‘I don’t know why I bothered to come down to see you at all,’ said Fletcher, ‘you so obviously don’t need me.’
‘Yes I do, Dad. Could I get an advance on next month’s allowance?’
Fletcher smiled and took out his wallet. ‘How much did your grandfather give you?’
‘Five dollars,’ said Lucy sheepishly. Fletcher extracted another five dollar bill. ‘Thanks, Dad. By the way, why isn’t Mom with you?’
Nat agreed to drive Luke back to school the following morning. The boy had been very uncommunicative the previous evening, almost as if he wanted to say something, but not while both of them were in the room.
‘Perhaps he’ll open up on the way back to school, when it’s only the two of you,’ suggested Su Ling.
Father and son set out on the journey back to Taft soon after breakfast, but Luke still said very little. Despite Nat’s trying to raise the subjects of work, the school play and even how Luke’s running was going, he received only monosyllabic replies. So Nat changed tactics and also remained silent, hoping that Luke would, in time, initiate a conversation.
His father was in the passing lane, driving just above the speed limit, when Luke asked, ‘When did you first fall in love, Dad?’ Nat nearly hit the car in front of him, but slowed down in time before drifting back into the middle lane.
‘I think the first girl I really took any serious interest in was called Rebecca. She was playing Oliva to my Sebastian in the school play.’ He paused. ‘Is it Juliet you’re having the problem with?’
‘Certainly not,’ said Luke, ‘she’s dumb — pretty, but dumb.’ This was followed by another long silence. ‘And how far did you and Rebecca go?’ he finally asked.
‘We kissed a little, if I remember,’ said Nat, ‘and there was a little of what we used to call in those days petting.’
‘Did you want to touch her breasts?’
‘Sure did, but she wouldn’t let me. I didn’t get that far until our freshman year at college.’
‘But did you love her, Dad?’
‘I thought I did, but that bombshell didn’t truly hit me until I ran into your mother.’
‘So was Mom the first person you made love to?’
‘No, there had been a couple of other girls before her, one in Vietnam, and another while I was at college.’
‘Did you get either of them pregnant?’
Nat moved across to the inside lane and fell well below the speed limit. He paused. ‘Have you got someone pregnant?’
‘I don’t know,’ said Luke, ‘and neither does Kathy, but when we were kissing behind the gym, I made a terrible mess all over her skirt.’
Fletcher spent another hour with his daughter before he drove back to Hartford. He enjoyed George’s company. Lucy had described him as the brightest kid in the class. ‘That’s why I chose him as my campaign manager,’ she explained.
Fletcher was back in Hartford an hour later, and when he walked into Harry’s hospital room the tableau hadn’t changed. He sat down next to Annie and took her hand.
‘Any improvement?’ he asked.
‘No, nothing,’ said Annie, ‘he hasn’t stirred since you left. How about Lucy?’
‘A complete fraud, as I told her. She’ll be in a plaster cast for around six weeks, which doesn’t seem to have cramped her style; in fact she seems convinced it will help her chances of becoming class president.’
‘Did you tell her about Grandpa?’
‘No, and I had to bluff a little when she asked where you were.’
‘Where was I?’
‘Chairing a meeting of the school board.’
Annie nodded. ‘True, just the wrong day.’
‘By the way, did you know she had a boyfriend?’ asked Fletcher.
‘Do you mean George?’
‘You’ve met George?’
‘Yes, but I wouldn’t have described him as a boyfriend,’ said Annie, ‘more a devoted slave.’
‘I thought Lincoln abolished slavery in 1863?’ said Fletcher.
Annie turned to face her husband, ‘Did it worry you?’ she asked.
‘Certainly not, Lucy’s got to have a boyfriend sooner or later.’
‘That’s not what I meant, and you know it.’
‘Annie, she’s only sixteen.’
‘I was younger when I first met you.’
‘Annie, have you forgotten that when we were at college we marched for civil rights, and I’m proud that we’ve passed that conviction on to our daughter.’
40
When Nat dropped his son off at Taft and returned to Hartford, he felt guilty about not having enough time to visit his parents. But he knew he couldn’t miss the meeting with Murray Goldblatz two days in a row. When he said goodbye to Luke, at least the boy no longer appeared shrouded in the world’s woes. Nat promised his son that he and his mother would be back on Friday evening for the school play. He was still thinking about Luke when the car phone rang — an innovation that had changed his life.
‘You were going to call before the market opened,’ said Joe. He paused. ‘With some possible news?’
‘I’m sorry not to have called, Joe; a domestic crisis came up and I simply forgot.’
‘Well, are you able to tell me more?’
‘Tell you more?’
‘Your last words were, “I’ll know more in twenty-four hours”.’
‘Before you burst out laughing, Joe, I’ll know more in twenty-four hours.’
‘I’ll wear that, but what are today’s instructions?’
‘The same as yesterday, I want you to go on buying Fairchild’s aggressively until the close of business.’
‘I hope you know what you’re doing, Nat, because the bills are going to start coming in next week. Everyone knows Fairchild’s can ride out this sort of storm, but are you absolutely certain you can?’
‘I can’t afford not to,’ said Nat, ‘so just keep on buying.’
‘Whatever you say, boss, I just hope you’ve got a parachute, because if you haven’t secured fifty per cent of Fairchild’s by Monday morning at ten o’clock it’s going to be a very bumpy landing.’
As Nat continued his journey back to Hartford, he realized that Joe was doing no more than stating the obvious. By this time next week he knew he could well be out of a job, and more important, have allowed Russell’s to be taken over by their biggest rival. Was Goldblatz already aware of this? Of course he was.
As Nat drove into the city, he decided not to return to his office, but to park a few blocks from St Joseph’s, grab a snack and consider all the alternatives Goldblatz might come up with. He ordered a bacon sandwich in the hope that it would put him in a fighting mood. He then began to write out a list of the pros and cons on the back of the menu.
At ten to three, he left the deli and started to make his way slowly towards the cathedral. Several people nodded or said ‘Good afternoon, Mr Cartwright’, as they passed, reminding him how well known he’d become recently. Their expressions were of admiration and respect, and he only wished he could advance the reel by one week to see how the faces would react then. He checked his watch — four minutes to three. He decided to circle the block and walk into the cathedral from the quieter south entrance. He climbed the steps in twos and entered the south transept a couple of minutes before the cathedral clock chimed the hour. Nothing would be gained by being late.
It took Nat a few moments to accustom himself to the darkness of the candle-lit cathedral after the strong light of the mid-afternoon sun. He looked down the centre aisle that led to the altar, dominated by a massive gilded cross studded with semi-precious stones. He transferred his attention to the rows and rows of dark oak pews that stretched out in front of him down the nave. They were indeed almost empty as Mr Goldblatz had predicted, save for four or five old ladies shrouded in black, one of them holding a rosary and chanting, ‘Hail Mary, full of Grace, the Lord is with you, blessed art thou...?’