by Jackson Kane
“If there’s a historical society of puns and bad jokes—” I said flippantly. “He probably donated it all to them.”
Richard laughed.
We reminisced about old funny memories involving our parents and even some of the hard ones. Most of it was positive though, and talking to Richard felt good. For the first time in a long time, we were completely on equal footing. We were two parentless children sharing our loss with one another.
It was a very brotherly thing to do.
Some time passed, and a familiar buzzed feeling washed over me. It helped me draw up the courage to ask something I never thought I would.
“Why did you hate me so much?”
“I never hated you, Lucas. If anything I was jealous.”
“Jealous?” I chuckled, getting caught by surprise. “What the fuck for? I’m not even biologically a King.”
“That never mattered to me. We were close long before either of us knew about your adoption. I was jealous at how easily you figured things out.”
“You’re crazy. You got way better grades than me.”
“That’s only because you didn’t try. Remember that catapult I made for science class?”
“The one that exploded?” I laughed, remembering the look on his teacher’s face when it hurled the rubber band ball in the opposite direction, then fell apart like in an old cartoon.
“Yup. Once we found all the pieces, you had that thing reassembled in no time. When we tried it again, it doubled the distance of any other catapult. I still have the first place ribbon somewhere.
“My point is had you just focused your natural talents you’d have been a force to be reckoned with. You could’ve done great things for the family company.”
“I always loved the family, even during the dark times when I had to go live with the Morenas. I just couldn’t do the grad school and college thing, man. My passion wasn’t in any of it. I wasn’t cut out for a life of business.”
“That’s why you didn’t accept the partnership offer at my company when you left the Morenas.” It slowly started to dawn on him. “Dad thought the deal had voided years earlier, so that day they came knocking took us all by surprise.”
“I should’ve handled that better, I’m sorry.” I said, finally seeing how poorly I handled the whole situation back in the day. I basically told him to go fuck himself. “I didn’t mean to blow you off like that. I was still all fucked up from the deal dad made to adopt me. I guess I wasn’t feeling much like a part of the family at the time.”
“You were the golden son; smart, ruthless and always in a rush. You followed perfectly in Dad’s footsteps; the quintessential high-powered corporate executive. You were exactly what our father wanted an ideal son to be.”
My voice cracked at several parts, the words I said raked the bottom of my very soul. I usually wore my emotions on my sleeve, but this shit was all buried down deep. In an already emotional day, this stuff was hard to get out.
“I was suddenly the one that didn’t fit in,” I finished, looking away. Facing any one after admitting all that was tough, let alone the man I hated for years.
Richard got out of his car and sat next to me in the Shelby. He opened a beer and gave it to me.
“It didn’t matter who your real father was, as far as we were all concerned you were always one of us.” Richard let the words float in the air for a long while.
What did I say to that?
With the news of what happened to Dad and the shit show that was literally everything else in my life, I honestly didn’t know how to feel. After I found out I was adopted I put up these barriers between me and the rest of the family. It was like I was keeping them all at arms reach so I wouldn’t get hurt again.
“For as much of a pain in the ass as you are, you’re always going to be my little brother.” Richard put his arm around my shoulders and hugged me.
I never dreamed Richard and I would have a heart-to-heart, we were just so different… I felt so heavy yet so light at the same time. Even through the sadness surrounding my Dad’s death, a massive burden had been lifted. I had my brother back.
I didn’t have to keep it together any longer.
For several long minutes the tough, in-charge King brothers wept like only those in mourning can. We lowered our guards and let ourselves openly cope with not only the grief of loss, but also the realization that we were siblings that didn’t have to hate each other.
We could choose a different path.
“We’ve been acting like real assholes, huh?” I was so tired of fucking things up and making things worse all the time. There had to be a way to fix things.
“It’s the King way after all. If you ignore your problems they’ll probably go away.”
“Or they’ll blow up in your fucking face,” I said. The sudden exhaustion of redlining these past few days hit me like a speeding train. I didn’t know how much bonding I had left in me before I just passed out. I wouldn’t leave just yet, this was all too important.
“I don’t know why dad put that clause in the inheritance, but he was right about one thing,” I said.
“What’s that?”
“He said we’d never be able to find better women in the world than the ones here.”
“There are two women out there we can’t live without.” Richard nodded thoughtfully, then his eyes narrowed dangerously. I knew right away that an idea just popped into his head when he started rubbing his cufflinks. It was a habit he never out grew. “I’ve got a new proposition for you.”
I looked at him sideways. “Another competition?”
That’s just what we needed…
“No,” he said, waving his beer back and forth, shunning the idea. “Look where that’s gotten us. I propose we work together and actually help each other.”
“What about the inheritance?” This didn’t seem like him at all. It was the opposite of pragmatism. Help the other get all the money?
“We don’t even know if there is an inheritance anymore.” He looked at me with hard blue eyes, that were so similar to my own it was almost like looking into a mirror. “Can you honestly tell me that money is more important to you than getting Molly back?”
There was any doubt in my mind. Molly was more important to me than all the money this world had to offer.
“What do you have in mind?”
Chapter 22
Richard
The school was brighter than I’d expected. I walked through the halls of Matt Baker Elementary, hands in my pockets, admiring how much work had been done. Lucas and I were home schooled until about sixth grade, then both of us in turn were sent off to best private school in the area.
I’d never met Molly’s brother, Matthew Baker. Lucas and Molly were about three years younger than I was and they were older than Matt by a few years. By all accounts he was growing into a good man when his life was tragically cut short by a drunk driver. Both Molly and Matt had gone to Classical when they were children, so it was nice to see him memorialized in this way.
I’d only ever been here once, back when it was called Classical. Large, cartoon images of brass instruments adorned the wall then. They, like everything else in the aging school, were time-worn, faded and in desperate need of replacing.
Now the halls were painted with superheroes like Batman and Wonder Woman; they stood next to Aladdin, Elsa and other Disney characters. Peering into the classrooms, I could see they were lined with vivid colors and were inviting. Everything was new and safe; all the computers were state-of-the-art.
This was the best possible version of what this school could’ve been.
Dad had spoken in front of the graduating class one year and I tagged along. He talked about the virtue of working hard and how important it was to be armed with knowledge. I could only remember one line of his speech. “The real world is a series of locked doors,” he’d said. “School, and places like it, is where you find the keys.”
It darkened my heart to think about
how much of his wisdom I’d forgotten over the years.
It had been several days since the funeral.
It was formal, bleak ordeal. It seemed like half the town had shown up at one point or another. Many people flew in from all over to pay their respects. There were speeches and songs; the mayor even named the intersection of corner of Main Street and Marshall Long Avenue after him and Mom in honor of where they met.
The whole thing was intimate, sad and wonderful all at the same time. Dad was many things to many people.
I was just glad it’s over. Things had gotten far more emotional than I was comfortable dealing with..
The bell rang out over the intercom signifying the end of the school day; it was followed by a friendly female voice wishing everyone a nice afternoon and to remember to have their permission slips signed for the upcoming field trips.
Classroom doors swung open like a dam giving way, and a flood of children cascaded into the halls around me. The sereneness of the casual walk had been shattered by screaming, laughing and even some singing.
Walking through the bright, oblivious elementary school halls was a nice change of pace from the sorrow-filled clouds that hung over my interactions with adults that knew him. The children here didn’t know or care about my father, they were too busy living and playing.
I reached the open wood and glass doors of my destination. “Everything you’re looking for,” read the beautifully carved sign above the library’s entrance.
I hoped the sign was right.
“Hello?” I asked looking around the expansive library. It didn’t just have books, it had graphic novels, an extensive computer lab and even a small nook to take naps or read on the plush floor. It was larger than any other library of its kind and it was far more inviting. If I were a kid, this would be where I spent all my free time.
“Just a moment please.” Molly returned to the check-in desk with an armful of abandoned books that needed to get returned to their appropriate shelves. “Richard, hi,” she said, with surprised eyes. “How did you even get in…”
Molly’s brown hair was drawn into a tight ponytail. She wore black dress pants, a layered, sleeveless, violet blouse and bright blue glasses. The afternoon light reveled the dusting of freckles across her nose and cheeks.
I pressed my lips together, then shrugged in a modest gesture.
“Right. You’re a King,” Molly exhaled in a short, knowing burst, a crease in her lips made it resemble a smile. “Is there anywhere you can’t go in this town?”
“They still won’t let me into the women's roller derby locker room.” I smiled.
“Somehow I’m not so sure that’s true.” Molly shook her head, then gave me a big hug. Afterward, a look of worry raised her eyebrows. “I’m so sorry about your father. From what I remember of him, he was a great guy. How are you holding up?”
Molly had briefly appeared at the funeral to show her respects to the family. She’d even broken down a little when she hugged Lucas. For as much time as Molly spent at the house, she never really got to know my dad because he was always away on work.
Molly and my mom were much closer. She took mom’s death much harder.
“Thanks. We’re getting by. It’s a lot to adjust to, of course.” I kept the conversation light. Doom and gloom wasn’t why I was here. “He’s not in any pain anymore. I hope Heaven has a nice golf course. I hope I didn’t catch you at a bad time.”
“Nope, just cleaning up the mess.” Molly patted the small stack of books. “Story of my life.”
Molly’s tone told me she wasn’t just talking about the children of Matt Baker Elementary. Lucas was still fresh in her mind.
“I came here to apologize to you for what happened at dinner. I wanted to say something at the funeral, but it wasn’t a good time.”
“What do you have to apologize for?” Molly looked confused and even a little amused.
While she was dating Lucas, Molly was always at the house. I joked with her that she’d been adopted into the family and now it was weird that she was fooling around with one of her siblings. She and I became friends and I eventually saw her as something of a kid sister.
“Bringing Madison was a mistake.” I leaned against the desk and crossed my arms. “She didn’t know what she was talking about. She saw a moment to deliver a cutting blow to the opposition and took it.”
“Opposition? Jesus… Where did you find that woman?” Molly blew her air out and waited for a reply that I wasn’t going to give. It didn’t matter where I found her, all of that was over now. “What happened to Gloria? Everyone that saw you two together thought you were a perfect match.”
“In true King fashion, I screwed that whole thing up.” I shook my head slowly, focusing on the few trees visible through a nearby window. Why did thinking about that silly girl hurt so damn bad?
“Richard…” Molly studied the pain I tried unsuccessfully to hide from my face. “You’re in love, aren’t you?”
“I’m not sure I even know what that means.” I still couldn’t look at her. If I did she’d see all my weakness laid bare, and much like my father, I hated when other people saw me like that. “Besides it doesn’t matter. I’ve been to enough contract negotiations to know when a deal was going south.”
Molly chuckled. “You are the dumbest smart person I know, you know that?”
I blinked a few times to clear my mind and my heart, only then was I able to look at her directly. “How do you mean?”
“I know Gloria. We went to high school together. She’s not a boardroom or a committee or,” Molly rolled her hand to help her find the words she was looking for. “Or rival corporation. Gloria is a living, breathing, crazy human being, like the rest of us.
“It’s that obvious, huh?” I smiled weakly.
“Oh yeah,” Molly laughed. “I know you’ve never fallen in love before, Richard, because you wear it on your face like a mask.”
“I have to work on that.”
“Love isn’t a skill you can train. You can’t go to seminars and get better at it.” Molly was full on in teacher mode.
“I’m going to have to. I screwed it up, Molly. Gloria never wants to ever see me again.” I sat in a chair that was a slightly too small for me. Now I fully felt like I was a little kid again.
“Alright, answer me this.” Molly said with a smirk. “Was she pissed at you last time she saw you?
“Very.” I thought about the lucky, oblivious, college girl that now has a bottle of Glenlivet.
“Then she still cares about you.” Molly picked up on blatant look of confusion. “You were on her mind enough to be angry, dummy. If she didn’t care about you, then seeing you again would’ve annoyed her, maybe. The fact that she was so angry at you means that there’s still hope, if you want it.
I did. This kind of yearning was a foreign feeling for me. I wanted Gloria more than anything.
“OK,” I said, standing back up. “Be my consultant. I tried getting her a gift. Nothing as cliché as flowers, it was something I actually knew she’d like.”
“It’s not enough to truly know her anymore, now you need to show her that you deserve her.”
“What do I do?” There was a subtlety to this, an art form I was extremely unfamiliar with. Getting women into bed with me was second nature. Pillow talk was a language I spoke fluidly. This though, keeping a woman I couldn’t live without was more difficult than anything I’d ever known.
“I don’t know.” Molly scrunched her mouth to the side of her face. She put a hand on my shoulder. “At this point it might take a really big gesture. Whatever you do though, don’t stop fighting for her.”
How did this happen?
I came here to repair Molly’s relationship with Lucas; it feels like it’s the other way around. I pinched my cool metal cufflinks between my thumb and forefinger. A new resolve hardened within me. Molly was right; I cared too much for Gloria to let her go now.
“You give good advice for someone who doesn�
��t take any of it.” I was glad for all Molly’s help, but that wasn’t why I came. What happened at that dinner was my fault. I needed to be the one to make it right.
“Please don’t…” Sadness crept into Molly’s face. I didn’t want to hurt her, but there were things that had to be said.
“Dad’s will, the competition, I know how bad all of it sounds,” I snatched up a metal apple paperweight off the desk and passed it back and forth between my hands. “I’ve come to realize there’s more to it than a dying man’s fever dream. It’s not about getting a woman pregnant. That is a big part of it, but that’s not the spirit of what Dad was trying to do.”
“Honestly?” Molly suddenly looked tired. “I don’t care what the spirit of the agreement was. I just can’t do it any more. I’ve spent half my life waiting for Luke to do the right thing. I’m done waiting.”
My teeth clenched and unclenched as I debated breaking an old promise. It was an important secret to keep at the time, but that time had past. There was something Molly needed to know.
“No one knows this…” I put the apple down where I found it. This wasn’t news you could deliver while idly holding something. “Lucas paid for all the school’s renovations. I think it cost him everything he made off his albums. The only request he had was that they name the school after Matt.”
Molly furrowed her eyes and walked to the window. She watched the last of the buses pull away to drop off their precious cargo. For a long time she didn’t say anything.
“Whenever I asked about the donor I was told that it was ‘a friend of the Bakers.' I wanted to thank them, but no one seemed to know any more.”
“Lucas wanted it to be anonymous so it wouldn’t take anything away from your brother. I’m only telling you because I think it’s important you know how much he cares for you. Lucas loves you, Molly. He loves you more than I’ve ever seen one person love another.”
The dull roar of a motorcycle pulled into the semicircle driveway the buses had left from. Lucas, I thought. He’ll never give that damn bike up. It’s as much a part of him as his guitar.