Unsung Requiem: The Ghost Bird Series: #13

by C. L. Stone

  “I don’t do it for me,” his mother said. She sighed and shook her head, her eyes closed. “You don’t know how hard it is. I tried to not worry you. But maybe now you’re old enough to know. I built a legacy for you. For us. You were trained. I created you.”

  “To play at your command,” Victor said.

  “To build something better,” she snapped back. “I’ve tried. I’ve tried to bring you around to see that it takes good people with good reputations to get anywhere in this world. Doors open for you that even wealth can’t any more. Any mistake is devastating. And it is so easy, especially now, to fall from the public’s good graces. One little scandal, and it is not just about the charities not getting the money they would need. Their reputations come under condemnation for representing you, too. They’ll hurt for years as being known for supporting someone who acts so terribly. Not just them. Your school that you love so much, and any future plans you think you have, it’ll all disappear.”

  “I just wanted my friends around, and to be around who I want,” Victor said, although weaker in his convictions. She wasn’t wrong. Reputation meant more now than ever in some circles.

  She nodded to Sang and Nathan. “I warn you about bringing in others because those in our circles know how important it is. They’ve been trained, like Brie. Their families are ready and are able to be looked over with close examination. You tell me you can’t expose Sang or your friends and I permitted them around. You can’t tell me their backgrounds. I respect that, but then I need you to understand, you can’t have both.”

  Victor faltered then.

  Sang, in this world, by his side, would eventually be exposed. And if he didn’t want her to appear in newspapers alongside him, then bringing her around would only risk things greatly.

  There was also his work with the Academy…

  His team, their lives…

  “Then isn’t that more of a reason to separate Victor from all this?” Nathan asked. “Shouldn’t we get him away? If he is out of public life, they’ll eventually forget about him.”

  Mr. Perkins shrugged his shoulders. “It’s your life, young Mr. Morgan. And this is your family. Whatever God might have set out for you to do in the world, he granted you all this to help you along the way, for whatever it may be worth. But for several years, you may still struggle greatly with people taking your photo, trying to uncover what happened to you. If you stay in this world, you’ll have protection and the power to make changes, like people like Mitch, without having to hide. It just means a change of lifestyle.”

  Victor shook his head. So stay and not risk the group and Sang and do good… or leave and risk everything. Was that true? “I need time to think. I don’t know.”

  “We’re leaving together,” Nathan said. “You can give Victor time to think.”

  “Victor has to stay and settle this,” Mr. Perkins said.

  Nathan hesitated then, looking to Victor.

  Mr. Buble’s voice popped into Victor’s head. “Offer to apologize.”

  Victor had almost forgotten he was there. He’d been listening and this was his only advice.

  He would do so. He was tired of being in the middle, tired of how his mother pushed him into this so that every move now felt like it was the wrong choice. But if Mr. Buble said to apologize, he likely had a plan in place. He’d have to trust him. The rest Victor would have to figure out on his own. “If I apologize to Mitch,” Victor said, “is that what you want? At least for now?”

  His mother nodded slowly.

  “And offer to talk to the librarians,” Mr. Perkins said. “Let them know it was a mistake.”

  “We’ll get the library staff to offer the other job at the college library,” Mr. Buble said in his ear. “Clear the decks, Mr. Morgan. We have work to do.”

  Somehow, Mr. Buble telling him so meant Victor couldn’t give up yet. “I’ll do my best to talk to the librarian.”

  Mr. Perkins looked to Sang. “Will you allow our Victor Morgan to take the lead and save you from any trouble? I must have you promise not to breathe a word about what happened between you two.”

  Sang nodded solemnly. Nathan frowned but said nothing.

  “Then please trust me,” Mr. Perkins placed a hand at his own chest for emphasis, “to take Victor in alone with Mitch. I promise to get him out of this.”

  Victor’s mother silently stood aside, allowing room for Mr. Perkins and Victor to pass.

  Clear the decks, he had said. Handle Mitch first.

  What Victor was going to do about his mother, and his messed up life, that would take a lot of time to figure out.

  Deep down, he worried he was stuck. Stuck forever in this world his mother built for him, pushing him into situations that she thought would give him opportunities.

  To do things he didn’t want to do.

  But was it too late to get out of it all?

  Freddo

  (Cold, unemotional)

  Victor

  In the hallway outside of the parlor room, Victor kept his head down at first, until Mr. Perkins paused in front of the door. He looked up at the old lawyer.

  “Confidence, young Mr. Morgan,” the man said.

  Victor had heard him say this before. He’d always liked Mr. Perkins, despite the reasons why he came around so often, usually getting his father out of trouble or giving advice to his mother.

  Victor kept his head up, although he avoided looking right at Mitch as they entered.

  He didn’t want to do this part.

  “What was all that about?” Mitch’s glasses slid a bit and he didn’t adjust them as he continued, sneering, “Spreading lies about me? Bratty kids think they can do whatever they want. Him and that friend of his at the downtown library. The little one that always comes around.”

  Victor pressed his lips tightly together. He was going to blame the young kid Victor met at the library?

  “Should we continue?” Mr. Perkins asked. He crossed the room and sat where Victor’s mother had been sitting across from Mitch.

  George was in the corner, looking at his cell phone with drink refreshed. He gazed at Victor, a question in his eyes, mild interest, about what was going on. “He’s been regaling me with such wit,” he said in an obviously bored tone.

  Victor shook his head, ready this time. “About what happened—”

  “They were doing the nasty in the parking lot,” Mitch cut in. “And then he was with that guy… What’s his name? Probably gross things.”

  Victor rolled his eyes, as the way he made it sound was he and Mr. Buble were doing things together. “May I please finish?” he said with a fierce bite to his tone.

  “Why?” Mitch raised a palm in the air, waving it around. “You’ll just lie. Kids do. You need to listen to me.”

  “Perhaps, then,” Mr. Perkins said to Mitch, glaring him down, “maybe we can move on to why you’re here.”

  “Their lies got me fired,” he said. “I read the papers. I’ll tell them about what he’s been doing. I’ll tell them he’s getting poor librarians fired. I’ll tell a lawyer. And you know it’s true because he’s here defending himself.”

  Victor wanted to say he wasn’t even fired yet and it was him really belittling and treating his boss so poorly that got him suspended, not his arguments about Victor, but again, Mr. Perkins, with his thin fingers twitching, made the motion to not say anything.

  “And what would you believe your lawyer will do?” Mr. Perkins now interjected. His voice was hoarse but soft. The softness, Victor knew very well, was a lure to encourage cooperation. At least until he got the information he wanted and could shut down what this was.

  “He’d sue,” Mitch said. To fix his glasses at his nose, he touched the glass at the corner, leaving a fingerprint amid a few other prints. His eyes drifted to the furniture, the lamps, the bookshelves of the parlor. “I think you can afford to pay the salary I lost, plus mental… uh… where you get more money for needi
ng a therapist.”

  “Are you suggesting mental duress?” Mr. Perkins asked.

  Mitch started to nod.

  “So you’re saying you’re suffering from terrible paranoia and trauma that has caused physiological damages that a doctor can verify?”

  Mitch blinked repeatedly. “Uh…”

  “You likely understand that the court system is very busy and it can take a couple of years to even come to trial? You might need to visit a psychiatrist regularly to establish your case.” He glanced over his shoulder to George. “I don’t recall, how much are psychiatrist visits now?”

  “Without insurance?” George answered with a sneer and a short shrug. “Maybe $400 each visit. But I’d guess the library has excellent coverage. But then, if you’re fired…”

  Mitch nodded just an inch further but stopped. “I… you see…”

  Instead of going further, Mr. Perkins waited for Mitch to answer, and the drawn-out silence became much more awkward.

  While Mr. Perkins was doing whatever he was doing, George in the corner continued to look at his phone nonchalantly.

  Victor stood aside, understanding his father knew his role in this without asking. In a sense, this is what he needed to be. Despite his father always drinking, he was so used to these sorts of meetings with the lawyer, he knew exactly how to read Mr. Perkins and do what he wanted. He was the adult and head of the household, so taking charge of this situation over his son was expected. Maybe Victor should let him handle it?

  “And how much did you think young Mr. Victor Morgan would be able to pay you, sir?” Mr. Perkins asked Mitch after he blustered about enough. “What amount did you assume he’d be able to grant, perhaps after a couple of years and a successful outcome?”

  Mitch grumbled a little low and spoke. “How much is his reputation worth? A couple million? What’s that to you?”

  “Two years of going back and forth in court proceedings would risk your reputation more than his, wouldn’t it?”

  Mitch’s face twitched in the corner, near his jaw.

  “And I believe what you’re saying is you’d blackmail his reputation,” Mr. Perkins motioned to Victor with a flourish, “unless given just a couple million dollars?”

  This was where it was getting interesting. Mr. Perkins making Mitch rethink what he was doing by pointing out the flaws in his plan to make it look like he’d be in more trouble.

  “He got me fired,” Mitch said.

  “I’m sorry,” Mr. Perkins said. “I thought you were suspended at current, not fired.”

  “I…”

  “I spoke with the head librarian,” Mr. Perkins said. “Naturally.”

  “But…”

  Mr. Perkins kept cutting him off. “I can recall there are several eyewitnesses. If you’re hoping to squander Victor Morgan’s reputation to salvage your own, in whatever format, attempting to use the legal system for blackmail might not be the best solution.” He paused, standing up and coming a step closer to Mitch but also using that soft tone again from before. “A few years without income waiting for a lawsuit that might land you in jail doesn’t sound like a particularly good plan. So, as I was asking you before, what exactly are you doing here and what are you wanting?”

  Mitch stuttered syllables, seeming to choke down his own saliva. “I… ugh… he…”

  “Offer to apologize,” Mr. Buble said in Victor’s ear.

  “What if I apologized?” Victor asked out loud instantly. He did say he’d come and apologize. If this was wrong, Mr. Perkins would say.

  “Apologies don’t pay the bills,” Mitch muttered, although quieter.

  “Talk to the librarian to tell her to rehire him,” Mr. Buble said.

  “I can talk to the head librarian,” Victor said. “I could see to it that she’d have to hire you back or offer you a better position.” He didn’t want to let on they’d likely try to push him into that other job too much, but at least open up the idea.

  Mitch rolled his eyes. “You think some kid can just walk in and do that?”

  “I can.” Victor’s tone lowered a notch, not wanting to give all this to Mitch, but not feeling like he had a choice. “If I donated to the library. They should give in to my request.”

  Mr. Perkins interrupted, stepping away from Mitch and started to cross the room to Victor. “I think matters of any compensation…”

  George made a gentle motion with a single finger. “Wait.”

  Mr. Perkins stopped instantly.

  “Let him dig his own hole,” he said. He remained focused on the phone and didn’t look at Victor.

  Victor rolled his eyes. “If I offer to help, will you leave my parents out of this? I just wanted you to leave me alone.”

  Mitch seemed to consider this option. “Tell the head librarian you were doing what I said.”

  Victor said nothing.

  “So she knows I was right.”

  Was being right more important to him than the rest of it?

  Mitch continued, “And you can tell them that one dickhead that was with you is a pervert and get him fired.”

  Mr. Buble said something in his ear but Victor couldn’t hear him because he was already reacting. “You know what? Never mind. Get fired. Get arrested. Try to sue this family.”

  “Victor,” his father said, the tone clearly stating he should keep quiet.

  Victor sliced a hand through the air. “No! I’m not going to lie about—”

  “This was your fault,” Mitch’s voice rose back and he opened his mouth, ready to argue again.

  His father suddenly stood, shoulders back, head high, his anger suddenly on the surface. “Everyone. Shut up. I’ve had enough.” He quickly picked up a document on top of a folder that had been sitting next to him on a side table. He crossed the room in a couple of strides and handed this and a pen to Mitch. “Sign this and agree to the terms and you’ll be given a full compensation package.”

  Mitch delicately took the paper from him, adjusting the glasses to look carefully at the words on the page.

  “I think you’ll find the number agreeable,” he said.

  Mitch puckered his lips and nodded. It was unclear if he even read the rest of the document at all that quickly, or just waited for a number. “You’ll give me this much if I sign it?”

  Mr. Perkins pulled a pen out of his jacket pocket and handed it over. “Precisely. You promise to never say a word and handle your own affairs from this point without bringing in this family. You’ll never see Victor again. We’ll have the library quietly delete this incident from your record, and make it look like you opted to take your life in a different direction and quit. You walk away clean and with several years to find another position you’d like, with glowing recommendations, or maybe even consider it early retirement. The library can find a new employee. Everyone gets what they want. You may have your lawyer read it if you’d like, but we can’t leave here until it’s signed.”

  “And a lawyer would take his cut,” George said.

  It had been prepared ahead of time, just in case Mitch couldn’t be reasoned with. The moment he insisted on getting others fired or talked about, it was a step too far. Protecting Mr. Buble, consequently, was protecting people here, too.

  Unfortunately, it was giving Mitch exactly what he wanted… but it did solve the problem; he’d be removed from his job and didn’t need to go back. He could harass kids on his own time.

  Mitch readily signed, of course.

  Mr. Perkins smiled at this. “It’s a good choice, sir. Agreeing to stay silent about the whole matter. I’d suggest maybe going away for a while. A vacation. When was the last time you went anywhere?”

  Mitch’s eyes waggled back and forth, not focusing on anything. “I could go on a cruise.”

  He was spending the money in his head, right in front of them all.

  Within moments, a check was surrendered. Victor could only stand by while Mitch was paid off and left
the house.

  When he departed, and when it was clear Mitch was off in his car and gone, Mr. Perkins remained in the parlor with his father.

  “You knew he’d ask too much?” Victor asked. “Mitch couldn’t be reasoned with?”

  George ignored Victor and spoke with Mr. Perkins. “Make sure he can get on a cruise to the ends of the earth. And see that he can get lured into remaining there…”

  Mr. Perkins shook George’s hand and gave a reassuring pat on the shoulder. “You’ll never see him again.”

  George looked at Victor as Mr. Perkins walked out of the room. Victor was surprised at him, his father, taking charge after Victor bumbled his way through with nothing to show for it. They didn’t need him at all for this. They just wanted him to see he couldn’t do it on his own.

  George wiped at his lower lip with his thumb, as if sensing something wet still remained and he wanted to clean it off. “You’ll learn,” he said darkly. “One day, when you really grow up, you’ll know.”

  “I see it,” Victor said, his shoulders sagging and he gazed off toward the window, the curtains were drawn but the light of daytime brightening the room. “I see what happens.”

  “To protect this family’s reputation,” he said. “The thing she really wanted. A legacy.” George started walking out of the room, but stopped, looking down at his son next to him. “We are a legacy, Victor. We can’t stop it. We have been left this burden.”

  “If you’re unhappy, you could leave,” Victor grumbled.

  George tilted his head. “Exactly where do you think I could go? What do you think would happen if I just left?”

  “Mom would be happy.” Victor wasn’t sure what came over him to say so.

  George narrowed his eyes. “Technically. But she wants me here.”

  “She thinks her reputation would be ruined, but not if you go on that cruise with Mitch.” Victor tilted his head and glared at his father, a drunk who pushed Victor to do whatever his mother said. “Not if you go so far no one heard from you again. You can get out. If you want.”