“I agree. It’s just that-”
“Ben, is that you?” Nathan asked angrily as he picked up the phone in the living room. “Where the hell have you been for the past three hours? Get your ass-”
“Don’t tell me what to do,” Ben shot back. “If you want to kick and scream, come meet me tomorrow. I told Eric where.” Ben hung up the phone.
Early Saturday morning, Ben sat up in bed, unable to sleep. In the second bed was Lisa, who was having no such trouble. He looked at his watch and saw that it was seven in the morning. After taking the longest shower of his life, he turned on the television with the sound off, hoping to be distracted by cartoons. Unimpressed, he shut off the TV and returned to his bed. For a full hour, Ben stared at the white stucco ceiling.
At nine o’clock, Ben took the phone into the bathroom. Sitting on the closed toilet, he called information and asked for the number of the Marshals Service. He dialed the number and asked for Director DeRosa.
After a moment, a woman answered the phone. “Director DeRosa’s office. Can I help you?”
“Is the director in today?” Ben asked in his most genial tone.
“I’m sorry, he’s not. Is it anything I can help you with?”
“You probably can,” Ben said, recognizing the voice of DeRosa’s receptionist. “My name’s Ben Addison. I’m the guy who hand-delivered that message from Justice Hollis a couple of weeks ago. I have another message I’m supposed to relay, and I was wondering if you knew how to contact Director DeRosa.” For effect, Ben paused for a second. “It’s an emergency.”
“Hold on a moment,” the receptionist said. “I can try to transfer you to his home number.”
Ben prayed that DeRosa would explain everything: that it was a clerical error, that everything was fine, and everyone was still in place.
“Mr. Addison?”
“I’m here,” Ben said.
“I’m sorry, but the director won’t take your call. I just spoke to him, and he said he doesn’t know what you’re talking about. He has no idea who you are.”
“He knows who I am,” Ben said. “You know who I am. I met you two weeks-”
“I’m sorry, Mr. Addison. I spoke to him personally, and that’s what he said.”
“What are you talking about? What’s your name?” Ben asked.
“Have a good day, Mr. Addison,” the receptionist said as she hung up.
As Ben put down the phone, reality set in. That’s it, he thought. I’m done. Staring down at the stark linoleum floor, Ben wondered exactly what his next move should be. His thoughts were interrupted when the bathroom door swung open. He looked up and saw Lisa, who had obviously been listening.
“What’d they say?” she asked.
“DeRosa’s gone,” Ben said, his voice shaking. “He’s denying he ever met me.”
“Then that’s it-it’s over,” Lisa said, leaning on the door frame. “Are you going to go to the press?”
“I don’t know about the press, but I have to tell someone.”
“You should tell Hollis.”
“Maybe,” Ben said as his mind worked through all the consequences. “I was thinking that I should also put my story in writing. That way, no matter what happens, it’ll all be documented.”
“I wouldn’t be so worried about the writing part,” Lisa said. “Before you face the world, you have to face your roommates.”
At seven-thirty that evening, Ben braved the late January chill and sat on one of the few concrete visitor benches surrounding the Jefferson Memorial. Unable to sit still, he repeatedly shifted his weight, searching for a comfortable position. As he stared blankly at the waterfront walkway leading to the Memorial, his eyes danced across the landscape-focusing on nothing in particular while looking at everything. Fifteen minutes later, he was checking his watch at thirty-second intervals, impatiently waiting for the arrival of his roommates. Slowly becoming convinced that they wouldn’t show, he looked up at Jefferson’s ebony silhouette and wondered why he’d let Lisa talk him into this.
“Why the hell did we have to come out here?” he suddenly heard from the western side of the monument. “It’s freezing.” As Eric and Nathan approached Ben, Eric stared at the giant bronze rendering of the country’s third president. “Let me say, meeting like this-late at night at one of the world’s most famous monuments-I feel like I’m in an overblown spy movie.”
“I’m so glad you’re amused,” Nathan said indignantly.
“Listen, I know you’re upset,” Ben said. “We’re all upset. It’s been a bad week. So let’s start over and-”
“No offense, but I’m not in the mood for touchy-feely right now,” Nathan said.
“Give him a chance, tight-ass,” Eric interrupted. “He called you down here to talk-the least you can do is listen.”
“I came here to find out one thing,” Nathan said, crossing his arms. “Are you going to turn yourself in?”
Ben ignored the question. “Where’s Ober?”
“He said he’d be late,” Eric explained. “He was on the phone with his mother when we were leaving.”
“I don’t know what you want me to do,” Ober said, struggling to fight back his tears.
“What kind of question is that?” Barbara Oberman asked. “I want you to get that job back.”
“Mom, I can’t get it back. They fired me. They didn’t like my work, and they fired me.”
“Don’t give me that. Go back and tell them you’ll change your ways. Tell them you’ll work for less money, and that you’ll double your hours. It doesn’t matter how you do it, but get that job back.”
“What’s so important about my old job?”
“What’s so important? Get this through your head, William: You need that job. It was the only place that ever promoted you. The only place that ever respected you. The only place that didn’t fire you within the first six months. You’ve spent over four years failing at everything else you’ve tried, and now you’ve turned this into a disaster as well.”
“I’ll find a new job,” Ober said. “Ben and Nathan said they’d help me look for one.”
“Forget Ben and Nathan. You’re always obsessed with Ben and Nathan. I don’t want to hear about them. For Ben and Nathan, finding a job is simple. Employers love them, their college professors loved them, the high school principal loved them, their kindergarten teachers loved them. For them, finding a job is simple. But you-you’re going to have a harder time.”
“But they said-”
“I don’t care what they said,” she interrupted. “They’re not you. What makes you think they’ll be so eager for a job search?”
“They’re my friends.”
“Big deal, they’re your friends. They don’t know what a job search entails. They’ve never lived in the real world. Looking for a job requires hours and hours of legwork. You remember how hard it was to find the position with Senator Stevens.”
“Yeah, but-”
“But nothing. You said it yourself a few months ago: The three of them are always at work-they don’t have the time to find you a job.”
“Yeah, but Ben helped me find this job. Maybe he can-”
“He can’t do anything for you,” she said. “You have to learn to do things for yourself. They may be your friends, but they’re certainly not your equals. When it comes to finding a job, like everything else in this world, you have to suck it up and do it yourself. Now hang up this phone and think about what I’ve said. I don’t want to hear from you again until you have that job back.”
“I asked you a question,” Nathan said, his breath lingering in the cold air. “Are you going to turn yourself in or not?”
“I’ll get to that,” Ben said. He pointed to the empty spaces on his bench. “How about taking a seat first?”
“I’m fine standing,” Nathan said as Eric sat down.