Chapter 23

Friday, June 4, 2010

Jake arrived at the bank ten minutes early. He used that time to deposit the second check from Mr. Finch and withdraw three hundred dollars. He was sitting in the lobby when Mr. DeRizzo finally appeared, ten minutes late.

“We can get a good lunch at Guero’s. It’s just down the street.”

Guero’s proved to be a Mexican restaurant a block away. They were seated promptly.

While waiting for Mr. DeRizzo to show up, Jake had decided the best approach would be to take the path of least resistance. There was no reason for dramatics. Jake would take control of Mr. DeRizzo, tell him his wife’s wishes, and then excuse himself.

They both ordered lunch. Mr. DeRizzo also ordered a margarita. He began to snack on the chips and salsa that had been placed on the table.

“Tell me something, Jake. How does a young man still in junior high come to my bank, open an account, and deposit a check for fifteen-thousand dollars drawn on Rod Finch’s account.”

“I’m not really free to talk about it, Mr. DeRizzo.”

“I’m not giving you a choice, young man.”

“Was I mistaken in expecting my financial transactions to be a private matter, and that I wouldn’t have to account for them to my banker?”

“Don’t be a smart-ass with me, boy.”

“If my grandfather had deposited that check, would you have asked him that question?”

“Your grandfather is not courting my daughter.”

“That makes your conduct worse, not better. That you would use your position as an officer of the bank to snoop through the affairs of your customers for your own purposes seems to me to be a violation of trust. Would the senior management of the bank be pleased to hear about this?”

“Don’t threaten me. I want to know why Finch gave you a big pile of cash.”

“If I told you why then I would be responsible for your having apoplexy, as my grandmother would say. I think it would be better if I kept this to myself.”

“Apoplexy be damned. You can’t be serious about wanting to see my daughter if you treat me with this kind of insubordination.”

A waiter delivered their lunch entrées and promptly disappeared, his discomfort obvious. If this jackass wants to turn this into a test of wills, Jake thought, I’ll be glad to show him my A-game.

“Mr. DeRizzo, honestly, I can’t discuss the Rod Finch matter. But maybe I can tell you something almost as certain to make your brain hemorrhage.”

“What are you talking about?”

“I can tell you something that will drive you livid with rage. Would you consider us square if I told you the other thing instead? It involves your family. It’s really very juicy.”

The knuckles of the hand holding DeRizzos’ glass turned white with the force of his grip.

“If you have something to say, say it.”

Jake took a bite of his lunch, a spinach burrito that was really quite good. The waiter reluctantly returned to the table and refilled their water glasses. Jake stopped him before he could get away. He looked at his name tag.

“Greg, there is a very real possibility of violence here in the next few minutes. Would you tell your manager and ask him to be ready to call the police?”

“What are you up to, boy,” DeRizzo said.

“On second thought, you might hang around for a minute, Greg. This is going to be entertaining.” Jake turned to DeRizzo. “Here’s the story, sir. It started yesterday morning. I skipped my first-period class at school to go to your house and talk to your wife. I thought she might be able to give me some advice. I told her how I had just had sex with your daughter.”

Jake glanced aside at Greg. “That’s his youngest daughter, Julie, the thirteen-year-old.”

He turned back to DeRizzo. “The problem is that the sex was disappointing. Julie had come on like a slut, pushing me to fuck her. I was okay with that, but I wanted to make it a mutually satisfying and loving experience. To my disappointment, she acted like a whore. She pushed me down, jumped on me, jammed my penis into her cunt, and began pumping away. It was no more loving than masturbation. I’m sure you can see why I was distressed and wanted the benefit of your wife’s counsel.”

DeRizzo’s temper had been getting hotter since Jake had said that he had had sex with Julie. There were distinct escalations with each crude word Jake used.

Jake looked over at Greg who was looking on in fascinated horror. Jake winked at him in full view of Mr. DeRizzo.

“Fielding, you have just earned yourself an ass whipping. Are you finished?”

“Greg, you heard the threat, didn’t you?” Jake took another bite of his burrito and then turned back to DeRizzo with a smile. “No, I’m not done, Mr. DeRizzo. That was the tame part. I think you will find that it gets much better.

“So where was I? Oh, yes. I went to talk to Leanne about Julie’s slutty behavior. Your wife told me that your drinking and tyrannical nature had created an atmosphere of fear in your house and that Julie’s lack of emotional development was one of the results. We talked more about the state of your domestic affairs and I learned that Mrs. DeRizzo was lonely and unhappy and desperate for decent, human companionship.

“You can also imagine my surprise to learn that it had been a year since drink had rendered you impotent. Seeing that she was desperate for physical intimacy, I offered myself to her. I know that I’m just a boy, but I can get it up. She accepted. She was as fiery in bed as your daughter was disappointing.”

“You’re a goddamned liar,” DeRizzo yelled and slammed his drink glass to the table. Glass shards sprayed about. The drink spilled across the table, some of it dripping into DeRizzo’s lap. Jake implanted the suggestion that getting up from his seat would cause DeRizzo unthinkable pain.

“It’s the God’s honest truth, Mr. DeRizzo. She asked me not to impregnate her because she fears your temper, so I used a condom. I have to say that I am very fond of her. She is sexy and smart and courageous and proud. I promised her that I would do whatever I could to help her.

“And now we get to the part of the story that I’ve been building up to. I hope you will forgive me for rambling on until this point, but I thought it was necessary to set the stage. To say nothing of giving you a little payback for bullying me.”

DeRizzo looked like he was thinking about getting up from the table but remained seated. Instead, he vented his anger by flinging the dishes to the floor.

“I will kill you, you little jackal,” DeRizzo screamed. “I don’t care how old you are. You’re a dead man. I will make your death so fucking painful that you will beg me to let you die.”

“Greg,” Jake said, looking up at the waiter who was still frozen in place. “That was the worst of it. Why don’t you bring the tab, and please, make sure it includes the cost of the dishes Mr. DeRizzo broke. When he is rational again, he will be ashamed and want to make amends.”

Greg just stared at him.

“Greg, go. This part I need to tell him in private. Now get out of here. Scoot.”

Greg hurried off to the back of the restaurant. Jake took control of DeRizzo. He attached a paralyzing, visceral fear to the intention of disobeying Jake.

“And now I come to the point, sir. Your wife demands a divorce. You will grant it.” Jake pulled a paper from his pocket with some notes on it. “In the property settlement, you will give her the house free and clear, her car, and half of all the remaining assets. You will provide support for her in the amount of two-thousand dollars a month for ten years. You will give her sole custody of all the children. The children will determine visitation, so you probably shouldn’t count on that. You will pay standard child support for them plus you will pay for their college tuition, all expenses, and reasonable living costs.

“You will move out of the house this afternoon. You will not threaten or harass any member of your family. While I would love to tangle with you again, it would be better for you to stay in good health so you can support your former family. I order you to do nothing that would harm me and my family, your wife, or your children. Leave the Finches alone, too. You will present your wife with $10,000 this afternoon for her to hire a lawyer and support herself during the divorce. Any questions?”

“How will I remember all that?”

“Take my notes. It’s all there. Leanne’s lawyer will remind you, too. Please, take care of the lunch tab. If you decide you want to do something about the anger and the drinking, contact me. I can help.”

Jake removed DeRizzo’s fear of getting up from the table and left as Greg returned with the check.

Jake was unhappy. He had let himself be goaded by DeRizzo. Why hadn’t he just taken control at the beginning and done it the easy way? The truth was he had felt a lot of satisfaction while he was taunting him. Admittedly, DeRizzo had done his best to provoke him, but what had Jake really accomplished? It had just made him more visible when he really should have been doing his best to keep his abilities hidden. He had to get his ego in better check before it caused him real trouble.

He went to the post office and applied for a passport, paying extra to get it expedited. He checked the time. He still had a while before he was due at the law office. He had a thought about how to make use of the time. He walked over to the local government building where the DMV was located.

Inside the building, he found the office that issued drivers licenses. There were several kids in the line applying for their first license. He looked younger than them but not by much. He was big for a thirteen-year-old. He decided it was worth a try and took his place in line.

“I’d like to get a driver’s license,” he said to the clerk.

“Your first?” she asked.

“Yes, ma’am.”

“I’ll need your birth certificate and one other form of identification.”

Jake was prepared. He was carrying a large envelope containing the documents that he had just used to prove his identity for his passport. He gave the clerk his birth certificate, Social Security card, and some school records. Jake projected into her mind a certainty that it was his sixteenth birthday and that the birth certificate showed that.

“Proof of driver’s training.”

Jake made her believe that she had already seen it and pushed her to feel boredom and impatience.

“No, never mind. Just put your face into the viewer and read the letters on the fourth line.”

Jake did so. Then he handed over some money, signed a form, took the written test, and left the building with a learner’s permit.

Denise was again manning the reception desk at Jerry Amos’ office. Jake pushed up her arousal when she noticed him. That confused her. She had never felt anything before for someone so young or so ordinary.

“Denise, would you let Jerry know that I’m here?”

She fumbled as she picked up the phone.

“Jerry, that boy’s here again ... Okay, Jake. I’ll remember ... Yeah, I’ll take him there.”

“This way, please.”

“This isn’t the way to Jerry’s office.”

“He asked me to take you to Tammy, the office administrator, to get you set up.”

They turned into a small office where a woman was working at a desk.

“Jerry says he wants to talk to Jake as soon as you’re done with him,” Denise told her.

The woman was middle-aged and a little dumpy, but she was sharply dressed. Jake could tell that her mind was sharp. She frowned at him.

“Thanks, Denise,” she said. “I’ll take him from here.”

When Denise lingered, Tammy shot her a glare.

“Aren’t you handling reception?”

“Yes, Tammy. Sorry.”

Jake turned off the arousal as she walked out the door.

“My name is Tammy McBain, Jake. I want to know why my boss hired you as a part-time runner in violation of child labor laws and without letting me interview you first. And if that’s not enough, he tells me that he is paying you as much as an associate and that you won’t even be available to help around the office.”

“I’ll be turning fourteen this coming Thursday.”

“And your first day of work was Tuesday. That subjects this office to potential legal liability. Now why are you here?”

“Why did Jerry say I was here?”

“He wouldn’t say, and I can’t make him. But you I can make.”

“I’m sure that you’re just doing your job, Ms. McBain, but if Jerry is keeping it secret, then I think I should, too.”

“That is not an option for you, young man.”

“May I ask, ma’am, why not?”

“Because I run this place and I say what happens here. I also say who on the support staff stays or goes.”

“I’d say that we are at an impasse. I’m sorry.”

“Then you’re out the door. I’ll mail your final paycheck to you within the week.”

“Yes, ma’am,” Jake said, standing. “I’ll just let Jerry know that I won’t be working for him after all.”

He was out the door and up the hall before Tammy could stop him. He reached Jerry’s office just as Tammy caught up to him. He turned Jerry’s dread, guilt, and fear back on.

“Hey, Jerry. Tammy just fired me. Looks like I won’t be able to work for you after all. Sorry.”

Jake turned and headed down the hall toward the reception area.

Denise was back at the front desk and Jake hit her with desire again as he walked past her to the elevator. He waved good-bye to her as he got in. She bit her lower lip. The doors were closing when Tammy ran into the reception room.

“Is he gone already?” she hissed urgently just as the doors closed.

The elevator took Jake to the first floor. He walked down the street at a leisurely pace. It took three minutes for Tammy to come running up to him. She had probably gone looking in the wrong direction at first.

“You shouldn’t be running like that in those shoes, Ms. McBain. That’s got to hurt your feet. If you turned an ankle you could break it.”

She glared at him but spoke respectfully.

“Please, come back to the office. Jerry made it clear to me that I didn’t have the authority to fire you.”

Jake read that Jerry had made it clear that her job was on the line if Jake was not back in his office within fifteen minutes.

“Ma’am, when I agreed to work with Jerry on his special project, I insisted that he ensure that there wouldn’t be personality issues between me and his staff. In fact, I didn’t expect to have any contact with the staff at all. I made that clear to Jerry from the beginning. I’m sorry you had to run down here unnecessarily. But since you’re here, can you tell me a good place to catch a taxi?”

“Please, Jake. It was a misunderstanding. Jerry didn’t mean for me to fire you.”

“Jerry is an attorney. The precise use of language is his job. If he had wanted to make sure that I was treated the way he and I had agreed, he could have made it very clear to his staff.”

“There are some practical matters that are always handled by the staff. We have to fill out IRS forms and get you a desk. You have to have some contact with me.”

“And by some contact, you mean giving me the sack. No, I tried to live up to my end of the deal. Jerry failed to do his part. Do taxis drive by here, or should I look some other place? Maybe by one of the hotels?”

Tammy was starting to get desperate. Jake lost his taste for the game. He had too big of an advantage. There was no sport in it.

“No, please, let me explain. Jerry ordered me — ordered us — to treat you with kid gloves. I decided to press you to tell me what Jerry wouldn’t. Jerry had nothing to do with it.”

“So it was you who made the first hour of the first day of my first job so memorable.”

“I apologize. Just, please, come back. It won’t happen again.”

“And if I did, what kind of a working relationship would we have?”

“Hardly any, Jake. I’ll leave you alone unless you need help from the staff. Then I’ll make sure that whatever you need is available.”

“I’ll need an office with a door and a lock. No cubicle. No desk out in the open. If there is nothing like that available, I’ll take your office. If you can live with that and one other condition, I’ll come back.”

“There’s an unused office reserved for an associate. I’ll give you that. The view is great and the furnishings are very nice. What’s the other condition?”

“Whenever other people are present, you will refer to me as My Lord Jacob.”

“You can’t be serious. That’s the most juvenile thing I’ve ever heard.”

“I am only thirteen. Juvenile does seem to be the word that describes this phase of my life.”

Jake watched her stew. She was close to deciding she would rather be fired than suffer the indignity of referring to him that way in front of her co-workers. Twice she opened her mouth to tell him to fuck off but reconsidered before the words came out. Finally she calmed herself as best she could.

“Jake, are you sure that that last condition will produce the effect you want? It will undermine my authority and make it harder for me to run interference for you in the office.”

“To say nothing about what it will do to your dignity. No, I am quite resolved on this point, ma’am.”

“Very well, My Lord Jacob. I will meet your conditions.”

“Then let’s go back.”

Denise watched Jake like a hawk as he and Tammy walked past. Jake filled out a W-4 and gave Tammy his contact information. She showed him his new office and gave him a key to it and another to the office suite. Jake’s office was right next to Jerry’s.

Jake decided she had stewed long enough. His point had been made. He called to her as she was leaving his new office.

“Ms. McBain, I was out of line about that My Lord Jacob thing. I apologize. I’d appreciate it if we could just forget about our rocky beginning this afternoon.”

“Of course. Thank you, Jake.”

Jerry and another attorney were already in the meeting with the new client. Jake restored Jerry’s emotions to normal.

I’m in the next room. I’m close enough to hear your thoughts. I can hear the new client’s, too. I’ll just listen in from here.

Randy Walker was a wreck. He had lost his wife and two young children in a car accident the weekend before. He had suffered a mild concussion, but otherwise, he had come out of it unhurt. He was explaining how they had been coming home late from visiting his wife’s parents when a car driving the wrong way on a divided highway had surprised him. He did not actually remember the crash, just waking up in the ambulance.