“No luggage?”
“What is it with you guys and the luggage? Can’t someone just drop in for a visit?”
The clerk apprises me for a moment before returning to the paperwork in front of him. “It says your job is ‘international businessman.’ But you carry no briefcase?”
During happier times, maybe twenty hours ago, I’d written “international businessman” on my customs declaration card. A joke. “This was a social visit,” I say, glancing at the teenage soldier with a machine gun who stands nearby. He looks a lot less like a teddy bear than yesterday’s version. “I don’t mean to sound impatient, but my plane is leaving very soon.”
“Of course,” the clerk says. “I just make one phone call first. Make sure you’re not drug dealer.” His smile doesn’t reassure me. Why did I have to be such a smart-ass with the “international businessman” thing? What if they found the dope I flushed on the way over? Visions of strip searches and various tortures pass before my eyes. What if they make me take a lie-detector test, and ask me if I’m a drug dealer?
The clerk finally hangs up the phone and, after a pregnant pause, stamps my papers.
“I hope you enjoyed Korea.”
17
DURING THE STEWARDESS’S MARCEL Marceau–like demonstration of the plane’s emergency procedures, I cling to my seat with a white-knuckled grip that leaves indentations in the armrest. I’m almost positive that any minute Korean teenagers with automatic weapons are going to storm the plane calling my name. But once we’re in the air, I relax enough to close my eyes.
I sleep for eight hours. I don’t feel refreshed, exactly, but I’ll settle for
When my plan from the beginning was to steal another guy’s girl?
I remember, during one of my father’s state-mandated alcohol awareness programs, he was asked to make a list of the people he’d done wrong while under the influence. It’s time to get my own house in order. I ask one of the stewardesses for a pen and paper.
1. Mom. Gave me everything; rewarded her by fleeing the ranch as soon as I could. Deceived her about job, accepting gifts and admiration under false pretenses. She’s sick and dying in a hospital bed, a condition I exploited to chase a girl halfway around the world.
2. Tana. My best friend, my sister from another mother—so how could I have been so blind to her feelings? Answer: I’m a jackass.
3. Daphne. Sure, she’s crazy, but how much of that is my fault? Cheated on her and lied about it. Provoked arguments and fueled fires. Made her feel wrong, even when I knew I wasn’t right. I even stole her fantasy about the Chelsea Hotel and made it my own. Supposed to be helping her find her father; instead pursuing sex with supermodels.
4. K. Tried to sabotage her relationship for no other reason than my own libido. Took advantage of breakup and rebound.
5. Nate. See #4.
6. Herman. Lied about poetry.
7. Zach Shuman. Assistant manager at Hempstead Golf and Country Club. Still a prick. But I got him fired. Worse, I was happy to get him fired. What does that say about me?
8. The kid in my freshman hall whom I sprayed in the face with a fire extinguisher while tripping on mushrooms. Shouldn’t have done it. Damn: I don’t even remember his name.
I KEEP SCRIBBLING FOR SEVERAL pages, amazed at how many long-forgotten slights I’m able to dig up. The last one turns out to be the most shocking:
27. Dad.
DAD. THERE’S PROBABLY NOT A wrong in the world I don’t blame you for. Fine, you’re never going to win a “Father of the Year” award, but you put a roof over my head and paid for my education, gifts I’ve accepted with a big
When the plane lands at Kennedy, I call Billy—collect, given the loss of my wallet—to tell him I was stuck at the airport without money or means to get into the city.
“I’ll get someone to cover,” says Billy. “But you and the personal days, kid. It’s getting to be a real issue.”
“My bad. Extenuating circumstances.”
“Spare me the ten-dollar words. I’ll be straight with you. You’ve brought in a lot of extra business these last few weeks. Don’t think he hasn’t noticed.” Billy’s referring to the half-dozen characters I’d created to service Danny Carr’s smoking needs, characters now facing retirement. “You’ve earned a little goodwill. But goodwill is a checking account. And you’re coming close to being overdrawn.”
“Understood, Billy.”
“Good. Now hurry the fuck up.”
“There isn’t anybody who could give me a ride, is there?” Billy hangs up the phone.
I think about calling Tana, but I haven’t spoken to her since our dinner. There’s only one real option. After some confusion with a receptionist unfamiliar with receiving collect calls, I’m connected to my father.
“Hey, it’s me,” I say. “I need a ride.”
“Are you okay? Where are you?” He almost sounds concerned.
“The airport.”
“What are you doing at the airport?”
“I’d rather not say.”
A few seconds pass in silence. “You know I just got into work.”
“What an amazing coincidence. I just dialed these digits, completely at random, and found you at the office. Come on, Dad. I wouldn’t be calling you unless it was my option of last resort. Which it is.”
“Kennedy or La Guardia?”
“Kennedy. International Terminal. And not to sound ungrateful, but if you could find it in your heart to repay me that hundred you ‘borrowed’ from me, this would be a good time.”
He arrives an hour later. I climb into the passenger seat.
“You okay?” he asks.
“I’m fine. Let’s go.”
Dad stops staring at me long enough to look into his side mirror. He pulls away from the curb. “Is this drugs? Are you into drugs?”
“I’m not on drugs.”
“Good.” He punches the dashboard lighter and pulls his cigarettes out of his pocket. “You want one?”
“Yes please.” I’d smoked my last Camel somewhere over the Pacific Ocean. My father hands me the pack and, when the lighter clicks, gestures for me to light mine first.
“It’s actually about a woman,” I say.
“I’m sorry to hear that.”
“That I’m into women?”
“That you’re shaping up to be as big a dope as I am.”
“Don’t sell yourself short,” I say with a smile. “You’ve left me with big shoes to fill.”
