by Dorien Grey
Releasing him and turning back toward the living room, Elliott said, “Look, if it helps, just pretend some guy named John owns the place. We’re in this whole thing together.”
Steve volunteered to make omelets while Elliott took charge of the toast, orange juice, and making a fresh pot of coffee. Realizing as they ate that Steve hadn’t been to the building for a couple of weeks, Elliott said, “You want to take a run over to the building later to see how it’s coming?”
“That’d be great! I didn’t want to ask. Like I said, all this will take some getting used to.”
“The blind leading the blind,” Elliott said with a grin.
Chapter 5
Steve gave notice of his intent not to renew the lease on his Diversey apartment and began collecting boxes for his move. The interior of the ground-floor space of the Armitage building was still largely untouched as Elliott and his crew concentrated on finishing the two upper floors and partitioning the basement to make a laundry room and storage areas.
Elliott had talked frequently with Bruno, whose problems appeared to be compounding faster than the interest on his lottery winnings. The day after Ricky’s birthday party, he’d called to report on his meeting with Rudy. It had turned into exactly the kind of confrontation Bruno had been dreading. Rudy, of course, played the injured party, claiming he never would have gone into the bar negotiations had he known Bruno was going to “pull the rug out from under him.” He claimed that, as a result, he was going to lose his entire investment in the project.
As for Bruno having the nerve to ask for evidence the money he had already loaned Rudy would be repaid…
It was at this point, Bruno said, that Rudy stormed out. Bruno felt terrible, but Elliott did his best to convince him it was all part of Rudy’s game and his obsessive need to always keep the upper hand; he’d played the guilt card for all it was worth.
Cage had subsequently, and not surprisingly, lost his job as one of Rudy’s limo-drivers-cum-escorts, Rudy citing a need to cut back because of Bruno’s reneging on their deal. Cage blamed Bruno, even though he continued to live in Bruno’s condo. Bruno was concerned because he felt Cage was trying to undermine his relationship with Ricky by implying Ricky was only out for his money—a point Elliott found ironic since it was increasingly clear to him that was exactly Cage’s own motivation.
“It sounds like a bad soap opera,” Steve observed when Elliott told him of the situation.
Elliott had heard very little from John, and while he still talked with Cessy several times a week, he had not yet mentioned his conversation with Steve or that Steve would be moving into the Armitage building. As the building neared completion and Steve’s move-in date approached, however, he knew he couldn’t put it off much longer.
So, when Cessy called to ask him to come to dinner the following day, he agreed. After hanging up, he called Steve to let him know.
“You want to come along? I’m sure she’ll be happy to set another place.”
Steve laughed. “Oh, sure. You show up with me in tow on a Thursday night, and she won’t have a clue as to why? I appreciate the offer, but I think I’ll let you handle this one on your own. I need to finish the painting I’m working on, anyway, and I’ve got some more packing to do. I know I’ve still got a month or so, but better early than late. Let me know how it goes.”
“Yeah, like I wouldn’t. See you Friday, then?”
“My place? You can help me pack. And if you see any empty boxes along the way, bring ’em.”
*
It wasn’t, Elliott told himself as he drove to Brad and Cessy’s, that he was nervous about telling his sister her tireless efforts to get him paired off had finally succeeded. It was just that he didn’t feel comfortable about having fusses made, and he knew she would undoubtedly do just that. She meant well, but he wished she would be able to accept it as calmly as Steve had.
Arriving at the Priebes’, he noted Brad’s car wasn’t in the driveway, so he took a just-vacated parking spot on the street a few doors down so Brad wouldn’t have to move his car later so Elliott could get out.
He let himself in the side door, as always, to an empty kitchen. As he entered the living room, Cessy came down the stairs carrying their toddler, Sandy. They both smiled when they saw him.
Going over to take Sandy for an exaggerated hug and a baby-kiss, he followed Cessy into the kitchen.
“Brad called. He’s running a few minutes late.”
“Good,” Elliott replied, setting Sandy in her highchair. “I wanted to talk to you about something.”
His sister’s eyes widened in a combination of curiosity and anticipation.
“Oh?”
“Yeah. I wanted to let you know Steve will be moving into the Armitage building.”
She looked at him closely. “And does this mean…?”
He grinned. “Pretty much.”
She hurried over to him to kiss him on the cheek and give him a big hug.
“Oh, Elliott! I’m so happy for you. It’s about time.” She stepped back and said, “But why doesn’t he just move in with you?”
“Because Steve wouldn’t feel right moving into my territory, if you can call it that, any more than I’d feel right moving into his.”
“But he’s moving into one of your buildings,” she pointed out.
“Which is fine. We can consider it something of a halfway point, or half-step, or whatever. Probably at some time down the road we’ll consolidate, but for right now…”
“Well, I can’t wait to tell Brad.”
Elliott raised his hand in a “slow down” gesture. “I really wish you wouldn’t make a big deal out of this,” he said. “You’re far more interested in my love life than Brad is, I’m sure.”
“You know I’ll be discreet.”
“Riiight.”
He directed the conversation to other subjects until BJ bounded down the stairs from his room to ask when dinner would be ready. He and Elliott exchanged their usual cursory greetings.
“So, how’s school?” Elliott asked.
“Same as always,” the teenager replied. “School.”
The sound of a car in the driveway announced Brad’s arrival, and Cessy immediately went into what Elliott thought of as commander-in-chief mode as her husband came in.
“Go wash up and get your sister,” Cessy directed BJ. Accepting Brad’s peck on the cheek, she looked from him to Elliott and said, “You two can wait until after dinner for your beer. Elliott, would you bring Sandy’s highchair into the dining room?”
“So, how’s your new project going?” Brad asked while passing BJ a bowl of mashed potatoes. “My partner and I drove down Armitage yesterday on our way to a case, and I wondered if that Painted Lady they’ve been working on might be yours. You’ve done a really great job on it. I remember it before, and it’s like night and day.”
“Thanks, Brad. I really do think it’s a great building. I’d like you to see it when it’s a little closer to being finished.”
“We’d love to see it,” Cessy said, then turned to Brad. “Steve’s going to be living there,” she observed with what Elliott knew was calculated casualness.
“Really?” Brad said, giving Elliott a very slightly raised eyebrow, into which Elliott read volumes. “I see there’s retail space on the ground floor. Steve planning to open a gallery?”
Elliott was glad he’d just swallowed his coffee, or he might have had it spurting out his nose. As it was, he almost choked and had a violent coughing spell.
“Are you all right, Elliott?” Cessy asked solicitously.
“Sorry,” he said when the coughing subsided. “Wrong drainpipe. You two make a great tag team.”
Brad grinned, Jenny looked confused, and BJ reached for the gravy.
*
“So, how did it go?” Steve asked when Elliott arrived at his place for dinner Friday with three cardboard boxes he’d picked up behind his condo nested one inside the other.
“Easier th
an I expected. It didn’t seem to come as any great surprise. At least, I didn’t have to scrape Cessy off the ceiling. And when the time comes for your move, I’m sure we can recruit Brad and BJ to help. Cessy wants to see the building, so I told her we’d have them come over to look at it soon.” He found the ease with which he had used “we” more pleasant than surprising. “And she wants to have us over for dinner Sunday. I told her I’d check with you and get back to her.”
“Sure. And maybe we could swing by the building sometime over the weekend? I want to take some measurements to get a better idea of what will go where.”
“I can do you one better. You can take a look at the original blueprints—the room sizes haven’t changed.”
*
Driving back to Steve’s after Sunday dinner, Elliott shook his head. “I don’t believe it,” he said.
“What? I thought everything went really well. I had a good time. Didn’t you?”
“Yes, I did. But this is the first time in living memory that Cessy didn’t pump me about my love life or drop three thousand hints that it was time I settled down. It goes against nature, somehow. I can’t wait to see what she’ll come up with next.” He pursed his lips and furrowed his brow. “Probably adoption.”
Steve grinned. “As a matter of fact, when I was helping load the dishwasher, she did mention that all we needed now was a kid.”
“See? I knew it! The woman’s incorrigible.”
*
He found an unusual number of calls on his answering machine when he got home, and saw four of them were from Bruno. He immediately called him. The phone rang four times, and he was about to hang up when Bruno answered.
“Elliott! Thanks for returning my call.”
“Sorry I didn’t do it earlier, Bruno, but I was with Steve all weekend. What’s up?”
“I hate to bother you, but could I come down for a minute? I have a favor to ask you.”
Puzzled, Elliott said, “Sure.”
“I’ll be there in a minute.” And without saying good-bye, he hung up.
Elliott was still wondering what was going on when there was a knock at his door, and he opened it to find Bruno, a large envelope in his hand.
“Come on in,” Elliott said, leading the way to the living room.
“I’ve only got a minute. Ricky ran to the store for some things, and he should be right back.”
“Is there a problem?”
“I don’t know, Elliott. I’m beginning to wish I’d never won that damned lottery! It was bad enough having everyone and his dog hitting me up for money like they think I owe them for something. They just never give up. I always have to check my caller ID now before I pick up if it says ‘Unknown Caller,’ or if I don’t recognize the number, I don’t answer. I’ve even gotten mail, with no return address, calling me a greedy, arrogant, selfish SOB and a lot worse. Arrogant? Me?
“I have no idea who’s doing it, or why. I mean, what do they expect from me? What can I do about it? Friday night, Ricky and I went out to dinner, and when we got back to my car someone had left a really nasty note under my windshield wiper. I’m lucky they just left a note—imagine what they could have done to my car, and I just got it back from the body shop after Cage’s accident. It’s getting so I’m afraid to leave the building.
“My sessions with Sensei have helped, but I’m afraid not enough. Lately, I’ve been having trouble sleeping. I keep having these terrible dreams that I can never remember when I wake up, but they really bother me.”
“I’m sorry, Bruno. I know you’re under a lot of pressure. Have you talked to Walter about funneling all money requests through him? That might help a lot.”
“Every time I try to talk to him, he makes me feel like I’m annoying him. I guess I’m just too intimidated by his attitude to say anything. And things with Cage have gotten so bad I’m thinking of asking him to leave. He blames me for losing his job with Rudy, he’s increasingly demanding, and treats Ricky like crap. I won’t have that, nephew or not. Life’s far too short.”
“I’m really sorry about all this, Bruno. Having money isn’t all it’s cracked up to be. Just try to ignore the notes and calls. Whoever it is will get tired and stop eventually. I know it isn’t easy, but don’t let it get to you. As for Cage, well, I don’t know what to tell you there. It’s one of those uncomfortable no-win situations, and I don’t envy you. As you say, life’s too short.”
Bruno held up the sealed envelope he’d been holding.
“I wonder if I could ask you to hold this for me.”
“Sure.” He was hoping there might be some sort of explanation forthcoming, but there was none.
Handing it to him, Bruno said, “Well, I really appreciate your letting me cry on your shoulder, Elliott. I’m afraid I just don’t have anyone else I feel I can talk to. Sensei says meditation and finding my inner self is the only answer. I wish it was. I don’t want to burden Ricky, but it really does get to me no matter how hard I try not to let it.”
“I understand, and I’m always willing to listen even if I can’t offer much in the way of help or advice.” He briefly thought of giving Bruno his cell phone number but decided against it. While he was sincere in saying he was willing to listen, he didn’t want to risk his offer leading to calls at work.
“Thank you! And now I’d better get back upstairs.”
With that, he left.
Looking at the unmarked envelope in his hand, Elliott shook his head and carried it into his bedroom, where he put it beneath a stack of folded T-shirts in his underwear drawer.
*
Within two weeks, work on the building had progressed to the point Elliott felt he could invite Cessy and Brad to come take a look. The ground floor still hadn’t been touched, other than replacing the false front with new showroom windows and the original trim; but work on it would begin as soon as the upstairs apartments were ready for occupancy.
Steve and he had, out of curiosity one Sunday afternoon, removed a small section of wall paneling and found the pressed tin he’d expected to be under it had been removed. He assumed the stacks of it in the basement had been salvaged during the removal.
Steve had been doing some sketches of how the ground-floor space might look, which Elliott liked and had shown to his crew, who in turn agreed the ideas could be implemented fairly easily.
The following Monday evening, he got a call from Bruno, with whom he’d talked several times on the phone since their last meeting. It seemed easier for Bruno to talk when Ricky wasn’t around, and Elliott agreed with Steve’s earlier assessment that Bruno’s life was becoming a soap opera, none of which Bruno was handling very well.
He learned there had been a confrontation with Cage, whom Bruno had asked to move out—he claimed Cage was seldom home, anyway, and apparently was trying to juggle dating two guys at the same time. Cage didn’t take the news well. Even Bruno’s offer to give him a couple hundred dollars a week until he found a job didn’t seem to help—though, of course, Cage magnanimously agreed to accept the money.
“I don’t know, Elliott, there’s just so much going on I can’t keep up with it. And now Sensei says the original owner of my Jennys has really been pressing him to buy them back, claiming he was under severe emotional distress brought on by the financial crash and a messy divorce. He says he only sold the Jennys to keep his wife from getting them. I told him no way. He wanted to sell them, I wanted to buy them, and I intend to keep them. I’m sure Sensei is unhappy with me, even if he didn’t say so, because several of his students were referrals from the stamps’ original owner, and he’s afraid the man may cause trouble for him with his other students.”
“Well, that really isn’t any of your concern. You acted in good faith.”
“I know, but I don’t want Sensei to suffer for my refusal to sell them back.”
“Again, that isn’t your concern.”
Bruno sighed deeply. “I know. You’re right. Still…” He was silent a moment, then said, “Oh, a
nd I finally talked with Walter Means and told him that from now on I’m going to refer all requests for money through him.”
“I thought you’d said he didn’t want to do it.”
“He didn’t, but I finally got tired of his attitude, and Sensei said I should let him know how I felt. He’s done nothing but slough off my questions and suggestions, and…well, I know he knows far more about money than I ever will, but still…
“I finally decided he was working for me, and if he didn’t want to do what I told him to do, I could easily find another financial manager, and I told him so. I’m really thinking seriously about doing it anyway. I’m just not happy with him. Sensei knows someone he says would do very well for me.”
It occurred to Elliott that Clifford Blanton was exerting an increasing amount of influence on Bruno, and he didn’t know if he thought that was a good idea. Then, he reminded himself Bruno’s business wasn’t his.
“Well,” he nevertheless found himself saying, “if you ever decide on a change, I can put you in touch with the firm that handles my own investments. They could probably recommend someone you might feel more comfortable with.”
“I just might do that, Elliott. Thanks. Sensei has suggested I invite everyone who’s been dunning me for money to a party this Saturday and tell them all at the same time. I’m going to make it clear to everyone that any future requests for money will have to go through Means—whether he likes it or not—and end all this nonsense once and for all. If Means doesn’t like it, I’ll fire him. And I’m going to invite Rudy so he can see I wasn’t singling him out or deliberately trying to sabotage his projects.” There was another brief silence, and then Bruno said, almost as an afterthought, “You and Steve are welcome to come, but I’m afraid the air might be a little toxic.”
“Well, thanks, but I think we’ll pass. We’re going to dinner and a movie, but should be home around eleven, so if you have any problems, just give me a call.”
“Sensei will be there, just for moral support, and we’ll have a session just before the party. I’ll probably need it.”