The Hard Way

by Austin Bates

  The front end of the car was totaled, the metal bars that ran along the front bumper were completely bent inward, his right headlight was holding onto its last wisps of life and the hood of the car had been caved in.

  “Are you fucking kidding me?!” Issac said, throwing his hands up, feeling sober now. A crowd had gathered and a police cruiser pulled up. Issac sighed and leaned against his car, the police officer was around his father’s age, and he appeared to be equally as no-nonsense. He approached Issac and gestured at the vehicle.

  “Do we have someone else involved here, sir?”

  Issac sighed. “No. Just me.”

  The officer nodded and took a step closer. His blue eyes squinted beneath his thick blonde eyebrows. “Are you Issac Fitzgerald?”

  I don’t get tired of hearing that. “Yeah, I’m Issac Fitzgerald. Have you met my dad or something? Did he stop by your station?”

  The officer placed his hands on hips and guffawed. “Your father has dropped by every precinct in Baltimore! Too bad it’s not gonna do him any good right now, because I have to take you in for destruction of city property alone.” He paused, and dived forward, nose first towards Issac.

  He let out a low whistle from in between his crooked teeth. “Unfortunately, I’m going to have to ask you to take a breathalyzer as well. I like your dad fine enough, too. Sure wish he’d run for mayor one of these times around. I’ll tell you what, we’ll get this breathalyzer over with, and then I’ll escort you to the station before anyone leaks this to the news.”

  “Okay, sure.” Issac walked back the cruiser with the officer and blew into the tube. The officer sighed and slapped a pair of cuffs onto Issac’s wrists.

  “What the hell?!”

  “Your blood alcohol level is way over the legal limit. I’m glad that you hurt that pole before you hurt a person. You’re under arrest for driving while under the influence.”

  “I drove five feet!”

  Issac was roughly pushed into the back of the cruiser and turned his face from the crowd’s view. This was a great night. I get turned down, lose a case, and then I get arrested. I still have work tomorrow.

  Chapter 9

  Noah shut the door behind him as Jade scurried off down the hallway with Andrew. Andrew led her by her hand, and his promise of the fun weekend he had planned for them could be heard as Noah and Cullen headed into the sitting room.

  Cullen took out a pack of cigarettes and handed one over to Noah. Noah sighed. I’ve been doing so good without these. Cullen held the cigarette between his lips like it was submitting to him. However, everything submitted to Cullen. Noah lend forward and towards Cullen for a light.

  Cullen’s serious eyes focused on him as he lit the cigarette. They both took a long drag, and Cullen asked, “How are you?”

  Noah chuckled and leaned over to drop the ashes off of his cigarette. “I’m fine. Why?” Cullen had always been full of loaded questions. In high school, it was one of the traits that attracted Noah to him the most. Cullen was broody, independent, and interesting. When he made a statement, you wanted to ponder it. When he asked a question, Noah always searched the question for what he really meant.

  “Jade says that she misses you. I told her that’s silly because she lives with you. How’s work?”

  Noah held his hand out for another cigarette and Cullen placed one in the center of his palm. “Work is work. I have a lot of cases right now, and I think that Jade feels a little jilted. She’s never seen me work this much.”

  “Neither have I. She spends most of her week with Madeline, and she loves her but—”

  “But what, Cullen? Am I working too hard for our daughter? Is she spending too much time with her grandmother?” Noah asked and watched the silent fire build behind Cullen’s eyes.

  “She asked to come live with me so that she’ll have someone to play with all the time. So that Dad can pay attention to—”

  Noah raised his voice as he got to his feet, tossing the cigarette into the ash tray. “She is seven! She doesn’t know what she wants!”

  Cullen took a deep breath and clenched his fists. “I’m just asking you to consider it. I think that Andrew and I could provide a really great, family-type environment for her.”

  “Jade has a family at my house, Cullen. Andrew is not her family.” Noah’s heart pounded in his chest and he felt a dizziness at the corners of his mind. “You aren’t going to take my daughter from me.”

  Cullen got to his feet and said, “I don’t want to. I love my daughter, and I want her to be happy. If she’s not happy living with you and Madeline, what’s the point?”

  Noah unclenched his fists and shoved them into the pockets of the tanned leather jacket that he wore. He looked all around the den, but Cullen focused on him. Cullen stepped forward and placed a hand onto Noah’s shoulder.

  “It’s okay if you’re struggling. You can’t possibly think that you can do all of this by yourself.”

  Noah pinched his index finger and thumb around one of Cullen’s fingers and lifted his hands off of his shoulder. “I’ll be fine.”

  Andrew waltzed back into the den with Jade at his hip. Noah knelt down in front of her and kissed her on both of her cheeks. “I love you. I’ll miss you while you’re gone.”

  Jade broke into a big smile; her front tooth had recently fallen out and the new gap had only made her cuter. “I’ll miss you too!” Noah squeezed her and rose to his feet, nodding at Cullen and Andrew.

  “Alright, guys. Have fun this weekend,” he said as he left the house. He hugged himself close as he felt the cold, unforgiving reminder of the wind that it was still winter. He zipped up his jacket and started the car, frowning upon feeling the cold leather through the fabric of his jeans.

  Noah allowed the car to heat up in the driveway. He placed his hands on the wheel and a small sob escaped his throat. His fingers tightened around the wheel and he rested his forehead on top of it. His body vibrated with sobs, and he took a big breath, feeling the stale air in the old car fill his lungs, and then released it with a shuddering breath. You cannot fall apart right now.

  “You are not allowed to fall apart, Noah,” he told himself, clearing his throat and rubbing at the skin on his face. He wiped a few straggling tears away and put the car in drive and headed home.

  Chapter 10

  Gordon leaned against the front desk at the police station. A cup of stale coffee in a Styrofoam cup was loosely contained between his fingers. The young woman had offered him the cup almost two hours ago but apparently had neglected to tell him that it had been brewed at least seventy-five years ago. I’ll have to grab something better when I make it back to City Hall. Maybe something from that single serve machine that they have in the main conference room.

  An officer around Gordon’s age entered the reception area with Issac following behind him. The officer offered his hand to Gordon and Gordon shook it, squeezing it just as the officer was ready to let go.

  They separated and the officer said, “Well, his court date will be assigned in the next couple of weeks. I’m Officer Ashton, by the way. I definitely wish I didn’t have to bring in the Deputy Mayor’s son, but a DUI is serious business.”

  “I know that it’s serious business,” Issac spat. “I studied law for four years.” His tone was mocking and Gordon sent him a sharp look.

  “Well, that’s alright. My family isn’t above the law, even if I paid an asinine amount of money for this one to study the law and still manage to break it!” Gordon chirped and he Officer Ashton shared a look as if to say, aren’t children disappointing? At least, that’s how Issac saw it.

  Gordon grabbed Issac by the arm and said, “Alright, let’s get whatever the hell you had on your person when you were arrested for assaulting that lamp post and let’s get the hell out of here.”

  “To go where?” Issac questioned. “I need to go back to my place to shower and prepare my statement for court this afternoon.”

  Gordon rolled his eyes. “You hav
e time for your father that just bailed you out of jail over the most idiotic charge. Especially since you were so rude to me the last time that we spoke.”

  Issac winced at the sunlight as they walked out of the station. Gordon steered Issac towards his own sleek black SUV and urged him inside. The beginning of Issac’s hangover had started with the headache easing in on his temples. He massaged the sensitive skin there. “I wasn’t rude. You weren’t accepting who I am because it was a political inconvenience to you.”

  “And it still is. However, I couldn’t let you rot in there.”

  “You couldn’t let any news outlets find out that I got arrested for a DUI, is more like it,” Issac retorted and Gordon shrugged.

  “Fine, let’s say that’s a part of it since you refuse to believe that I love you. Anyhow, I’ve been meaning to talk you lately.”

  “Can we please start moving and at least get some breakfast?” Issac asked.

  “Of course.” Gordon put the car in drive, and drove to a diner that was just fifteen minutes from the police station.

  “Maybe they’ll have better coffee here,” Gordon said as they entered the diner, and he smiled at the waitress that greeted them and gave them a seat at an open booth. The waitress scurried back over with two hot coffees and a saucer filled with creamers.

  Issac took a sip of his coffee and leaned back to face the conversation with Gordon that waited for him. “So, let me have it.”

  “Let you have what?” Gordon asked, blinking at Issac as he slowly opened a creamer packet and poured it into his coffee, and then slowly opened a second packet. Issac’s leg bounced underneath the table. Gordon pointed at the sugar container and Issac handed it to him, narrowing his eyes.

  “Dad, give me the lecture. Come on, I’ve been playing it on repeat in my head for the last three hours. Let me have it.”

  Gordon took a big slurp of his coffee and gently set his mug down onto the table. “Here’s the thing, Issac. Do you want to know why I don’t take you seriously when you ‘stand up’ to me?”

  Issac looked away as the waitress came back to the table with two menus. He spread his menu open and asked, “Why, Dad?”

  “Because right when I think that you finally have a little bit of hair on your balls, that you are finally getting it, you do something like this. Honestly, I think that you’re a little mental. I think that you do this because you can’t handle good praise for too long. I think you’re so afraid of eventually letting everyone down that you go ahead and cut to the chase so that you don’t have to deal with having disappointed them when you’ve finally let your guard down.”

  “Miss, I’ll take a tall stack of blueberry pancakes, please,” Issac said to their waitress, and Gordon sighed and told her, “I’ll have two sunny side-up eggs with a side of smoked turkey sausage, please.”

  Gordon snatched the menu out of Issac’s hands. “Issac,” he hissed.

  Issac fiddled with a loose nail on the edge of the table and Gordon went on. “I love you, son. I don’t think that anyone loves your stubborn ass more than I do. I genuinely do not care who you screw either, though I can’t speak for your mother. She’s always been stuck in the fifties. However, I need you to clean up your act.”

  “I cleaned up my act when I graduated law school.”

  “See, no, you didn’t. Being a man is more than earning a piece of paper and clocking into work every day. A grown man wouldn’t have called his father to come rescue him because he spent the night drinking and crashed a $75,000 vehicle into a lamp post of all things. Men don’t run out of family dinners over whether or not they have a right to jeopardize the security of his family. You are not a man yet, and at twenty-four, having gone through three different degree programs, I cannot help you. Not anymore.”

  The pancakes came and the eggs came and Gordon spoke as they chewed their food. “You are spoiled, Issac. I didn’t think I was doing you a disservice by funding all of your college tuition, paying for each new dream you had every semester. I thought I was giving my oldest son a chance. However, I see now that I’ve given you more than enough chances.”

  Issac sliced his pancake into quarters and slowly chewed each section. When he finished chewing, he said, “So, what’s your point, Dad?”

  “My point is that even if you didn’t have any intention of doing it, I want you to stay away from the family.”

  Issac set his fork and knife down. “What?”

  “You’re a mess. You’re ungrateful, and I want you to stay away from the family. Don’t contact your mother for anything, don’t try to reach Tristan. We need some distance from this image you’re cultivating for a little while.”

  Issac leaned forward and kept his voice one decibel below yelling, “You cannot tell me to stay away from Tristan. He needs me. He’s going to reach out to me.”

  “Your brother doesn’t know what he needs. Maybe you should have thought of all of this brotherly love beforehand. I’m going to go now. Here’s enough cash for the bill, and for your car.” Gordon pushed his empty plate away and stood up, moving out of the booth.

  Issac kept his head low as his father left the table. He reached across to where his father had been sitting and snatched the fistful of bills. He raised his head and called the waitress over. “Could you please give me the bill? I’m ready to pay now.”

  Chapter 11

  Issac accepted a cup of coffee from Rhonda as she followed him back into his cubicle. Noah looked at the pair over his shoulder, hoping to capture the gist of the conversation without getting involved. Issac met his gaze for a moment but returned his attention back to Rhonda.

  “I think that we’ll win that case, but Mario on the second floor is going to be a great asset. I mean, he used to work for Juniper Headphones for six years, I’m sure he knows the ins and outs of the company and how they operate. It could kind of be like a testimonial.”

  Rhonda nodded. “I see, yes, it could. I just really wanted to see what your game plan was, since you’ve been knocking every case out of the park lately. It’s like you’re a whole new lawyer.”

  Issac guffawed, moving towards his desk where he had recently moved his old, standard, small desk into the basement and ordered himself a standing desk. He set his coffee down on the light brown wood of the standing desk. “No, I’m not a whole new lawyer but I will say that all it takes is for you to lose the wrong case. That will shake you up.”

  Rhonda wore an approving smile and reached up to pat Issac on the shoulder. Her perfume reminded Issac of a heavy fragrance that’s forced on you when you walk through the heart of a department store. “Well, I’ll leave you to it,” Rhonda said, she waved over towards Noah. “Good morning, Noah! Mr. Walsh wants you to know that he personally appreciates your performance on the Buck’s Beer case. I cannot believe how they pumped their beers with stuff the FDA couldn’t approve.”

  Noah twisted around in his office chair. “Believe it, Rhonda. Those big corporations can be despicable.” He flashed his best team player smile and Rhonda took the bait, vigorously nodding and seeing herself out of the cubicle.

  Issac took a sip of coffee as he shifted his weight from one foot to the other. Noah watched Issac sort through his section of the Case Counter, only looking away from it if he thought that someone was walking into the cubicle. There hadn’t been much conversation flowing between the two of them for several weeks now. Most days, one of them would say good morning and goodbye to the other, but their conversations hadn’t evolved much beyond that. Noah’s weekly lunch date invitation had been rescinded, and Issac wasn’t feeling as chummy these days either.

  It’s like he went home a few weeks ago and came back a totally different person. Noah recalled double checking his hair and scanning his face for blemishes that he hadn’t noticed before when Issac’s weekly attempts to flirt with him had come to an abrupt halt. Is this what it’s like to work with me? However, Noah knew that despite Issac’s new interest in work, he would always be the more laid back of the two
of them. Being a tight ass had come naturally to Noah once he began law school.

  Noah pushed his chair back and said, “Issac?”

  Issac slowly turned towards Noah. “Yeah?” His fingers hovered above his keyboard.

  “Are you busy?” Noah asked.

  Issac shrugged. “I’m as busy as I want to be. What do you need?”

  Noah tapped his fingers on the surface of his desk. “I thought that you might want to get lunch in a little bit?”

  Issac’s eyes widened and a small grin appeared on his face. “Sure, what did you have in mind?”

  “Well, there’s this place downtown. I think it’s a Thai restaurant, and I’ve only had it one other time and I thought it might be cool to get some?” Noah said, kicking himself when he realized that his opinion ended up turning into a question.