Sea Change

“Mr. Plum?”

“Yes. You haven’t seen him. He’s disconnected. You think maybe it’s Alzheimer’s or something, but he socializes. He plays tennis. He’s not suffering dementia that I can see.

Drinks a ton. They both do.”

“Mr. and Mrs.?”

“Yes.”

“You think she knows?”

“Yes.”

“But doesn’t know what to do?”

“That’s my guess,” Kelly Cruz said. “She said to me the other day that they had been gutted by wealth. Her phrase, gutted. ”

“Money doesn’t ruin people,” Jesse said. “They ruin themselves. Money just helps them to spread the ruination around.”

“I never had money,” Kelly Cruz said.

2 3 7

R O B E R T B . P A R K E R

“Me either, but I’ve seen it in action.”

The soundless energy of the open phone line lingered be -

tween them as they sat silently for a long moment.

“You stay on it,” Jesse said.

“I will,” Kelly Cruz said.

“I thought it couldn’t get worse,” Jesse said.

“And now it has,” Kelly Cruz said.

“Big time,” Jesse said.

2 3 8

50

Y our problem,” Dix said, “is you’re scared.”

“Of what?”

“Of the relationship. You were burned

pretty badly, and now you are leery.”

“Once burned,” Jesse said.

“What’s your biggest fear in the relationship?”

“I’ll fuck up again, and lose her again.”

Dix smiled.

“And if she fucks up?” he said.

Jesse frowned.

“Molly said almost the same thing,” Jesse said. “For free.”

“What did Molly say?”

R O B E R T B . P A R K E R

“She said maybe the breakup was Jenn’s fault.”

Dix nodded.

“Was it?” Dix said.

“I guess in any breakup there’s two people at fault.”

“That sounds good,” Dix said. “Do you believe it? Vis-cerally?”

“No. I‘m pretty sure I drove her away.”

Dix nodded and leaned his head back and looked up at the ceiling for a moment. Then he looked at Jesse.

“You are co-opting the responsibility,” Dix said. “Bad things happen. If it’s your fault, then you can hope to prevent it in the future by not making the same mistake again. But if it is her fault, wholly, or partly, then you can’t prevent it. You have to depend on her, wholly, or partly, to prevent it.”

Jesse didn’t say anything for a time. Dix waited. Jesse nodded to himself. Dix was right.

“It’s about control,” he said.

“You could think of it that way.”

“And trust.”

“If warranted,” Dix said.

“And the sexualization stuff?” Jesse said. “That would be part of the control thing?”