Читать книгу Thicker Than Mud - Jason Z. Morris - Страница 9

Adam woke up slowly and for a moment, he half-thought he was still in Tel Arad. He put on his glasses and then let his head fall back onto his pillow. No. He was back in his one-bedroom apartment, surrounded by his books, his framed maps of the ancient world, his CDs. His grandfather was gone. He checked his phone. It was six in the morning, Labor Day. He considered going to his grandfather’s apartment to get started on packing the place up, but he told himself he didn’t have time. His classes weren’t ready, and he had to do his laundry and go grocery shopping.

Adam got up sore and stiff. His limbs felt heavy, heavier than he remembered they’d ever felt, as if his grandfather had been buoying him up for his whole life and now he had been left to sink. He took a couple of ibuprofen, showered, and put on some clothes, including the Mets cap that, along with his unshaven beard, would mark that he was still in the earliest phase of mourning.

The cupboard was nearly empty, Adam saw, which saved him the trouble of making a shopping list. He started his laundry in the small washer/dryer he had in his apartment. Then he opened a can of tuna and ate it over the sink for breakfast before he settled in to try to get some work done. He sat with his lesson plans for a couple of hours, but made little progress. It was a relief when the ringing of his phone, his landline, interrupted him.

It was the rabbi at his grandfather’s temple, Rabbi Mira. Adam didn’t know if Mira was her first or last name. He had seen her only once, at High Holiday services with his grandfather.

“I’m so sorry for your loss,” the rabbi said. “Danny Blumberg gave me your number and I wanted to call. So many of us in the community will miss Herschel. He was really special.”

Adam stiffened. Herschel, she called him. Everyone called him Hank. Adam pictured her sitting in her office, reading off a card, checking another mourner off her list for the day. “Did you know him well?” Adam asked. He just managed to keep the bitterness out of his tone.

“Of course,” she said. “Herschel was very active in the Temple Brotherhood and he was on the social action committee this year. He talked about you all the time.” She paused, but Adam didn’t respond. He was trying and failing to picture his grandfather selling raffle tickets and helping out at barbecues. “I wanted to let you know that we have a prayer group that visits houses of mourning,” the rabbi said. “Most of our congregants are here in Queens, of course, but we’d be happy to come up to Westchester. You’re in Larchmont, right?”

It was a kind offer, Adam realized. He pictured a dozen or so senior citizens coming up in a bus from Little Neck to pray in his apartment, a field trip for the underemployed. He would offer them something to eat and they would accept some token, probably a cookie each, maybe some warm water with lemon. Then they’d get down to business, reading from their prayer books in unison, not comprehending the Hebrew words. On their way out, they would make the appropriate sad faces at him and one of them might offer some Yiddish aphorism about sad times.

It was too horrible. “That’s very gracious of you, thanks,” Adam said. “I’m okay. I don’t know how much praying I’ll be doing, but there are temples near here if I get the urge.”

Rabbi Mira was undaunted. Adam wondered how often she had this exact conversation. “Of course, we’d never want to intrude,” she said. “But you can change your mind any time. Just let me know. I also wanted to remind you that Rosh Hashana is practically here. I can’t believe it, but it starts Wednesday night, so the shiva period will end early. I don’t think I can get to you before the holiday, but I would like to stop by sometime soon if I could. I also wanted to invite you to our temple for High Holiday services this year. I know you usually came with your grandfather. Please be our guest.”

Adam hadn’t thought about Rosh Hashana without his grandfather. His throat constricted. He needed to get off the phone. “Thank you, Rabbi. I can get your number from Danny if I need it.”

The afternoon passed like a fever as Adam stared unfocused into space. Only the occasional stab of grief prodded his consciousness to awaken, like some swamp creature surfacing for air before sinking back down into the mud. It was after five when the phone rang again. This time, it was his cell. It was Danny.

“How are you doing, Danny?” Adam asked. He held his breath. He could hear it coming.

“Not so good, Adam.” The whine in Danny’s voice set Adam’s teeth on edge. “I need a favor.”

Adam knew his grandfather would have been Danny’s first call. Evidently, he was next in line. He exhaled slowly. “Yeah?” He moved his laundry over to the dryer as Danny spoke.

“I’m at a trade show in Jersey. Rose has known about it for months, but she got called into work. It’s an emergency, she says, and I can’t get home in time even if I leave now.” Danny paused, waiting, Adam knew, for an offer of help. After a couple of seconds, Danny asked, “Can you cover for me?”

“Cover what?” Adam was still in a fog.

“Henry. Can you watch Henry for me until I get back?”

Adam couldn’t claim to be too busy, he thought, not after pissing away the whole day. And he had to admit to himself that the thought of spending some time with Henry was appealing. He could read him a couple of books, maybe sing him a song or two. The change of venue might even help him get something done. And his grandfather would have been very pleased, Adam knew. He loved that boy.

“Do you need me to leave now?” Adam asked.

“Could you? I’m two hours away, but the conference ends soon. I’m making some important connections. If I could stay to the end and then rush over there, it would mean a lot.”

“Yeah. I can come. Don’t be late, okay? I still have work to do for tomorrow.”

“Thanks a million, Adam!” Danny said. “I knew I could count on you. I’ll tell Rose to expect you.”

Adam packed his notes and his computer and headed out. He was on the expressway within ten minutes and at Danny’s within thirty-five.

Danny’s house was a Tudor on a quiet cul-de-sac, just a couple of blocks from the traffic and noise of Northern Boulevard. Rose was waiting on the front steps as Adam made his way up the long walk. She had changed a lot since high school, Adam noted. Her hair was darker, almost black, and it was cut in sharp lines to her jaw. The red of her lipstick still made a striking contrast against the milky white of her face, but she now wore a painted-on smile in place of her adolescent scowl. Adam wasn’t a fan of either, but if he had to choose, he preferred the scowl. She must still have her tattoo, he thought, though it was hidden under her crisply tailored blazer. It was a rose, he remembered. She wasn’t one to avoid the obvious. She was holding Henry. Adam thought the boy’s light brown curls had grown longer since the last time he was there.

Adam grinned at Henry before he looked back at Rose. “Danny told me you had to run out,” he said, hoping she might take that as a combined greeting and dismissal.

Rose nodded. She handed the baby to Adam. “He should be just about ready to go down,” she said. “He just ate and he’s wearing a new diaper. There are more on the changing table in his room if you need them.” She spoke over her shoulder as she entered the house. Adam followed her in. “I thought I had Labor Day off,” she said, “but we have a new client, a very big name, and I got called in. It’s still very hush hush, so I can’t talk about it.”

Adam had no response. On his best day, he couldn’t give a shit about advertising or marketing, whichever Rose did. There was a difference, apparently, but he’d never figured it out. “We’ll be fine,” he said.

Rose glanced up at the clock again. “Shit, I’m late,” she said. “I need to run.” She grabbed a black leather purse and snatched the keys off the hook by the door on her way out. Everything was fine until Adam heard her car pull out. That’s when Henry started fussing, growing more and more agitated so that he was crying loudly within a couple of minutes.

“Are you hungry?” Adam asked. Are you thirsty? There was no answer, of course. Henry’s diaper wasn’t full. “Maybe there’s something in the cupboard,” Adam said. He checked, but most of the food there needed chewing and Henry had one tooth. Crackers and pretzels weren’t going to work.

Henry made it clear that the bottle of formula Adam found wasn’t going to cut it either, but some digging uncovered a pint of peach ice cream in the freezer. Adam figured there was only so wrong you could go with fruit and milk. He scooped a couple of generous teaspoons into a small bowl and fed Henry the ice cream with the tiniest spoon he could find in the silverware drawer. Henry looked at Adam with such surprise and delight that Adam almost laughed.

Adam hummed to him while he ate, and by the time the ice cream was gone, Henry was struggling to keep his eyes open. Adam put the bowl and spoon in the sink, and then he wet his finger under the faucet and used it to clean Henry’s tooth before he took him upstairs. There was a rocking chair in Henry’s room and Adam sat in it, holding Henry against his chest. He rocked Henry for a long time, willing his own muscles to relax as he lulled the boy to sleep. It was a trick his grandfather had taught him the last time Adam had watched Henry, the night of his grandfather’s birthday.

It had been raining for hours that day, and they were at his grandfather’s apartment. Rose was away at the time, on a business trip. Adam had arrived on time, he remembered, in the afternoon. But when he had walked in, it looked like Danny and Henry had already been there forever. Adam could still picture his grandfather bouncing the boy in his lap, singing him nonsense songs while Danny stood alongside him. He remembered the pang of loneliness he felt then, the feeling of being an outsider in his own home.

After dinner, Danny had been called into work to deal with a part of the cemetery that had been flooding. Adam didn’t know what happened when a cemetery flooded, but he imagined it was bad news. That’s what the look on Danny’s face suggested at the time, Adam thought.

Adam smiled as he remembered how, when it was time to get Henry to bed, he and his grandfather rearranged the cushions on the living room couch to make a crib for him. They must have used a hundred feet of duct tape to hold it all together, but after his grandfather went to sleep, Adam still wasn’t sure that it would hold. When Henry had finally conked out in the makeshift bed they had assembled, Adam settled himself down onto the floor right beside him so that if Henry did fall, he would fall on Adam. In the end, Danny was away most of the night. When he finally came home at about four in the morning, he woke Adam and shook his head at all the duct tape, “For God’s sake,” he said, “Rose doesn’t need to hear about this.” As far as Adam knew, she still didn’t know.

Henry was asleep. Adam laid him in his crib and went back downstairs to the living room. He worked productively there for more than an hour, though a phone buzzed several times. After the first few calls, Adam tracked the sound to Rose’s office. Her phone was in the purse lying on her desk, but Adam certainly wasn’t going to go in and get it. He worked for a while longer before Danny texted to say he was on his way home and making good time. Adam dove back into his work, but half an hour later, he was startled by the sound of breaking glass and a scream.

Then he heard Danny’s voice. “You son of a bitch!” He heard more glass breaking and another scream, not Danny. A terrified, inhuman sound.

Adam ran outside. He saw a tangle of legs, four of them, kicking against the shards of glass that littered the street. They were hanging out the driver’s door of a red coupe Adam didn’t recognize. Danny’s car was parked behind it.

Adam sprinted over as Danny slid out from the coupe and onto his knees, pulling the other man after him by his belt. Adam could hear Danny’s grunt over the man’s screams as Danny ground the face of the other man into the asphalt and the glass. Adam shouted and Danny looked up at him for less than a second, but there was no recognition in his eyes. Danny stood up and kicked at the man once, twice, grunting like an animal each time. Adam tried to drag Danny away, pulling at his shoulders, but Danny shoved him, knocking Adam to the ground.

Adam screamed, “Stop it, Danny! Let him go!” But Danny didn’t respond. There was no indication he even heard. Adam got up off the ground and tried to grab Danny’s shoulders again, but Danny twisted away and then turned back toward the man on the ground. Adam saw an opening, and he took it. He punched Danny, connecting hard enough with his cheek that Danny rocked backward. “Let him go,” Adam said. “Let him go.”

For a moment, Adam wasn’t sure what Danny would do, but Danny held up his hands and walked in a tight circle, breathing hard. The man was stirring, Adam saw, but he was in bad shape. The light from the streetlamps was enough to illuminate streaks of blood in the street and in the driver’s seat of the car.

Danny looked untouched except for the bruise that was already rising on his cheek from where Adam had hit him. Only his hands were bloody. He was bent over now, breathing heavily, his hands on his knees.

The other man moaned, and Adam turned to see him roll over onto his side. His suit jacket was bunched under his armpits and his pants had twisted so that his belt buckle was a few inches to the right of center. The man turned his head as Adam knelt down toward him; Adam stared, open mouthed, at the man’s battered face and at the blood running from his nose down to his collar, staining his white dress shirt. The man looked young, Adam thought, just a few years out of college. He had probably been handsome a few minutes before.

“We’ve got to get this guy to a hospital,” Adam said. “Call an ambulance.”

Danny shook his head. He was kneeling in the street now, just clear of the glass, panting. Adam thought he looked like he might cry. “We can’t,” he said. “We can’t. Adam, please.” He implored Adam with his eyes. “You could say you found him in an accident at the side of the road, couldn’t you? You could put him back in the car and drive him to the hospital yourself.”

The man had raised himself to his hands and knees. His face was low to the ground.

Adam shook his head. He wondered if Danny had lost his mind. “Help me get him inside,” he said. “You can call from inside.” He pointed to a house across the street where a light had just turned on.” “Come on, Danny. Any second, people are going to come out here to see what’s going on. It’s going to look a lot better if you’re the one who calls the ambulance.”

Danny hesitated for just a second before he nodded his assent. He lumbered to his feet, and he and Adam each took an arm and helped the man up. They walked him inside, bearing most of the man’s weight between them. Adam closed the door behind them after they deposited the man in an easy chair in Danny’s living room.

Danny dialed 911 and paced back and forth to the kitchen as he spoke to the operator. Adam asked the man his name and if he needed anything. The man just held his hand up and turned away. When Adam went to the kitchen, Danny was already off the phone. “They should be here any minute,” Danny said. “I don’t feel good about this. I wish you’d listened to me. I wish you drove him yourself.”

“And I wish you didn’t make a bloody mess of his face, so I guess we’re both disappointed, Danny.” He tore a few paper towels off their roll, wet them under the sink, and squeezed them out.

“Hey, don’t be sarcastic with me!” Danny said. “He got off easy. He had a lot of balls coming here.” They were both silent for a few seconds before Danny said, “I’m going to check on Henry.”

“Great. I’m going to see if your buddy will let me help him clean up before the ambulance arrives.”

Danny stopped on his way out of the kitchen and turned to look at Adam. “He’s not my buddy. He’s Rose’s boyfriend.”

A police car arrived before the ambulance. Adam opened the door when he saw the car pull up, lights flashing and sirens at full blast. Two officers were inside the house moments later, and Danny came downstairs. The panic in Danny’s eyes when he saw the police in his living room tore at Adam. But Danny’s expression quickly changed. It was as if a tremendous weight had been lifted from him.

“Tommy!” he said to one of the officers. “Am I glad to see you! You remember Tommy, Adam. He was in my class.”

There was another siren, and then a wail from upstairs. “Henry’s up,” Adam said. “No one could sleep through all this. I’ll try to settle him.”

“Are you the one who phoned in the complaint?” Adam heard Tommy ask as he ascended the stairs.

“Yeah, but it’s okay. I’m all right,” Danny said. As Adam entered Henry’s room, he heard Danny say, “That guy attacked me. Take a look at this bruise. We had some words and he took a swing at me.”

Adam closed the door behind him as he made his way to Henry’s crib, glad to be upstairs, in the dark, far from Danny’s disaster downstairs. He picked Henry up and rocked him for about ten minutes until he was sound asleep.

When Adam had made his way back to the living room, he saw paramedics examining the man in the chair, asking him questions, checking his vision, feeling his bruises.

Tommy, the police officer Danny knew, was asking, “Are you saying he didn’t have a weapon of any kind, Danny?” He and Danny were standing close to each other, too close, Adam thought. Tommy’s tone was all business now.

Adam said, “Danny, stop for a second. Maybe you should call your lawyer. Do you have the number in your phone?”

Danny shook his head, truculent, defiant. He didn’t take his eyes off Tommy. “I don’t need a fucking lawyer, Adam. This is my home. I didn’t do anything wrong.”

The paramedics had finished their examination. The one who seemed to be in charge came over to where Danny and the police were standing and said, “Concussion. Broken nose for sure. Some abrasions. Minor cuts . . . we removed some small shards of broken glass from his head. He’s lucky. It could have been a lot worse.”

“What about me?” Danny asked. He pointed at his cheek.

The paramedic took him by the chin and turned his head a few degrees. “A bruise,” he said. “Put some ice on it.” He turned to the police officers. “Can we take Mr. Calloway to the hospital?”

“OK, take him,” Tommy said.

The other officer said, “You’re in serious trouble, Mr. Blumberg. We’re going to have to take you into the station.”

“He came to my house!” Danny said. “He attacked me! What the hell country is this where I can’t defend myself right in front of my own house? In my own home?”

“You can file a complaint against Mr. Calloway if you want to, Mr. Blumberg, but even if he hit you first, with your injuries that’s a misdemeanor assault. Smashing an unarmed man’s head into a car window, breaking bones . . . you’re looking at a felony. We’re going to have to take you in.”

“You’re arresting me? No! Come on, Tom. You know me! We went to school together.”

Tommy said, “I’m sorry, Danny. I have no choice.” His tone softened. “Look, I suggest you bring your checkbook. If you’re lucky, you might have a chance to post bail tonight and sleep in your own bed.”

The other officer took out his handcuffs. “Please put your hands behind you, Mr. Blumberg,” he said.

Danny looked up at Adam. “You have to stay with Henry until I get back, okay? Rose could be out all night for all I know. I’ll get back as soon as I can.” He turned to the police. “Can I let Adam know when I’ll be home?”

Tommy nodded. “We’ll call him if we have to hold you overnight.”

Adam watched, half in a daze, as they led Danny out the door, his hands cuffed behind his back. It all seemed so unreal. He was too shaken to get any work done. He tried reading and even watching television, but he couldn’t sit still. Steven called when it was almost eleven.

“Is it too late to talk?” he asked. “I’m sorry. I meant to check in earlier and see how you’re doing. I’m in the lab and I lost track of time.”

“No, it’s okay. I’m up. I’m at Danny’s, actually.”

“Danny’s? Why? Let me guess. He needs a favor.”

“He’s been arrested,” Adam said. “I’m with Henry. He assaulted his wife’s lover.”

There was silence for a second, and then, “Holy shit.”

“I know.”

“Very classy.”

Adam wasn’t ready to talk about it. “I’ll call you tomorrow, all right? I’m keeping an ear out in case Henry wakes up.”

A little after midnight, Danny walked in. “How is Henry?” he asked. “Still asleep?” His eyes fell on the bowl and spoon that Adam had left on the coffee table. “What’s that?”

“Henry was hungry before bed, so I gave him some ice cream.”

“He’s not supposed to have sweets, Adam! Rose is going to pitch a fit.”

Adam just looked at him.

Danny picked up the bowl and spoon. “Not now, Adam, okay? I’ve been arrested and interrogated. I just spent an hour and a half in a jail cell with a drunk, crazy homeless guy. I waived the right to an attorney so I could get released tonight, but it took me fifteen minutes just to explain why I’m not a flight risk and they should give me a reasonable bail. Where do they think I’m going to run with a kid and a house and two funeral homes? I’m a partner in a cemetery, for crying out loud.” He walked the bowl and spoon over to the kitchen sink.

“How did this happen, Danny?” Adam asked.

There was no response as Danny turned on the faucet and scrubbed at the dishes.

Adam sat down at the kitchen table. “Did you hear what I asked you, Danny?”

Danny sighed and turned off the water. He laid the bowl and spoon to dry by the side of the sink. “I heard,” he said. “I heard. The guy’s name is Richard Calloway. I’ve known about him for a long time. I’ve never seen him in person, but I knew. Rose isn’t as clever as she thinks she is, and she’s been seeing him for a while. He works in Rose’s department. I think he even reports to her.” Danny dried his hands. “Pathetic piece of shit. Couldn’t get promoted on his own, so he started fucking the boss.”

“He works for Rose?”

“I know, right?” Danny said. “I didn’t think women were supposed to have a midlife crisis. At least I’ve never heard of it. Rose being Rose, you’d think she’d be banging some rich bigwig, not some pretty boy with a fancy car he can only afford because of her.”

Danny sat down across from Adam. He looked down as he spoke “This marriage has been over for a long time,” he said. “We both would have walked a long time ago if it weren’t for Henry. But there are rules, you know? Unspoken rules . . . when I saw him pull up in that fucking sports car, I just lost it.”

“But you knew he was seeing Rose . . .”

Danny’s looked up into Adam’s eyes. “This is my house, Adam. My kid sleeps here! Do you understand? It was instinct. A man has to protect his family, right? He got out of the car and I saw his face under the streetlamp, and I just lost it. Rose isn’t even home tonight. I thought, ‘Is he trying to see Henry? Does he think he can just come over and read my son a fucking bedtime story?’ and that was it.”

Danny took a breath and let it out slowly, quietly. “I was on him before he shut the car door. The whole thing only took a few seconds. I punched him once in the gut and he doubled over. The car window was half open, and I guess I pushed his head through it. I heard the glass crack.”

“I saw you pull him out of the car.”

“He must have tried to scramble back in. I don’t remember.”

Adam looked at him in horror. “But there was no argument? He never hit you?”

Danny felt his swollen cheek. “No. That was you. You hit me pretty hard, you know. It hurts like hell.”

“I was afraid you were going to kill him!”

Danny shook his head. “Don’t be stupid. I wasn’t going to kill him.” He shrugged. “I was pretty mad, though. I don’t think I’ve ever been that mad.”

Adam’s temples were throbbing. He cradled his forehead in his left hand. “Do you know how much trouble you’re going to get into if the police figure out you were lying?”

Danny’s voice was a high-pitched whine. “I panicked, Adam. What could I do? I had to say something, didn’t I? If they thought I was violent, do you think they’d even let me see my son after we split up? And my cheek was throbbing where you hit me. It was too perfect.” He shook his head.

“Tell them, Danny. Maybe it isn’t too late.”

Danny stood up and walked over to the sink. He stopped for a second before turning around to face Adam again. “It is too late. If they find out I lied about this, I’ll lose custody. I could go to jail.” He paused. “Look, you were right about the lawyer, Adam. I’ll call tomorrow, first thing. I already filled out a complaint against Calloway. Maybe that will give me some leverage. Maybe he’ll drop the charges. But we have to stick together. You have to help me.”

Adam cursed under his breath. He got up. “I can’t talk about this now, Danny. I’ve got to go. I have class in the morning. I need to get out of here.”

Danny took him by the shoulders. His eyes glistened with tears. “Please, Adam. For Henry. For Hank. I need you.”