The Fury - Jason Pinter [100]
A horde of young, urban professionals. Only the defi
nition had turned a one-eighty.
"How long had he been selling?" I asked.
Helen looked at the ceiling. Wiped her eyes again.
Clarence was staring at her as well, his eyes soft. I
wondered if he'd ever heard these stories.
"Screw this," Bernita suddenly announced. "I'm
getting a beer and watching Judge Judy. " Her pink
bathrobe turned with a flutter, and she left the room.
"She's a great cook," Helen said. "Made chicken a
l'orange last night."
"I have about ten pounds of leftovers in my fridge
at home," Clarence said with a laugh. "I know what
you're saying."
"How long?" I repeated.
"Almost ten years. He dropped out of CCNY after
290
Jason Pinter
his sophomore year. I worked about a hundred differ
ent jobs over the years, but even with that and the money
Stephen made, with his student loans, there was no way
we could ever really make ends meet. Not in this city.
That's actually where I met Beth. We were both secre
taries at a public-relations firm. They fired us both
within the month when we came to work high. So
Stephen dropped out. Partly because of the money,
partly to take care of me. He said the only experience
he needed was in the real world. And I was too stupid
to stop him. And besides, he was making more money
doing that than I ever did working real jobs. And none
of it was taxed."
"So he was working for ten years, making good
money, obviously moving up the ladder," I said. "Again,
why did he need the money?"
"We went through it fast," Helen said. "Stephen
started using more, and I was a mess. We never saved
much. One day, about a month ago, Stephen came home
from work. I remember him coming in the door with this
look on his face, and I just froze. He was so scared...oh
God, his eyes were wide and his face was pale and I
thought he might have overdosed. He collapsed on our
sofa and asked for a glass of water. When I brought it to
him, he just sat there with the glass in his hand. Not
drinking, just staring at the wall. Then my boy started to
cry."
"Why?" I asked. "What happened?"
"He didn't tell me," Helen said. "All he said was, 'We
need to leave. We need to get far, far away from this city.
When I asked him what the matter was, he just said,
'You're safer if you don't know. We'd both be safer if I
The Fury
291
didn't know either.' I looked into his eyes. They were
bloodshot. Not from drugs, but from crying. He'd never
spoken like that before in his life. I'd never seen him so
scared, so terrified. So I told him we'd find a way."
I said, "My father told me he found a notepad in your
apartment. It read 'Europe' and 'Mexico.' That's where
you were thinking of going. Right?"
Helen nodded. "We didn't know where to go. What
city or country. We wondered if Europe was too far, or
if Mexico was far enough. Stephen just wanted to go far,
far away. We barely had enough money to cover the
rent."
"And that's why you called my father," I said. "For
money to leave the country."
"It was a one-time thing," Helen said. "I figured after
all those years, after what he'd done to me and our
baby--that's right, our baby--the least he could do
was help us start a new life."
I couldn't really argue with that. My father owed
them far more than he could ever make up for.
"So you threatened to sue him," I said.
"I didn't know any other way. The old James Parker
I knew would rather burn his money than give it away."
"You couldn't say something a little more noble, like
you needed it for a kidney transplant or something?
Maybe that would have tugged at his heartstrings a little
more than the rehab story."
"I don't know how well you know your father,"
Helen said sardonically, "but he's not exactly the senti
mental type."
I couldn't argue with that either.
"So he came into the city to see you, then what?"
292
Jason Pinter
"How much did he tell you?" she asked.
"He told me you pulled a gun on him," I said. "Is
that true?"
Helen nodded. "Yes. But it was Stephen's