Nothing.”
“Come on, you'll be a teenager! We can't let that pass without a party.”
“Could we go see Mom and the kids?”
Frowning, he considered it. Kari's grandparents lived a three-hour drive away, and her birthday was on a Saturday. They could make it.
“Okay. I'll call tonight.”
“Don't call. Let's surprise them.”
They arrived around noon, and as he drove up to the grand, elegant house his nagging uneasiness about the surprise visit swelled to a foreboding of calamity. As if to confirm his pessimism, they learned that the little ones were at a friend's house, and the reception was decidedly cool. Laura gave Kari a perfunctory hug, but the smile on her face was forced, and the look she gave Kitt flamed with hostility.
“Could we go see Lita and Tony, Mom?” asked Kari.
“They're at a birthday party,” her mother told her abruptly. “It's a big thing. They put on a carnival, and we can hardly interrupt them for a family reunion. You should have called. I could have told you this was not a good day for you to come.”
“It's my birthday.”
“I know, I know. I'm sorry, Kari. I'm sure they would have liked to see you. Maybe next time. You want to come in for a minute and say hello to Grandma?”
“Okay.”
“Kari, it would be best if you didn't mention why you decided to live with Uncle Kitt.”
“What if they ask?”
“They won't. I've told them you needed a little time away.”
“You told them it was my fault?”
“Not exactly, but you made a lot of trouble with those stories. Dad is still upset about it.”
Kitt's fists tightened in his pockets.
“No need for guilt trips, Laura. Kari's not the one in the wrong here.”
Her eyes flashed. “We will not go there,” she snapped at him. “I am willing to let the fantasy run its course. Don't push it.”
Laura's mother came into the room before he could answer, and he stood back silently as Kari hugged her. It didn't take a psychiatrist to see that Kari's grandmother disapproved of them both. She acknowledged his greeting with a stiff nod, and was awkward with Kari. Kitt regretted the whole undertaking. Laura's exasperation at the visit showed through her feeble attempts at normal conversation with Kari, and the atmosphere quickly dropped to hostile, spreading to Laura's mother, who made no effort to put either of them at ease. Her father was not at home. No dinner invitation seemed to be forthcoming, and after about an hour of barely disguised verbal sparring they left.
On the way home, Kari wept quietly in her corner, pressing her body against the car door, isolating herself in her misery. Nothing much he could say to her. What kind of a positive spin could you put on Laura's performance? Kari wasn't stupid; she'd see through anything he'd come up with. This was rejection. He knew it and she knew it, and there was nothing to do now but hurt.
A few weeks later Danny dropped by and stayed for two days. Laura had apparently had some second thoughts, and for the first time since she'd come to live with Kitt, Kari was invited to spend the weekend with the family at her grandparents’ house. Kitt and Danny drove her there on Friday evening. On the way back, they stopped at a roadside restaurant for a late dinner. Over dessert, Danny glanced across the table at his friend.
“Well, we have talked tennis and school and cars and the problems of humanity. Are you going to tell me what has inspired your new career in parenting?”
“Told you. Lots of stress there.”
“No kidding. That lot is going to pop a few strings any time now. Not exactly in your fan club, ei
ther.”
“You noticed.”
“So why do they let Kari stay if they hate your guts?”
It would be a relief to unload on someone. Was it fair? Was it time to get help somewhere, with or without Kari's cooperation? The way she rocked back and forth from clinging to defiant, moody, volatile, she baffled and frustrated him.
“Okay, don't tell me. I'll tell you. You're strung pretty tight yourself.”
Kitt remained silent.
“You know how I feel about Jeff. I never liked him. I never trusted him.”
“Seems like everybody was ahead of me on that.”
“So what's going on here?”
“Forget it, Danny.”
“Right. You ditched a career of ten years; you've lost a fortune; your family thinks you have the bubonic plague, and—this is a laugh—you're trying to go to school on your good looks. On top of that you're raising a teenager who looks like she's crawled out of a nuclear meltdown.”
“Still looking at the bright side, I see.”
“There's more here than stress. Want me to tell you what I think?”
“Like I have a choice.”
“I noticed Jeff wasn't around. Sounds like nobody's expecting him any time soon. The away-on-business line sounds a bit contrived, considering the state of his career. Kari hasn't lived at home in months, and I noted a decided chill between mother and daughter. I am no expert on these things, Kitt, but as I said, I don't trust Jeff.”
Kitt started to say something, then shrugged.
“Has Jeff taken his troubles out on Kari?”
“You might say that.”
“Molested her?”
Kitt sat perfectly still, his eyes closed. Finally he looked up and nodded.
“Why am I not surprised. And you're picking up the pieces.”
“Someone's got to.”
“So you're the fall guy again. He's been living off you and playing king of the jungle, but he's a weasel. He knew long before you and I that the whole mess was going to crash. I've heard him brag about how he made you a champion. He didn't. You did. Tell me, after your overhead, who got more of your income, he or you?”
“He did.”
“Figures. With all his show of brotherly devotion, he ripped you off from day one. So the tottering tycoon found himself another little power play, did he?”
“How do you know so much about this stuff?”
“From Tess. She said it was okay to tell you, if it goes no farther. She's been there.”
“Serious?”
“She wondered right away when I told her about Kari living here.”
“Keep it to yourself, will you? Tess is okay. But nobody else.”
“Nobody'll hear it from us but you know there's going to be talk. You're too well known.”
“Can't help that. Kari has to be the one to report this. If I do it she'll feel betrayed again.”
“You can't deal with this on your own, Kitt.”
“She won't even see a doctor or anybody else. I got her to take one of those at-home AIDS tests. At least she's okay there. But she won't talk to anybody because they'd make reports. She thinks it'll just go away. So did I. But no more.”
“What about you—aren't you legally required to report it?”
Kitt frowned thoughtfully.
“As I understand it, I'm not in that category, and I've removed her from the danger.”
“So she's here permanently?”
“Looks like it. We don't have much family—couple of cousins and an aunt. They faded out with the family fortunes. The visits Laura and I agreed on are a joke. Anyway, I won't let her go as long as Jeff's living under the same roof.”
”Is he?”
“Well, no.”
“So she could go home.”
“You saw how welcome she is. Besides, Jeff may move back in.”
“Jeff may go to jail.”
“What I don't get—if I saw something was wrong, why didn't Laura?”
“What makes you think she didn't?”
Kitt stared at his friend, ran a hand through his hair.
“And did nothing?”
Danny shrugged.
“What does Jeff say?”
“Imagination, misinterpretation, revenge for the troubles at home and the abject poverty I have plunged them into, that sort of thing. Total denial. Laura's with him on that.”
“Sounds like Jeff. What about the other children?”
“Far as we know, he hasn't touched them. Yet. But when I told Laura she did send them to stay with her mom and dad. Of course it had nothing to do with my foul accusations against the brother who sacrificed everything for me.”
“Oh, bull. Jeff has never sacrificed anything for anybody in his life.”
“He's not all bad. He's weak. Got a mean streak. I think he's more selfish than evil.”
“Rape is not just a little weakness, Kitt. And raping a kid takes it to another level.”
“I know, I know.”
Preoccupied with his thoughts, Kitt didn't speak on the way home, and Danny respected his feelings and remained quiet. The night was cool, but in the light of the street lanterns tulip and daffodil shoots were greening a few inches above the soil in the city park, and the delicate green of early spring contrasted triumphantly with dark evergreens. New life was coming.
A security guard stopped the two men as they ran up the front steps.
“Your neighbors called us. Seems someone doesn't like you a whole lot.”
The hallway in front of his door and the door itself were tarred and spray-painted, and a few dozen eggs were splattered about. The small, reinforced window in the door was smashed in and the entry behind it had been liberally sprayed with fluorescent paints. The door was superglued shut. Chemicals sprayed through the broken window had eaten into the sheetrocked walls and the inside of the door. Copies of a tabloid picture of Kitt and a weeping Kari, with a sneering caption, were taped to the door frame.
“Anybody see anything?”
The guard shrugged.
“A neighbor saw an old truck pull away. Couldn't tell us much. It was rusty, maybe red.”
They forced the door open and walked through to the living area. There was no damage beyond the firing range around the entry.
“Any idea who did this?” Danny inquired.
“Not a clue. I didn't think this would keep up.”
“What do you mean, keep up?”
“Someone trashed my Jeep couple of months ago. My locker's been broken into.”
“Threats?”
“No. Just some weirdo stuff—play or die or some such thing. I didn't take it seriously.”
“Someone makes a death threat and you don't take it seriously. Start paying attention, Kitt.”
With Danny gone early the next morning, the respite was over, and the questions he had held at bay for forty-eight hours rammed through his thoughts. No amount of vandalism, money problems, or adverse publicity could disturb his peace of mind like Kari. She'd closed up and retreated ever further into depression. Did you wait for her to ask for whatever help it took to put things right? What if she never did? Force her into counseling?
Not a clue where the answers were going to come from. As the adult in charge, he was supposed to make the decisions, though you had to wonder what good that would do without her cooperation. She was already so emotionally isolated it would take next to nothing for her withdrawal to become complete and permanent.
Talking to Danny was all right, but he was no psychologist. And talking to a psychologist wouldn't work because of the disclosure law. Could Tess help? Could he ask that of her?
He told Kari little about the vandalism when she asked what happened, and he explained as best he could the ways of the gossip press. To his relief, she didn't seem terribly upset.
When she came home from school, her scowl announced trouble. She walked into the house without saying a word and threw her book bag down in the entry, storming off to her room.
Startled, he looked up from his books.
“Kari!” he called after her. There was no answer, so he knocked on her bedroom door.
“Kari, I want to talk with you. Please come out.”
“I don't want to talk.”
“Then you can listen. Now, come out here.”
She opened the door and walked past him into the living room. Half-sitting on the back of the sofa, she refused to meet his eyes.
“You want to tell me what this is all about?”
“Nothing.”
“Don't give me that. You come in here throwing things and slamming doors, and I want to know what's going on.”
“Everybody's making fun of some stupid tabloid story. There's always stuff in the paper about Dad or about you, and I'm sick of it!”
“So am I, but why take it out on me?”
“It's your fault.”
“Excuse me?”
“If you'd been just an ordinary guy, nobody would have paid any attention. But because you're famous everybody knows.”
“Sorry I'm on your planet. It'll blow over. People forget soon enough.”
“Not soon enough to do me any good.”
“I guess that's the way it is. Meanwhile, we're not having tantrums about it, got that?”
She did not answer.
“Kari, we can solve only one problem at a time. We pull together or it's going to be that much harder.”
“Are you going to kick me out?”
“Oh, for heaven's sake, let's not go there again.”
The conflicts were starting to get to him. Figuring Kari out was like holding on to a fistful of smoke. One moment she was a clingy little girl who brought out all his protective instincts, and two minutes later she contradicted every word he said, baiting him every step of the way to make him lose his temper, and feel sorry for herself if he did. Ever since her birthday, she'd been moody and unpredictable, and clammed up whenever he tried to talk with her. Did you talk these things to death to get it out of her system, or did that keep the memory alive? And how did you discipline a teenager who didn't quite put you in the parent category and at every turn challenged your authority to tell her anything? It had to be easier if you had arrived at this point the natural way, starting with a baby, instead of having it dumped in your lap in crisis phase.
Wynne dropped by more often of late but he'd had little time to see her. She seemed friendly enough to Kari and he didn't pick up on the subtle sparring between the two. It was a problem he'd relegated to the bottom of his priority list, and he soon had more pressing issues on his mind.
Break Point Down Page 14
