The War of the Roses: The Children

by Warren Adler

  “You said it was an emergency,” he pressed.

  “It is.”

  “Dammit, Victoria. What’s the problem?”

  “Just come on home. Emily is sleeping at her friend’s house tonight.”

  He felt an accelerated pulse-beat in his throat. He began to hyperventilate.

  “You can’t tell me now?” he urged her.

  “Just come home, Josh.”

  She hung up. He sat by his desk for a long time trying to catch his breath. Finally he calmed and found the will to buzz his assistant.

  “Trouble at home,” he said. “I’m outta here.”

  By the time he arrived home, he was a wreck. His shirt was soaked with perspiration. Victoria was sitting in the den, a drink on the table beside her. She rarely took a drink, a fact that only exacerbated his anxiety.

  “Better pour yourself one,” she said, pointing to a bottle of Glenfiddich beside her glass. “You’re going to need it.”

  Taking her words as a command, he reached for the bottle, and taking a glass from the bar poured himself a heavy shot. The glass shook in his hand. She knows, he thought again. He felt like a man being led to a firing squad. She waited until he had taken his first deep swallow.

  “Michael did steal those Milky Ways,” she said. “I was putting his pants in the washing machine. I found these in his pocket.” She put the wrappers on the coffee table.

  Josh looked at the four candy wrappers, laid out in parallel lines. He felt a sudden tremor of disorientation. Was this about Milky Ways?

  “Our son is a thief and a liar,” she said, raising her glass, looking at him over the rim. “How do you like them apples?”

  “This is the emergency?” Josh asked, dumbfounded. Then suddenly, the truth of her accusation dawned and he felt engulfed by a wave of enormous elation and relief. He upended the glass and let the liquor roll down his throat. He felt himself smiling. When he looked at her again, she appeared displeased by his reaction.

  “Don’t you understand, Josh? Our son has betrayed us. We believed in him. He’s pulled the rug out from under us.”

  “Victoria…,” he began.

  “Don’t say it. I know exactly how old he is.”

  He had intended to reassure her, to tell her what he had said to Angela earlier, that it was not the end of the world.

  “Make allowances for that,” he said. He poured himself another shot.

  “I wanted you here when he got home from school,” she said. “I wanted both of us to be here.”

  “Jesus, Victoria, what are we going to do, put him in the stocks?”

  He watched her eyes narrow as she blew her bangs in obvious frustration.

  “You don’t get it, do you?”

  “Of course I get it,” he said. “He stole. He lied. It’s awful and he must be punished. As far as I’m concerned, he’s grounded. We’ll pull him off athletics. No television. No movies. No online. No stereo. The works.”

  “That goes without saying, Josh. But that doesn’t get to the heart of why he did it. How can we trust him ever again? Don’t you see? It’s totally against the grain of everything he’s been taught. He’s betrayed us. Never mind the embarrassment to me. You should have seen me in Tatum’s office. I was a fireball of intimidation.” She shook her head. “How the hell can I face him? And the Crespos? They want Michael expelled.”

  Although he felt her consternation and could imagine the scene in Mr. Tatum’s office, he could not bring himself to the same pitch of outrage. The other matter on his mind triggered a higher level of tolerance. The logic of Michael’s lie seemed clear. The temptation was just too much for him, and he lied to cover up his embarrassment and spare himself the punishment. It was a perfectly human reaction.

  “He chopped down the cherry tree, Josh. He’s supposed to admit it, come clean before he’s found out by other means. If he gets off lightly, he might want to chance it again. Next time the stakes will get higher.”

  “I’m not saying he shouldn’t be punished,” Josh said meekly.

  “He needs to be chastised.”

  “What does that mean?”

  “He has to admit his guilt.”

  “To whom?”

  “To the authorities. To Tatum, for openers.”

  “Won’t that risk expulsion?”

  “We’ll have to chance it,” Victoria said. “He did say that if Michael had come forward and admitted his… his indiscretion… he would have been forgiven and the incident closed.”

  “But why a public mea culpa?”

  “You really want to send that message, Josh?”

  “What message?”

  “That cover-up is an appropriate choice? That keeping silent is also a lie? Fidelity, remember. Is that what you want to teach your son?”

  “What I’m saying is, give him the chance to prove to us that it won’t happen again.”

  Victoria contemplated his argument for a long time while he finished his drink.

  “Your point is well taken.”

  He went to where she was sitting, bent over, and kissed her on the cheek. She caressed his face and nodded.

  “Nobody’s perfect. He’s been caught with his hand in the cookie jar. A little tough love might be called for here.”

  Despite his duplicity, he felt satisfied with his advice. After a long moment of contemplation, she looked up at him and nodded in apparent agreement.

  “Tough love?” she sighed.

  “It may be our only option.”

  Finally, she nodded. “I’m not comfortable about it, but I do get the message.” She took another sip of her drink. “You have to have the wisdom of King Solomon to be a parent these days,” she muttered.

  Leaving her in contemplation, he went upstairs, changed into jeans and a sweatshirt, and called his office. He was relieved to discover that any residual anxieties he had about Angela doing anything stupid had disappeared.

  Michael came home soon after, running into the house with his usual air of excitement, oblivious to what had happened in his absence.

  “Let’s not pounce,” Josh warned, dreading the coming confrontation. He had put the Milky Way wrappers into the pocket of his jeans.

  “Dad,” Michael said, bursting into the den. “What are you doing home?”

  Instead of answering, Josh looked toward Victoria, who shrugged. It was obvious she had tendered him the role of disciplinarian. Michael’s smile faded as he looked from one parent to the other.

  “Something happen?” he asked. “Is Emmie okay?”

  “Emmie’s fine.”

  “Then what?” he asked, frowning.

  “This happened, Michael.” Josh said, showing him the Milky Way wrappers. Michael looked at them and flushed deep red. He began to tremble.

  “Where do you think I found them?” Victoria asked.

  Michael bowed his head and looked at his hands.

  “You know where I found them, don’t you, Michael?”

  He kept his head bowed and nodded.

  “We’re very disappointed in you, son,” Josh said.

  “Very,” Victoria seconded. “You’ve lied to us, Michael.”

  “Repeatedly,” Josh said. He felt awful. “And we need some sort of explanation. This can’t go unpunished. You know that. No sports. No music. No online. No movies. No television. You’re grounded, son. School and homework. That’s the ballgame for you from now on. Do you understand?”

  Michael nodded, but he did not lift his head and look them in the eye.

  “What neither your mother nor I understand is why. Why did you take the candy, and why did you lie about it?”

  Michael shrugged and raised his face. It was blotchy and tearful. He wiped his tears on his sleeve.

  “I’m talking to you, Michael. I want to know why.”

&nb
sp; Josh’s heart went out to his son, but he said nothing, waiting for the boy’s reply.

  “I didn’t…,” Michael stammered.

  “You did,” Josh corrected severely.

  “We do not lie in this family, Michael,” Victoria said. Her eyes were moist and she turned away to wipe them with a tissue.

  “It’s not like you think,” Michael said, sniffling. Victoria and Josh exchanged glances.

  “What is it like, son?” Josh asked gently.

  “She promised,” Michael said.

  “Who promised?”

  “She.”

  “Madeline Crespo?” Victoria asked.

  Michael nodded.

  “What did she promise?” Josh asked.

  They watched as Michael went through a long hesitation. His small body seemed painfully rigid.

  “That she would give me Milky Ways if I….” Michael sucked in a deep breath.

  “If you what, sweetheart?” Victoria said, glancing at Josh.

  “If I let her copy my math test.”

  “And did you?”

  Michael nodded, flushing red. It was clearly a breach of the school’s academic honor system, Mr. Tatum’s fondest bragging point. In Mr. Tatum’s world, any violation of that honor system was a crime for which no punishment was too much. Examples of expulsion for this infraction were legendary.

  “You knew this was against the rules?” Victoria asked.

  Michael nodded again. They could see the fear in his eyes.

  Josh and Victoria exchanged troubled glances.

  “So you let her copy your math test?” Josh reiterated. “And she gave you the Milky Way.”

  “No, she didn’t,” Michael snapped. “And I let her copy my answers.”

  “Then why didn’t she fulfill her part of the bargain?” Josh asked, confused.

  “She said she didn’t see my paper,” Michael said. “She’s a liar. I showed it. And I got a hundred on the test.”

  “Did she?” Josh asked.

  “She got two wrong,” Michael said. “I can’t help it if she couldn’t see all my answers. I showed her my paper and I saw her looking.”

  “So you took the Milky Way out of her bag,” Victoria prodded.

  “It was mine,” Michael said, his voice rising. “Then I took it again the next day. She promised me two. She’s the one that lied first.”

  “We’re not talking sequence here, Michael. Never mind that she lied. That’s her and her parents’ problem. You lied and that’s our problem and yours,” Josh said.

  “But she lied first,” Michael said obviously convinced of the justice inherent in his eleven-year-old logic system.

  “And you lied because you were afraid to tell Mr. Tatum that you participated in test cheating.” Josh said, as if he were coaching him through it.

  “A lie is still a lie, Michael,” Victoria said.

  “And he was protecting the Crespo girl,” Josh added, as if he had become a defense witness.

  “So that’s why she was so hysterical. She had to tell her parents something,” Victoria said.

  “Mystery solved,” Josh said.

  “Not quite, Josh. He still lied to us.”

  Michael nodded.

  “It was a bad thing, Mom. Madeline made me do a bad thing.”

  “Madeline didn’t make you lie, Michael,” Victoria said gently. “You have to be responsible for your own actions. You lied to us, to Mr. Tatum, to the Crespos. Pure and simple. You can’t just decide when to lie and when to tell the truth.” She turned to Josh. “This is the real lesson here. Never mind the extenuating circumstances. A lie is a lie.”

  Her rigidity was terrifying, triggering both shame and thankfulness that he had found the courage to sever the relationship with Angela.

  “Do you understand the severity of your act, young man?” Victoria asked.

  Michael lowered his head again. It seemed like a gesture of contrition and Josh felt the boy’s pain. He turned to Michael and tousled the boy’s hair. In his mind, the incident was over.

  “Feel better now that you’ve told us?” Josh asked.

  “We can’t leave it at that,” Victoria snapped.

  Josh turned to his son, assuming, for Victoria’s benefit, a severe expression.

  “You know your punishment, Michael.” Michael nodded. “No privileges until we decide when it ends. Now you run up to your room and get to work,” Josh said, feeling flushed with parental wisdom and command. Michael embraced both his parents and went off to his room.

  When he was gone, Josh poured them both drinks and they sat down beside each other on the couch.

  “Emergency over,” Josh said, lifting his glass and tapping hers. He felt exhilarated, relieved, and slightly manic.

  He laid his glass on the table, got up from the couch, and locked the door to the den. Returning, he gently removed her glass from her hand and placed it beside his.

  He then embraced her, kissed her deeply, and maneuvered her lengthwise on the couch and began to unbutton her blouse. He kissed her nipples. She seemed pliant but not eager. He continued his effort despite her tepid acquiescence.

  “I need you,” he whispered.

  “It’s all right,” she said, caressing him.

  She could not have possibly interpreted his sudden elation as anything more than the brief pleasure of his orgasm. It had not been mutual. The timing was, after all, not even remotely appropriate. Her mind was obviously elsewhere, dwelling on the future of their child.

  In this brief encounter no images of Angela intruded to prod his libido.

  Chapter 4

  Victoria rose early to prepare a healthy breakfast of Irish oatmeal and honey, topped off with fresh fruit. Emily called to say she had a wonderful time at her friend’s house and the routine of the day began with no mention of yesterday’s trauma. As far as Josh was concerned, not only his affair with Angela was over, but also the case of purloined Milky Ways. The very fact that it went unmentioned at the breakfast table was proof positive of its demise.

  “It’ll work itself out,” Josh said as he kissed Victoria on the forehead.

  “We’ll see.”

  He arrived at the office in a cheerful state of mind. The condition dissipated quickly when he learned from his assistant that Angela had called in sick. It was an unexpected absence. She was working on a new concept for an important client with a close deadline.

  “Was she sick? Or her kids?” Josh inquired.

  “Her husband called,” his assistant replied. “Said Angela was sick.”

  “Serious?”

  “He didn’t say.”

  He pondered the answers, then ordered his assistant to postpone the presentation for a day or two.

  “Did he say whether she would be in tomorrow?”

  “He made no other comment.”

  Josh hung up and tried to keep his mind occupied, certain that Angela’s absence had nothing to do with physical illness.

  At eleven his cell phone buzzed and he answered it with trepidation.

  “I’ve got good news and bad news,” Victoria said.

  His heartbeat accelerated and his breath came in gasps.

  “Bad news first,” he managed to say.

  “Mr. Tatum called. The incident is over. The Crespos have withdrawn their complaint. Bygones are bygones.”

  He was startled. “That’s the bad news? So where is the good news.”

  “Same news.”

  “I don’t get it, Victoria,” he said, confused.

  “It means they’ve accepted Michael’s lies as the truth. Tell me, Josh. Who wins here?”

  It was not a subject he wished to tackle at this moment. Why was she agonizing over this?

  “We win,” he said, finally finding his bearings. “Michael wins. You�
��re going to drive yourself crazy over this, Victoria. The important thing is that Michael has acknowledged his lies to us and given us his reasons. That took a lot of character.”

  “Then why am I uncomfortable?”

  “Because you’re not thinking clearly. He’s being punished, remember? And we haven’t risked his future. Providence has smiled. Accept it. The long-term weather report is cloudless and sunny.”

  “Is it?”

  “Don’t be so damned rigid, Victoria,” he said with impatience.

  “I’m not being rigid, Josh. This is the wrong tack.”

  “Stop this.”

  “He gets away with this, he’ll repeat the performance.”

  “This is the wrong time to discuss this, Victoria. I’ve got enough on my plate as it is.”

  “I’m sorry to bother you.”

  “Put it behind you.”

  That was exactly the advice he had given to Angela yesterday.

  “I’ll try,” she said.

  The similarity to Angela’s reaction was uncanny. All women were connected by the common bond of illogic, he told himself.

  “Don’t try, Victoria,” he said with frustration. “Just do what I suggest. Put it behind you.”

  He waited for her response, hearing only her breathing beyond the silence. Despite his advice and worry over their son, he secretly admired her adherence to principle and wished he could muster the courage to follow her example.

  He thought fleetingly of Angela and their terrible deception. Again, he cursed his weakness. He wished that, once and for all, he could stop berating himself. His reform would be militant, he vowed. Never again!

  “Victoria,” he said, his voice rising. “I need to tell you something.”

  “What?” she asked.

  He sensed that he was on the verge of confession, then stepped back, clearing his throat.

  “I think you’re terrific,” he said.

  “That’s a heavy burden, Josh.”

  “He’s just a child. Cut him some slack.”

  “I’ll try,” she said abruptly, breaking the connection.

  Still, he could not shake his worries over his son, nor could he dismiss a lingering anxiety over Angela that her abrupt absence had triggered. Hadn’t she promised not to do anything stupid? His thoughts were disturbed by a sudden buzz on his console.