Chapter 4: The Happy Prince

Later that evening we retired to the family room. I cannot tell if everything in Texas is bigger, as the locals claim, but I can testify that the bugs that come out as the sun sets are bigger and more belligerent than any others I have encountered. Caro and Maria were sitting close together on the couch while Phil was on his recliner chair.

I was sitting apart in a comfortable armchair feeling uneasy. My call to my daughter Penny had been difficult but easier than I expected; the problem was that Maria was not there to listen to my account of the conversation after I had ended the call. Phil had driven her and Caro to the supermarket to buy all the things needed to make the nanny cottage into a home. It was, of course, a perfectly reasonable thing to do and I could have no complaints.

My call to Mark started worse than I had feared. He aggressively blamed me for all our family ills. I tried to explain, and he finally began to actually listen to what I had tried to do for him and his sister in the four years since Dan appeared over our horizon. In the end, we were reconciled to the point where I had promised to research the possibility of him attending university in America with the intention of playing soccer.

By the time I completed that call, Maria was helping Caro in the kitchen, and I was chased out onto the patio where Phil was barbequing steaks. We ate out on the deck before the bugs drove us indoors. Nothing was said about my telephone conversations with my children. Phil and I had beers while he cooked but he switched to wine after dinner when I refused more alcohol. I felt the need to keep a clear head.

Now I was nursing a coffee while the other three were well into their third bottle of wine. I remember thinking as we drove towards El Paso this morning that I wanted Philip and Caroline to approve of Maria; now, just ten hours later I found myself resenting the fact that they appeared to like her too much. For her part, she seemed to have forgotten my existence. She knew that I was tense about calling my kids and yet she was giving me no opportunity for a private discussion.

“Another dead soldier,” Caro announced, waving the empty wine bottle. Philip rose and went to the kitchen, returning in a couple of minutes with a fresh bottle. He filled the three glasses but then sat on the couch with the women rather than returning to his recliner. Now Maria was sitting between my two friends, close enough that their thighs and shoulders were touching. As usual, I chose flight.

“I promised I’d call Penny at midnight after she had talked to Mark about their errant father.”

Phil agreed that seven o’clock Mountain Standard Time would be midnight in Reading, so I was permitted to leave. Instead of returning to the study, I made my way out of the back door, across the garden and let myself into the nanny cottage. There was a light blinking on the washer, so I moved the clothes to the drier before I settled at the kitchen table to call Penny.

She was much happier with me. Mark was delighted with the prospect of attending university in America and she wondered if there were post graduate courses she might consider. I asked her and Mark to come to El Paso for a month as soon as school closed for the summer when we could discuss their future in greater depth. She thought that was a wonderful idea, ending the call shortly afterwards to ring Mark with the news.

I sat with a glass of water while I pondered on the wisdom of committing myself to spending the summer in Texas. I acknowledged that the old Andrew was resurfacing. I have been letting unimportant decisions pass without argument, just as I did with Susan. When I explained to Maria that it was a mistake to believe that I would yield on questions that mattered, I believed that she understood me. Since we arrived here, she has been accepting everything suggested by Caroline and Philip, without even inviting my comments.

Of course, I had given her the lead in acquiescing to their demands. I had followed Philip to this outpost, accepted the position he offered me – he even provided my business cards and the mobile phone I had just used to call my daughter. At no time has he discussed the details of his new factory with me, nor has he given me the details of the tasks he requires me to perform. I am expected to trust him to care for my interests.

For twenty years I endured that kind of existence in England before I finally found the resolve to quit. Old, reliable Andrew had endured disparagement and mockery out of some sense of obligation. Even Susan choosing to step outside her marriage vows did not bring me to my senses. Then, when I did break away, I discovered that it was not only simple but immensely enjoyable. My very first venture brought me Maria, who has been a wonderful companion those last few days.

The three of them had virtually ignored me all evening. Perhaps I should continue to roll the dice. My first attempt at flight has been entertaining. A second escape might be even more fun since I have learned such a lot since I drank coffee at Maria’s bar less than a week ago. I had driven about three hundred miles since I woke that morning, and made three tense telephone calls, so I decided to leave my final choice until morning.

The master bedroom in the cottage had a king-sized bed. In a fit of pique, I spurned it as Maria had spurned me, opting for one of the pair of single beds in the second bedroom. After all, I mused as I slipped into sleep, Maria’s performance in the three nights of sex was more professional than loving.

When I woke, the other single bed showed no sign of use. I showered and dressed in freshly laundered underwear although I wore the least used of my jeans. The door to the main bedroom was firmly closed, so I crept out, snagging the car keys from a table beside the door and drove off to find a coffee shop.

Philip’s mansion is northwest of central El Paso, so I headed south stumbling on Kern Place. It was early but the few people who were about looked like students and the coffee shop I chose had the unmistakable air of a student hang-out. I had a bagel while I thought about the events of the previous day. There was something about the way Maria responded to Philip putting his hand on her knee that triggered a memory. I felt a hand on my back, urging me along a path that I might not wish to follow, and I was beginning to suspect that my attention was being diverted.

Of my own will, I had quit my job and my family to lead a new, free existence. I was a musician invited to improvise with a respected group of my peers; I now suspected that the rest of the players had been provided with a score. I had seduced myself into believing that everyone else abandoned their schemes and machinations when I did. My willingness to give ground on unimportant matters had led someone to believe I could be manipulated.

I pulled out the little book in which I had recorded my telephone numbers before I left my old mobile phone in the sock drawer of my former home in Reading. I had started to enter the number I wanted, when I felt a cold shiver up my spine. If I was being steered, then Philip had to know about it; he had given me the new phone with no restrictions on its use. There were all sorts of apps that could be loaded: at the very least he would have fitted GPS navigation and perhaps even a recorder. Of course, such devices will drain the battery, but I have no way of judging the normal life on an unfamiliar instrument.

My rational mind told me I was being paranoid, but my churning stomach drove me back to the car where I locked my new phone in the boot. As Jerome my solicitor often says: ‘Just because you’re paranoid it doesn’t mean that no one’s following you with evil intent.’ Or as President Regan said, ‘Trust but verify.’ I considered buying dressier slacks and a dress shirt but several of the older people walking past were in shorts and t-shirts as I was.

“Can I help you?” I was still standing beside the car, wondering how to find my way to the man I planned to speak with, when a young man stopped to offer his help. He proved to be a graduate student in the school of engineering and not only knew Eric Ericson, but led me straight to his office. Eric and I had exchanged ideas a couple of years before; I was relieved to find that he remembered me, welcoming me with open arms. “Meet one of the great innovative engineers, Raul,” he told my astonished guide.

Eric had a lecture to give at nine, so he introduced me to the Dean of Engineering. Chatting about my subject was like an elixir. My troubles receded while we argued happily about the best way to cross an engineering ‘T’. Not that I neglected all my responsibilities. By the time we had lunched in the faculty dining room, I was assured that there would be a place for Mark in the University of Texas at El Paso, if he wanted it. The Dean even called Annie Fernandez, the coach of the women’s soccer team, to join us for coffee.

“Our women’s team is division one and we want to introduce men’s soccer,” she told me. “There won’t be any scholarships for a while – money is really tight after Covid.” It was the Dean who suggested that Mark move to Texas to complete the last two years of high school education. He would be able to take some classes at the university while still at school, building credits.

Annie became widely enthusiastic. “Coach Reilly at Franklin School is building a soccer squad. If you’ve got time now, I’ll take you to see him. It sounds like Mark is just the guy we need.” I pointed out that his mother would have to agree to such a drastic change in our plans for his life. Annie seemed to take a little more interest in me when she discovered my marriage was on the rocks, informing me that she had been divorced for a couple of years and was looking for Mr. Right.

It was almost two when she dropped me off at the café where I had left the car. She was still urging me to follow her to the school to meet Coach Reilly when the café door opened revealing Maria and Caroline scowling at us in the parking lot. Maria ran across, threw her arms around my neck while whispering that Phil and Caro were furious with me. Annie quickly handed me a scrap of paper and departed, promising to arrange my meeting with the coach.

“Philip set up a lot of meetings for you, Andrew. What the Hell were you thinking going off like that without even taking your phone,” Caroline growled, making no effort to hide her disgust at my behavior. “Perhaps he should have asked me before he set up the meetings. He should know me well enough not to presume on my easy-going nature.”

“We had every right to assume that you would be at our disposal today,” she blustered. “It really was incredible childish of you to go off in a sulk last night and disappear this morning. What on earth have you been doing and who was that woman who dropped you off?”

“Maria told me yesterday that I had let down my kids. She said that I had to sort things with them if I wanted to continue seeing her. Annie is the coach of the university women’s soccer team, and she was taking me to see a school soccer coach about Mark’s future.”

“Well, that’s water under the bridge,” Caroline conceded. “Now we have to go downtown to meet the people Phil has lined up.”

“You’ll have to count me out. I need to talk alone with Maria about my children before I can give Philip the attention he deserves. You go and sweet talk him and we’ll be back in time to take the pair of you out to dinner.”

“I would have thought you owed us something after all Phil and I have done for you over the years. I suppose it’s important for the prima donna to have your mind clear.” Caroline was backtracking. “Let’s get coffee. I don’t suppose another few minutes wasted is the end of the world.”

“Not you Caro. This is between Maria and me. You get into your car and go make things right with your hubby.” Her expression combined bafflement with anger. She could hardly claim that the welfare of my children was less important than meeting some businessmen. “Don’t fence me in, as the old song says. I have an urge to hear the whisper of the cottonwood trees. Lock your purse in the trunk, Maria and let’s jog!”

We watched Caroline get into her car, her phone already at her ear. I think Maria had given up trying to understand what had been happening since we arrived in El Paso. “How did you find me?” She gave me a thoughtful glance. “All the company phones have an app that shows where everyone is even when it’s switched off.” We jogged on in silence towards a stand of trees shading a grassy knoll. “When did Phil start pawing you?” I next asked. Maria took longer to answer.

“Almost from the moment we met in the kitchen. I thought they were just a touchy-feely couple.” She was silent until I sat on the grass under the trees, inviting her to join me. “They’re your friends, Andreas. You told me that Phil made sure you kept the rights to your inventions. I admit it looks like Uncle Miguel again, but you can’t think Caro would con you?”

“Not a con exactly,” I mused. “But they are pushing me very hard, and I don’t know why.”

“Do you think I’m part of it? Is that why you slept in the single bed?”

“I must admit that I doubted you for a time. I have trust issues, as you know. My wife betrayed me; and my best friends have done something that looks a lot like betrayal. When I got off the phone to Penny, I wanted to get your slant on what she and I discussed, but you were not there.”

“I could hardly refuse to go with them, could I? Anyway, we can talk about your kids now.” I grinned at her. “Let’s save that discussion until we’re reunited with our phones.” Her eyebrows rose: Maria may not have a college degree, but her mind is very sharp. “C’mon Andreas! We are talking about a piddling little factory, not James Bond or the CIA, for God’s sake!”

“If they bother to fit a location app why not fit one that records our conversation?” I told her that I had not arrived in the United States totally unprepared. The maquiladoras, the assembly plants using unskilled labor, have proved to be socially divisive. The latest thinking is that new factories should be medium or high technology, paying rates well above minimum wage. People working there demand better conditions, bringing in medical specialists and teachers, even lawyers. A skilled working class generates a middle class and a sustainable society.

Most of the start-ups are based around computer technology since the initial outlay is often no more than the price of a decent laptop in your own bedroom. The university works with local businesses and politicians on both sides of the border to provide opportunities. What Philip is offering is a different proposition: the machines he needs to develop engineering solutions are costly, requiring substantial capital investment. “I’m here because the idea is sound, but there are concerns I intended to research after I arrived. Phil is rushing me before I have a chance to articulate my worries.”

“I’m an ex-hooker employed to serve drinks to customers in the casino, Andreas. This stuff is way above my pay grade.”

“You have a lot of experience in dealing with dirty tricks. Just because Phil and your uncle wear suits doesn’t change the way they think. I trust your opinion. You are always worth listening to. I would feel easier in my mind if I knew why you were staying with me, but I’m learning to live with uncertainty.” I tried to laugh, but it sounded false. Maria hugged me, pulling my head round to kiss me on the lips.

“We’d better get back. Talk about the kids and your life in Las Vegas when we’re close to the phone.”

“I have a new company phone,” Maria admitted. “Phil is pressing me to become his personal assistant – I have application forms in my purse.” She nodded when I asked her to delay her answer for a few days. “Now tell me about that predator Annie,” she added as we started back towards the car. “I leave you alone for five minutes and another woman gets her claws into you.”

We were talking about Mark’s opportunities when we came within reach of the phones. Anyone listening would hear a conscientious father being advised by a caring friend. I thought there was very little chance of Susan agreeing to let her sixteen-year-old son fly several thousand miles to complete his education in an alien system. My best argument was that it would ease the transition to university. It was now approaching seven o’clock in Reading, so we sat outside the café with fresh coffees while I brought my son up to date on developments.

He was enthusiastic about completing his school career in El Paso and tremendously impressed that I had secured him a promise of a place in UTEP. He had discovered that their engineering school was ranked above Harvard. He gasped when I casually admitted that I was a friend of Professor Ericson. He thought his Mum would be glad to see the back of him. He admitted to earning suspensions from class recently as he defended my honor. Penny had already told me that Mark’s comments which triggered my flight were his attempt to make me stand up for my family. Clearly my son and I had allowed a gulf to separate us, but we were well on the way to being best friends when we ended the call.

Maria and I had a disagreement about when I should broach the subject with Susan. I wanted to call her immediately, but I finally accepted that I should allow time for my wife to adapt to my desertion before I introduced the seismic shift in Mark’s life. “She’s had four years believing that you were a willing cuckold. By running off to Las Vegas you have upset whatever plan she had. In her opinion, you are the one destroying a marriage that satisfied her needs. If she had wanted Dan as a husband, she would have divorced you years ago.”

We went into town where I opened a bank account, finally emptying the money belt around my waist. I bought a small mobile phone to take the place of the banknotes so that I can contact Eric without alerting Philip. Our final stop was to buy clothing suitable for jogging. We had agreed that running together every day would allow us to talk without the risk of being overheard. It was no hardship to see Maria model a sports bra and shorts that looked as if they had been painted on.

Philip was less than congenial when he got home, offering a tepid apology for presuming that I would accept his plans. He made sure that I was fully aware of the inconvenience I had caused to some important people. “You have some fences to mend,” he pontificated. “You can start tonight: I’ve invited Rodrigo, the factory manager, and his wife for dinner.”

Caroline arrived about half an hour later with the meal ready prepared by one of the best restaurants in town. Rodrigo was plain spoken; his wife, another Maria, struggled to deal with my Maria’s scarred face; she could neither look at it nor look away. The conversation during the early part of the meal was about life in El Paso. Rodrigo was shocked at the suggestion that he would live in Juarez.

“Maria’s brother is our nightwatchman. He lives on the premises. Of course, he doesn’t have a wife.”

That led to talk of progress towards starting production. The unit is being prepared at present by unskilled labor earning minimum wage. In less than two weeks, the main machines will be delivered to be installed by the suppliers. It is those installation engineers who will train the graduates who will actually man the equipment. There was a good deal of detail on the benefits package that would be offered. There were only two topics that caused some hesitation.

Maria wondered why the office was in El Paso when the manufacturing base was across the border in Juarez. Rodrigo and Philip looked at each other but it was the manager’s wife who answered the question. “Several years ago, almost three hundred young women were murdered in Juarez and another four hundred were reported missing. Things are better now, but no respectable woman would go to the Ciudad unaccompanied.”

“Juarez used to be the murder capital of the world,” Rodrigo amplified. “Things are better now since they threw out almost a thousand corrupt policemen. Nearly quarter of a million people fled the violence, choosing poverty in other parts of Mexico over prosperity in Juarez.”

Caroline adroitly changed the subject to things to do in and around El Paso and it was not until we were sitting over coffee and brandy that I raised a subject that had been troubling me. “Murder is often associated with crimes against property. Is there any risk to the expensive machinery you will be placing in the factory?” I caught a troubled glance between Philip and his factory manager. “Our machines are cemented in and would need a crane to move them,” Philip chuckled. “And there’s not a big market for second-hand leviathans,” Rodrigo added, rising to his feet before turning to his wife and telling her it was time to leave.

It was not theft that I had in mind when I raised the subject. A couple of men with sledgehammers could cost Philip thousands. It would be much more effective to pay for the protection of his assets. Perhaps I was reading too much into the glance exchanged between the two men. After the guests left, Caro and Maria insisted that they would clear the dining room, sending Phil and me to the family room.

He took his recliner, waving me into the seat I had occupied the previous evening. He had brought his glass of wine, but I had left mine, half drunk, on the table. I was still uneasy, and I resolved to avoid the befuddling effects of alcohol. When the girls came in carrying their glasses, they sat together on the couch. Phil was on his feet in an instant, returning from the kitchen with a fresh bottle of wine. He put his own glass on the table, making it clear that he was planning to sit beside Maria again.

She put her hand over her glass preventing him adding more wine, and then she rose, crossing the floor to my chair to sit on my lap. “I’m really tired tonight and I foolishly agreed to go jogging with Andreas early tomorrow morning. I’m off to bed.” She gave me an enthusiastic kiss. “Don’t stay up too late, Honey.” When did she start calling me ‘honey’? Phil looked annoyed at this by-play, but Caro was trying hard not to laugh.

That night in bed, we talked about when I should call Susan. It was not until six o’clock the following morning as we trotted sedately through the neighborhood, that we talked about the conversation over dinner. We agreed to look at Juarez from the American side of the Rio Grande. I assured her that I did not have to operate or even see a machine to solve engineering problems. What I do need is access to a skilled machinist who can make special pieces to my specifications. In Reading, I had stood beside my preferred operator, but I was sure I could adjust to daily briefings instead.

Maria was struggling even at the gentle pace I set for our jog, and I was feeling some effects, if I am to be totally honest. The result was that there was very little said during the latter half of our excursion. We showered together when we returned to the cottage but then Maria went back to bed and was fast asleep when I took her coffee and bagels.

When I joined EI (Engineering International) straight from university, I had no real idea of who I was. Philip was the first to recognize that my brain naturally sought solutions outside the accepted boundaries. Faced with a problem, I could let my mind roam, often finding a connection that led to a new solution. I say often, but in twenty-five years I have produced just eight patents, two of them obsolete. I am no Archimedes, but I have edged the frontiers of engineering a little bit further forward. Like most gifts, mine has two sides.

Faced with a problem, most people apply logic and check the precedents; my thought process, on the other hand, becomes chaotic with weird notions pushing out conventional wisdom. Aware of the dangers of that way of thinking, I make a determined effort to plan my life in almost obsessive detail. That works until I face a new problem and my mind spirals out of control. Hearing my son defer to my wife’s lover, removed the last vestige of planning.

My whole trip to Las Vegas and all that has happened since is a manifestation of my current chaotic state. As usual, I talk less since I can never be sure what I will say. Friends and enemies alike find my innovative spells particularly annoying. Philip discovered that the best way to help me recover was to stop me figuratively bumping into things while my brain churned. Since my inventions were freely available to EI, he became even richer. He paid me well, but he paid himself even better.

Sometimes my obsession makes me look like the traditional absent-minded professor. When I went into Phil’s mansion, leaving Maria sleeping off the effects of our jog, I was surprised to see my host in shorts and flip-flops. It took me a moment to assemble the evidence that today was Saturday. Once that fact was established, I had a cascade of thoughts. I was due to return to my former home the day before; my wife did not know that I had no intention of returning; I suspected Phil was up to his tricks again; and I wanted to keep Maria beside me.

I had already set some things in motion, and I would have to wait until they developed. My suspicions of Philip were based more on our history than on evidence, so I would have to tread carefully until I knew more. Maria was the biggest unknown: I was disappointed to find that I harbored unworthy judgements of her life before we met. The one thing I could do was to telephone Susan.

After greeting Caro and Phil, I took my company phone to his office and braced myself for the angry denunciation I expected. I know she had started the destruction of our marriage by having an affair with her boss – how cliched – but I had surrendered the moral high ground when I sneaked off to sin city like a naughty schoolboy. It would be two in the afternoon in Reading, and I hoped that she would be with Dan as she usually was after lunch with the family on Saturday morning. She answered after the third ring: “Is that you, Andrew?” Her voice sounded as if she had been crying and her tone was tentative. I assumed that Penny had passed on my new telephone number.

“I’ve been a prat, Susan,” I began, immediately feeling sorry for her distress. “I’m an asshole as my American friends would say.” She sobbed. “Why did you leave.” “I never wanted you to go.” “I thought you were all right with my friendship with Dan.” “Penny says you’re not coming back.” Each sentence was punctuated by sobs and sighs. I explained about trying to keep the family together until Mark rejected my advice on his ‘A’ level choices. I tried hard to keep any hint of accusation out of my words or tone which probably made much of what I said incomprehensible.

My rambling explanation seemed to calm Susan. “Dan and I had a big argument last night. Mark has been getting into a lot of trouble at school and I finally saw that Dan was being particularly harsh with him. He’s been getting detentions for fighting with some of the boys who call you a wimp. We didn’t want you to know.” It was Penny who told me that my son was defending my honor. With no possible excuse, all I could do was report that I had secured a place for him at the university in El Paso.

Mark had already reported that news, making no effort to conceal his delight. Susan accused me of having planned the move long in advance and she was only half convinced when I told her that Professor Ericson was an old acquaintance who had really taken pains to make me welcome. I mentioned Annie and the school coach, daring to introduce the idea of Mark completing his schooling in El Paso. Susan began sobbing again.

“He really wants to do that. He’s so excited, but I don’t know what I’ll do without him.” I mentioned that she would still have Penny, which brought on a major burst of weeping. “She’s found an MBA program somewhere she says is near you – is there a place called The Cross?” Las Cruces is a university town in New Mexico about fifty miles from El Paso. “At least you’ll have more time for Dan,” was the best I could offer.

“This isn’t about Dan.” Susan was beginning to show the anger that I had expected from the start. “It never really was an affair, I just needed someone at my intellectual level to talk to.” I could feel my own temper rising: “Are you saying that you didn’t share his bed on all those weekend conferences you went on?” There was a minute or two of silence. “Making love was just a bonus. What we shared was a connection much deeper than physical love.” It seems that my wife’s intelligence is as deficient as her fidelity. I needed to end this call before I said something that would make life more difficult for the kids.

“I’ve invited the children to visit as soon as school finishes. Will you be able to get them to Heathrow or should I arrange for a limo?”

“They’re really looking forward to the visit. I envy them. And don’t worry I’ll be on the viewing deck waving my hanky as they jet off. You know, I never meant Dan to come between us, Andrew, I still care for you.” I could think of nothing to reply to that unlikely remark, so I ended the call.

By the time I emerged from Phil’s study, the other three were preparing brunch which we ate on the deck in the sunshine. Not such an unusual occurrence in El Paso where they have more than three hundred sunny days in the year. I was still adjusting to the difference between my new home and Reading. Despite the unresolved problems filling my mind there was a feeling of release – I had escaped from Reading goal. My next problem was with Maria, and I had an idea for handling that.