by Nancy Adams
“Let’s drop the subject,” I put to him.
“Sure thing,” he replied.
With nothing else to say, I inquired, “So tell me, what’s been up with you?”
“Well, I did have something to tell you. But it’s not good news, so I’ll probably leave it for the moment.”
“No, don't do that!” I burst out. “I could do with some more bad news. The more the merrier, I say!”
“Well, it’s not as bad as losing your funding, but it’s not good either. It involves Kane and Terry.”
“Oh! What have those two dip-shits been up to?”
“Yesterday, I had to go on campus to the college library. On my way out, I bumped into them. I’ve heard a few stories about them from Kyle, that lately they’ve been doing real bad. It got found out that Terry has been paying people to write his essays for him. It was a real big scandal and he’s been suspended, probably gonna get kicked out.”
“I always knew he’d get found out,” was my only remark to this.
“Anyway, Kane’s been in trouble too with the football team. He’s been missing practice, so coach has dropped him from the team. They say that he’s probably not gonna make the draft at the end of the year if he doesn't pick himself up. Any more shit and they’re gonna chuck him outta college too. Both of them have been getting into trouble around the city, partying real hard and selling drugs on campus to finance it all. It won't be long before the college finds that out too; the fact that it’s already common knowledge around the place.”
All I could do was shake my head at this. A part of me felt somewhat responsible. Terry and Kane were already pretty rotten when I first met them two years ago, but under my malign influence, their debauchery had been accelerated, and they’d been spinning out of control ever since.
“So tell me,” I began, “what did they say to you?”
“They wanted to know where you were.”
“Obviously. How were they?”
“They acted all friendly, like they just wanted to make it up with you. That they were sorry that they’d upset you. But…”
He paused here and I was impelled to say, “But what?”
“But their tone wasn’t friendly. It was like they were just saying all of that. They were really desperate to know where you were living.”
“You didn’t tell them, did you?”
“Of course not. What do you take me for? I said that since your dad had kicked you out I’d only seen you twice and both times was around mine. I said that I didn’t know your address. That was when Kane got all tetchy with me and accused me of lying.”
“He didn't get rough, did he?” I asked, a shudder of indignation floating up my spine in defense of my friend.
“No. He just said that I shouldn’t feel the need to protect you, that they meant you no harm. But I insisted that I didn’t know and they left off a little. Then Terry asked if I could find your address out for them, but not tell you about it. He said that they wanted to surprise you and that I’d ruin it if I told you. He really is dumb if he thought I’d buy that!”
“He really is that dumb,” I agreed.
“So anyways, they let me go after that, telling me to call them the moment that I got your address.” Charlie’s face went dark here, and he added in a quiet voice, “I think they mean to hurt you.”
“Yeah, me too.”
“What happened between you? You only said that they spiked your drink, but they seem to want to really get to you.”
“I threatened both of them—Terry in person and Kane over the phone. And the thing is, those two meat-heads don’t do getting threatened. They’re out for blood, I’m sure of that. They can’t let something like that slide, no matter how insignificant it actually was. If I thought it’d work, I’d apologize to them in person. But then I think, why should I? I mean: I was right to feel pissed off by what they did, and Kane did insult Sarah. Why shouldn’t they be the ones apologizing?”
“Because they’re cavemen,” was Charlie’s quick appraisal. “They’re all muscle and no brain. Terry’s spent his life as an alpha-male rich-boy, bullying people into doing his work for him at high school and then paying them to do it at college. All he knows are parties and drunk girls. Without his daddy’s money, he’s just a drunk. Pure and simple. But with daddy’s dollars, he’s Mr. Popular, driving in his dad’s Porsche and inviting everyone back to his family’s lake-house. Then there’s Kane. If it wasn’t for his gifts with a football, he’d be where his two older brothers are: gang banging and jail. He gets a free-ticket because he can catch and throw!”
I grinned for the first time since Holman’s visit. Charlie was right. It was strange how the world worked. How people constantly worshiped the wrong Gods. Those two idiots, Kane and Terry, were given free-tickets in life for one reason: money. Terry through his wealthy family and Kane because college football meant college money.
Coming back to the conversation, I said, “Let’s leave off those two meat-heads, they bore me. Anyway, I guess it’ll be easier to avoid them now that I’m outta college. Tell me, has anyone else asked about me?”
“W-e-l-l,” he let out slowly. “I’m not sure if I should tell you.”
“Why?”
“Because you’re with Sarah.”
“Oh, so it’s a girl, is it?”
“Yeah.”
“Who?”
Charlie shrugged and answered, “Amy Houston.”
“Amy!?”
“Yeah, she asked about you, said she’s worried. Said you were real sad the last time she saw you and she’s been thinking about you ever since.”
“Really!? She’s full of shit. Amy only thinks about Amy. She was just desperate to get hold of some gossip is all.”
“Well, she genuinely looked sincere in wanting to know how you were.”
“That’s just ’cause you’ve got the hots for her.”
“I’ll admit that Amy Houston is beautiful and, yes, I am attracted to her, but that doesn’t make me blind to insincerity. I think she meant it.”
The grin fell off my face and I pondered the subject of Amy for a second. Maybe I should call her, I thought. But then that would only be inviting trouble. No. It was best to stay away from that.
“She say much else?”
“No. Just that she’s worried and wanted to know if you were okay.”
“And what did you tell her?”
“I just said that you were good. She asked if you were seeing someone, and I said yes, that it was serious. She asked about Sarah, and I told her that Sarah was a really nice person and that she would look after you.”
“I need looking after, do I?” I put to him a little sternly.
Without a moment’s hesitation, he replied, “Yes, you do.”
After that, my spirits somewhat restored by his presence, we got all the decorating stuff out and carried on painting the lounge a bright canary yellow, attempting to bring as much light into our little nook as possible. The work, as well as Charlie’s company, allowed me some respite from the terrible news I’d received that day. But my brain still ached every now and then from the thought that my life appeared to be heading into a black hole. And this empty thought scared the shit out of me.
SARAH
I walked into the coffee shop feeling the whole world balancing itself on my tired shoulders. Seeing the others huddled around several tables—Dad, Theresa, Karl, Paul and a couple of the more senior tenants who were liaising with the others—I listlessly made my way over to them as though the floor were a lake of caramel. As I approached, my father spotted me first. He immediately stood up and came and met me halfway.
“What else did that bas—guy say?” he inquired.
“Not much. Just how he’s stopped Josh’s college funding.”
My father’s face darkened.
“How can a father do that?” he asked rhetorically. “The only thing Andrew left him with was his college, and even that he has to take away. Have you spoken to Josh
yet? He must be in pieces.”
“No, I came straight here. I’m gonna call him a little later. I’m still a little in shock from seeing Andrew. I’m sorry to say it, Dad, but that man gives me the major creeps.”
“He certainly seems to have lost that last drop of charm these past years,” my father remarked.
“And there’s something else,” I added sheepishly.
“What?”
“He told me that he owns a major stake in Langley Holdings through a portfolio of subsidiary companies.”
“I already knew that.”
“You did!?”
“Yeah, Karl and Paul both looked into Langley and found that it’s owned through a series of subsidiaries.”
“So they know about Andrew Kelly being involved?”
“No. But when they showed me some of the companies involved, I recognized one as to belonging to Andrew, because I helped him set it up about sixteen years ago. I didn't say anything to the others and I’d like to keep it out of things.”
“Were you ever going to tell me?”
“At some point. But I didn’t want this to become some personal vendetta against Andrew Kelly. For now we concentrate on taking down Langley and try not to worry ourselves over who’s behind them.”
“Okay,” I agreed. “I don't see how you telling the others would make any real difference. And I think that it’s better that Karl especially is kept away from the fact that Josh’s father is personally involved in the case.”
“That’s why you’re so smart,” my father remarked before kissing my forehead.
We went over to the others and began discussing how things had gone in court that day. Those representing the tenants, including Theresa, were keen to know our opinion on everything, so that they could liaise the information back to the other tenants. We told them that it was early days at the moment and we needed to wait till all the depositions had been given, and then the city’s buildings commission would make statements, followed by our scientific and medical witnesses. It wouldn’t be until the end of the week when we’d have any clue as to which side the pendulum of justice was swinging. But at this early juncture, everything had gone as well as could be expected.
Once this was over and I’d gotten back in my car, I decided to call Josh.
“Hey, babe,” he answered.
“What ya doin’?” I asked in my most cloying voice, wanting to start things off lightly before I asked him about college.
“I’m busy decorating with Charlie at the moment.”
Having said this, he went silent and I could tell that he was rustling through the leaves of his head, wanting to say something, but trying hard to find the words.
“Look,” he began in a solemn tone, “I wish that I didn't have to tell you this, but Holman came round today and gave me a letter from the college. It basically said that my father’s stopped my funding and that if I don’t find the money in a month, they're gonna cut me permanently from the course.”
“I know.”
“You do!?”
“Yeah, your dad came over to court today.”
“That piece of—! What did he do that for? Come to rub it in? Man, I’m sick of his twisted bullshit. He can go and…”
“Josh, Josh,” I repeated as he tumbled on with his rant. “Listen. Listen to me.”
“Why’s he gotta do things like this?” he finally asked in exasperation.
“I don’t know, honey. He’s not a good man, I guess. But we can work something out.”
“Like what?” he exclaimed in that same exasperated voice.
“You can freeze your studies for a year and work during that time saving up the money.”
“It’s thirty-three grand, Sarah. I can’t earn that in a year with zero skills.”
“I’ve got a little money saved up. It’s only a couple of thousand, but if I sell my car and a few other things, I can make about half the money. My mother left me some jewelry. It isn't much, but—”
“You can’t do that, Sarah. I can't ask you to pawn your sentimental possessions.”
“They’re only objects. All my real memories of my mother are locked up in my head, not in a jewelry box.”
“But still, it’s too much.”
“Not for you it isn’t!” I burst out. “No, Josh. You’re everything to me, do you know that? Everything. My mother would have wanted me to do this. The jewelry means a whole lot less than you continuing your studies. All your father has done is postpone things. He’s lengthened the path a little, but the destination stays the same.”
“But a whole year! I haven’t worked a second in my entire life and now I have to work a year!? And what kind of job will it be, huh? Some clerk in a gas station? Or unloading trucks down the harbor? What kind of job?”
“Honorable,” was what I had to say to this. “Whatever job you do will be honorable. For the first time in your life you’ll be doing things for yourself. You’ll be working toward your own future. When you look back at all your achievements from the sanctity of old age, you’ll list this next year down as the one that made you, the one that taught you humility and hard-work. You’ll feel proud of yourself for having done it.”
I could hear him breathing on the other end, thinking over my words, and I sensed that the storms of his indignation were quelling.
“You’re right,” he said after a while. “You’re always right. I’ll start looking for work first thing tomorrow.”
This sudden piece of determination from him made me burst into grinning flames.
“That’s the way,” I said. “Whether you’re filling up cars with gas or lugging around crates of fish, you’ll always be my hero.”
He chuckled lightly down the phone.
“Well, if I’m your hero,” he pronounced gently, “that’s all that counts.”
“You’re all that counts.”
“I love you,” he announced to me.
“And I love you.”
When I arrived home later that day, I found that Josh had finished painting the lounge, and he presented me with our newly decorated apartment. So joyous was I to see the massive change in the place that I took him in my arms and kissed his face all over, the walls now a bright yellow so that they shone like the sun and brought light flooding into the previously dank doldrums of the place.
“You didn’t have to finish it today,” I said to him. “Not after the day you’ve had.”
“I had to do something. Plus, it took my mind off of things. It was better than moping around the place.”
“You’re the best,” I felt the need to say.
His slightly sullen face allowed itself the joy of a grin, which settled lightly upon his lips, and I felt immediately inclined to kiss it.
“Well, I gotta start getting used to the idea of working,” he stated.
“It won’t be for long.”
“But long enough.”
SARAH
That weekend, Josh and I were at a barbecue at my father’s place. The sun was bright and sparkled down upon the backyard in a glittering rainfall of twinkling light, giving everything a cheery complexion. Troy was at Theresa’s for the night, so it was just a family affair. Dad was taking care of the grill while Josh, my sisters and I sat at the garden table enjoying some homemade ice-tea, Josh enjoying a cold beer.
In the last four days, he’d been busy handing out his resume to local businesses. When we’d sat down to make it, there’d been nothing we could put down as far as experience was concerned. So we told a couple of tiny, white lies. We claimed that he’d worked in construction for a couple of years and that before that he’d worked at a Walmart. We hardly put that he was a Nobel Prize-winning academic or had single handedly run a company. Just something to give the impression that he’d been employed these past years and not merely frolicking from one college to another with various sets of scoundrels. Alongside this, he’d been busy applying for jobs we found in the local press or online. From all this bait, however, we’d had
not one nibble at the hook.
Nevertheless, today was a beautiful Sunday afternoon, we’d been to church earlier and nothing could prevent us from enjoying the sunshine, the birds singing in the trees and the company.
“So Josh, you looking forward to a life of back-breaking employment?” Kay was asking him.
“Kay!” I exclaimed. “What’re you implying? That Josh has never gotten his hands dirty?”
“No, I’m sure his hands have been plenty dirty,” she replied with a wink fired in Josh’s direction. “I was just implying that he’s never worked in his life.”
I scowled a little at little sister.
“Have you?” Josh aimed back at her through a grin. “Ever worked, that is!”
“Ah!” Lucy let out, pointing at Kay. “He’s right there. You still haven’t even been to college yet.”
“I’m taking a gap year,” Kay retorted with her nose in the air.
“It’s been two,” Lucy batted back.
“Well, you finished college nearly a year ago and you’re still hanging around doing nothing.”
“I do plenty.”
“Like what?”
“I look after the house, after Troy, and I help out with patrol and with the food bank. I don't think I have to be ashamed of my workload being too lightweight.”
“It’s still pretty meager,” Kay put back.
Meanwhile, I was laughing at the two of them, as was Josh. I loved to watch them argue. Kay was an alleycat, but Lucy hardly said boo. It was only when Kay would stir her that I ever got to see Lucy indignant. They used to squabble when we were kids and I’ve always found it hilarious.
“Pretty meager?” Lucy exclaimed, almost rising from her chair. “It’s a lot more than you do.”
“Ladies, ladies,” Josh placated. “There’s no need to argue, it’s settled: you both do jack!”
A loud chuckle erupted from the direction of the grill behind us and we all turned to my father.
“You find that funny, Daddy?” Kay wanted to know.
“No, not at all, sweetie,” my father said, his hand half-covering his mouth in order to stifle his snickering. “It was a cough was all. The smoke made me cough.”
