The Tenth Justice - Brad Meltzer [53]
“Absolutely,” Ober said, running his fingers through his blond hair. “You guys have to go to this barber. A guy in my office recommended him—he cuts all these senators’ hair. He once cut Jimmy Carter’s hair. Anyway, his name is Murray Simone, King of Hair.” Brushing his neck to remove some remnant clippings, he continued, “Naturally, I made up the ‘King of Hair’ part—his name’s just Murray Simone.”
“We get the idea,” Nathan said, immediately annoyed by the hair talk. “Finish the story.”
“So I go into the abode of Murray Simone, King of Hair, and I tell him that I like the top long and the sides short, and how I hate it when the top’s short. He surveys the terrain, and then he looks into the mirror and says to me, ‘What I’m gonna do for you is I’m gonna give you a short haircut, WITH ATTITUDE!’” Laughing at the mention of Murray’s words, Ober almost knocked himself over. “How funny is that? ‘I’m gonna give you a short haircut, WITH ATTITUDE.’” Touching his hair, he continued, “So what do you think? Did Murray Simone, King of Hair, give me attitude? I think so.” Looking at himself in the glass of a nearby picture frame, Ober said, “I have ATTITUDE!”
“Ober, maybe now’s not the time,” Nathan said, staring at Eric.
“Cheer up,” Ober said to Eric. “Your life’s only lasting another few hours—you might as well enjoy it.”
“Can you just shut up?” Eric asked, raising his voice.
“Don’t take it out on me,” Ober said, standing in the middle of the living room. “I didn’t dick over my friend.”
“Asshole,” Eric yelled, “why don’t you—”
“Ober, just shut up,” Nathan interrupted. “Both of you, relax.”
“Don’t forget what I said, though,” Ober said. “Murray Simone, King of Hair. And tell him I sent you.” When he heard a key in the front door, Ober leaped on the large blue couch and stared at Eric. “Round One. Ding. Ding.”
Ben stormed through the front door to find Ober, Nathan, and Eric on the couch. “So? What’s the explanation?” Ben said, crossing his arms.
“Ben, I know you’re mad,” Eric said. “Just let me explain.”
“Go right ahead,” Ben said. “That’s what I’m waiting for.”
“I can’t tell you if you’re pissed. You’re going to be mad at me no matter what I say.”
“Eric, even if I was in a good mood, I’m going to be mad.”
“I told you he’d made up his mind,” Eric said, turning to Nathan.
“Ben, just give him a chance,” Nathan pleaded.
“You have a chance,” Ben said, still staring down at Eric. “Just go. I’ve been waiting all day.” When Eric was silent, Ben added, “C’mon, tell me. I’ll keep an open mind.”
“Fine,” Eric said. “I just want you to know that when you told me about what happened with Rick and the Maxwell decision, I never thought about saying a word. I mean, we’ve been friends since third grade. I’d never turn you in or let anything damage our friendship. And I certainly wouldn’t write something that I thought would get you in trouble. But you have to understand the position I was in. I’ve been working at the Herald for almost five months, and I haven’t done anything but edit excerpts from the Congressional Record. The editors wanted to transfer me down to the Style section, and when the CMI thing happened, I couldn’t pass it up. I’m the low man on the totem pole, and I had to give them something. So I gave them that.”
“That’s it?” Ben asked when Eric paused. “That’s your reason? You might’ve gotten transferred to the Style section?” Ben’s voice boomed. “You tell me that there’s an explanation for your actions, and that’s what you come up with? Eric, you are a piece of shit!”
“My job was at stake.”
“So you risked my job to save yours?” Ben yelled. “You think that’s the answer to the problem?”
“You don’t get it. I wasn’t risking your job,” Eric said.
“Oh, no?” Ben asked in disbelief. “Don’t you realize what you—”
“You know there’s no way you’ll get caught,” Eric said. “They’ll never find Rick, and we won’t tell. You can’t get hurt by this.”
“Well then, today’s my lucky day,” Ben said. “Thanks, Eric! Since they’ll never find Rick, I’m off the hook. Do you have any idea why I was late getting