I was sitting, having a beer, looking at the framed picture on my desk of Sheila and Kelly winter before last, bundled up against the cold, snow on their boots, wearing matching pink mitts. They were standing in front of an assortment of Christmas trees, the one on the far left the one we eventually chose to bring home and set up in the living room.
“They’re calling her Boozer,” I said. “Just thought you should know.” I held a hand up to the picture, warding off any imagined rebuttals. “I don’t want to hear it. I don’t want to hear a damn thing you have to say.”
I drew on the bottle. This was only my first. It was going to take a few more to get where I wanted to be.
It was lonely in the house without Kelly. I wondered if I’d be able to sleep when it came time to hit the sack. I usually found myself getting up around two, coming down to the living room and turning on the TV. I dreaded going upstairs, sleeping in that big bed by myself.
The phone rang. I snatched the receiver off its cradle. “Hello.”
“Hey, Glenny, how’s it going?” Doug Pinder, my second in command at Garber Contracting.
“Hey,” I said.
“What are you doin’?”
“Just having a beer,” I said. “I dropped Kelly off a little while ago at a sleepover. First night here without her, since.”
“Shit, you’re on your own?” Doug said excitedly. “We should do something. It’s Friday night. Get out, live a little.” Doug was the kind of guy who’d have told Mrs. Custer, within a week of her husband’s last stand, to get herself down to the saloon, hoist a few, let loose.
I glanced at the clock. Just after nine. “I don’t think so. I’m pretty beat.”
“Come on. Doesn’t have to be a going-out thing. I’m just sitting around here doing nothing. Betsy’s gone out, I got the place to myself, so get in your truck and mosey over. Maybe rent a movie or something on the way. And bring beer.”
“Where’s Betsy?”
“Who knows. I don’t question when good things happen.”
“I’m just not up to it, Doug, but thanks for the offer. I think I’m gonna finish this beer, have another, watch some television, and maybe go to bed.”
The thing was, I put off going to bed most every night. It was the place that, more than any other, reminded me of how different my life now was.
“Can’t mope around forever, my friend.”
“It hasn’t even been three weeks.”
“Oh, well, yeah, I guess that’s not very long. Look, no offense, Glenny. I know sometimes I come across as insensitive, but I don’t mean it.”
“It’s okay. Look, nice talking to you, and I’ll see you Monday morn-”
“Hang on just a sec. I should have brought this up at work today, but there wasn’t really a moment, you know?”
“What is it?”
“Okay, here’s the thing. I hate to ask, honest to God I do, but you remember, a month or so ago, I asked you for a bit of an advance?”
I sighed to myself. “I remember.”
“And I really appreciated it. Helped me over the hump. You’re a fucking lifesaver is what you are, Glenny.”
I waited.
“So, thing is, if you could find it in your heart to do that again, I’d be in your debt, man. I’m just going through a little rough patch at the moment. It’s not like I’m asking for a loan or a handout or something, just an advance.”
“How much?”
“Like, a month? Next four weeks’ pay now, and I swear, I won’t ask again.”
“What are you going to live on for a month after you pay off whatever it is you have to pay off?”
“Oh, don’t worry, I’ve got that under control.”
“You’re putting me in an awkward position, Doug.” I felt the hairs rising on the back of my neck. I loved this guy, but I wasn’t in the mood for any of his bullshit right now.
“Come on, man. Who pulled you out of that burning basement?”
“I know, Doug.” This was the card he most liked to play now.
“And really, this is the last time I’m gonna ask. After this, things’ll be totally cool.”
“That’s what you said last time.”
A self-deprecating chuckle. “Yeah, you’re probably right about that. But really, I’m just trying to sort out a few things, waiting for my luck to change. And I think that’s going to happen.”
“Doug, it’s not a matter of luck. You’ve got to face a few realities.”
“Hey, like, it’s not like I’m the only one, right? The whole country’s in the financial dumper. I mean, if it can happen to Wall Street, it can happen to anybody, you know what I’m-”
“Hang on,” I said, cutting him off. “It’s the other line.”
I hit the button. “Hello?”
“I want to come home,” Kelly said urgently, her voice nothing more than a whisper. “Come and get me now, Daddy. Please hurry.”
SIX
Belinda Morton had told George she had a house to show tonight. “You know, that listing I just got, that couple moving to Vermont?”
George was watching Judge Judy at the time and didn’t pay her any attention. All she needed was an excuse when she walked out the door, and when you were a real estate agent, you expected to have to head out at all hours. But just to be sure he wouldn’t ask questions, she waited until her husband’s favorite show was on. George loved Judge Judy. At first Belinda thought he was fascinated by all the various disputes-fights over unpaid rent, jilted lovers who keyed cars, girlfriends who wanted their men to pay back money they’d spent to bail them out-but she’d come to the conclusion it was the judge herself who kept George transfixed in front of the set. He had a thing for her. He was mesmerized by her stern nature, the way she dominated her court and everyone inside it.
Although, if George had been paying attention, he might have noticed that Belinda hadn’t actually been going out that much lately. The real estate market was in the toilet. No one was buying. And people who needed to sell- like the ones who’d lost their jobs and spent months without success trying to find new ones-were getting downright desperate. The hospital was closing beds, laying off nurses. The Board of Education was talking about laying off dozens of teachers. Dealerships shutting down. Even the police department was letting a couple of officers go due to budget cuts. Belinda never would have guessed she’d see the day when people would just walk away. Let the bank have it, we don’t give a shit, we’re out of here. Just packing up their things and leaving their homes behind. Some houses, you could hardly give them away. Down in Florida, they had condo developments almost entirely empty, buyers from Canada coming down, picking up a $250,000 vacation spot for $30,000.
It was a world gone mad.
And how great it would be, Belinda thought, if a collapsing real estate market were all she had to worry about these days.
A few weeks ago, falling house prices, hardly any buyers, and no fat commissions going into the bank account had her tossing and turning all night. But at least back then, all she was worried about was her financial future. Keeping a roof over their heads, making the lease payments on the Acura.
She wasn’t actually scared for her personal safety. She wasn’t worried that someone might hurt her.
Not like now.
Belinda still needed to find a way to come up with $37,000. But even that was just in the short term.
