Page 43 of One Mistake

“Are you trying to blackmail me?”

I laughed. “Would it work? You don’t have two twenties to rub together.” His face went ashen, eyes black. “Relax. I’m kidding. It’s too late for me, but you…you have the keys to the castle still.” World at his feet. “If you can keep Beth quiet and figure out how to siphon some money, you’ll be able to walk away. Get out of that toxic environment.”

I’d never really seen a fight between them or heard an argument. Dad said they always waited until I went to bed or until I was out, but he’d reported some serious doozies.

He shrugged. “I don’t know how I would go about it.” But I didn’t buy it. He was the CFO at the law office. He had access to all the money, even though the reports went to Mom and the board. If anyone could figure it out, it was him. I was only surprised he hadn’t thought of it himself. His sigh was long and deep, pained. “I’ll stick it out.”

“What about her?” I nodded to Beth who was still shooting daggers at me. “You just screwing around?”

He swallowed hard and the resulting gulp reminded me of how I’d been with Reese. God, was that only a couple months ago?

“I think it could be something. She makes me feel young again.” I glanced at Beth once then back again. Stared at her arm for a couple of long seconds. I would’ve bet any money I had that she was wearing a Rolex. Mom’s maybe? Or had he managed to get enough money to buy his mistress jewelry while I was spending my days sweating my balls off behind a charbroiler and a flat grill?

“That’s great. Hey, Dad, did you give Beth one of Mom’s watches?”

His face went red, and he looked down. “No. I put one on my Amex. Told her it was for me.” He shuffled his head from one side to the other. “She doesn’t mind as much when I buy things for myself.”

With my new lifestyle, the money he’d spent on that watch would see me through for six months. I tried not to be bitter. It was his money. I hadn’t earned it. He did.

“Well, I hope you and Beth are very happy together.” I wanted to be the kind of son, the kind of person who was happy for him. Who meant it when I said I wanted him to be happy, but the resentment was hard to swallow. “I have to get back to work, Dad.” He nodded and smiled. “You take care, son. I’ll bring you some more money as soon as I can.”

I didn’t want him taking unnecessary chances helping me. I was figuring out how to live on what I made here and at the library. “No, Dad, it’s all right. I’ll be fine.”

He smiled and I hoped the light in his eyes was pride. “Love you, pal.”

I nodded and turned to walk into the kitchen. I watched him climb into his Lexus and a few minutes later, Beth left.

It took a week before Dad came back and asked me to sit with him. “How you doing, pal?”

He looked tired. Haggard. But smiling. It was nice to see him happy. “I’m good. You look good.”

Something about his smile was deeper than I’d seen before. If that meant he was enjoying life, I was glad for him. “Thanks. I’ve been working out. Taking walks with…taking walks.” He pushed an envelope across the table. “I need your help with something.”

He explained the plan. To take some money off the top of each of the accounts on the pages inside the envelope. To send it to two off-shore accounts, both already set up in my name so Mom wouldn’t suspect, and he would have deniability in case it went south, although I didn’t realize the reason then. “It’ll ruin your mother and we can be on a beach in Belize before she ever realizes how bad it is.” He laughed. “And since you have to make the transfer to me in person, you’ll get some stamps in your passport.”

I had plenty, but I could see the hundred-dollar bills sticking out behind the flap of the envelope. And it was a thick envelope, too.

Oh fuck. The temptation was real.

“I can’t, Dad.” I should’ve run straight to my mother and told her. It was the right thing to do, just like standing beside me was the right thing for her to do. Another block piled onto my pile of temptation.

“Sure, you can, pal. It’s us against her. It always has been. I just want to make sure we get what’s ours, right?”

Oh, fuck. When he put it like that… but no. I couldn’t. I wasn’t a thief. This was my new self telling my former self to get back in the box and stay there. I pushed the envelope to his side of the table. “I can’t do it, Dad.”

He nodded and slid the envelope inside the pocket of his blazer. “That’s disappointing.” I hated that word. His fingers tapped against the table. “I don’t understand your loyalty to her.” After a few moments of staring at me, he stood. “If you change your mind.” He dropped a hundred-dollar bill on the table. “There’ll be plenty more where that came from.”

And he walked out. It was a long time before I saw him again.

17

Reese

A rollercoaster week turned into a rollercoaster month. The house deal fell through. Which seemed like a sign. I walked into the bank, asked for a loan, and got one. Bought a house.

Then, because my life wasn’t complicated enough, I quit my job. By email. Then got another one. Same day.

Now, I was sitting in an office filling out paperwork for the new firm of Kennedy & Son, Attorneys at Law, as an investigator. A job that paid more than I’d ever been paid in my life.