The Fury (2009)

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The Fury (2009) Page 30

by Jason - Henry Parker 04 Pinter


  public being aware of it. His only hope was to cause a

  big enough story that he would be forgotten. That he

  could disappear in the maelstrom.

  But he was killed before he could ever come clean.

  And his story was about to die as well.

  Kyle then took the gun and placed it in Scotty’s dead

  hand. He wrapped his own finger around Scotty’s in the

  trigger guard and aimed it at me.

  Just then a car sped onto the block. It was a black

  CrownVictoria. Kyle’s attention turned from me to the car.

  The door opened.And out got Detective Sevi Makhoulian.

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  “Freeze, police!” the officer yelled. Kyle couldn’t

  turn away from Makhoulian. A strange look crossed his

  face, and I swear the gun began to lower. He was going

  to give up.

  And then three successive explosions turned the air

  into a thunderstorm, and Kyle Evans’s body was flung

  backward onto the street. He landed next to Scotty, his

  friend, Kyle’s eyes and mouth open.

  I turned to Makhoulian, hands covering my ringing

  ears. He was saying something to me, but I couldn’t

  hear the words.

  He walked closer, gun at his side, the flashing lights

  now on our block. I felt the detective’s large hand on

  my elbow. He was mouthing, Henry, are you all right?

  I knew instinctively that my voice wouldn’t work, so

  I nodded. Then I turned back to see the dead littering

  the street.

  33

  One week later

  LaGuardiaAirport was surprisingly empty.We bought

  a couple of coffees at a java stand in the food court. I

  waited while he came back from the newsstand,

  carrying a bag with a paperback book and a copy of the

  Gazette.

  My father was thinner than I’d ever seen him. His

  eyes were sunken and his skin wrinkled. Gray hair

  taking up most of whatever was left. My father no

  longer looked angry; he just looked old.

  Prior to a few weeks ago, I hadn’t seen James Parker

  in years. My family was a memory, one I’d longed to

  forget. If you leave a person, your memory retains your

  last image of them. My last image of my father was an

  angry middle-aged man. Now he sat here, one step from

  broken, waiting for a flight back home.

  “Mom’s picking you up in Portland?” I said.

  “That’s what she said,” my father answered, as

  though not believing her.

  “If she says she’ll be there she’ll be there.” He

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  nodded, thinking more about it and agreeing with me.

  I popped the top off my coffee and took a sip. Strong

  and sweet. “At least you’ve got a great story for your

  bowling league.”

  “I missed three league tournaments,” he said, resent­

  ment in his voice. “I’m sure they replaced me by now.”

  “Didn’t you once tell me you had a 187 average? I’m

  sure they’ll want that back in the rotation.”

  “One-eighty-seven, huh?” he said, thinking. “That

  seems a tad high. Maybe one-forty.”

  “Still not too shabby.” He shrugged his shoulder,

  then took the lid off his coffee and took a long gulp.

  When he set the cup back down, there was a scowl on

  his lips. “You know, prison food gets a bad rap. The

  eggs and joe down there weren’t half-bad.”

  “If you really want, I’m sure you could figure out a

  way to go back.”

  “S’alright. Hopefully my TiVo recorded all the Law

  & Order episodes I missed.”

  “At least your priorities are straight again.” He

  nodded, missing the joke.

  “You told me you saw Helen,” my father said,

  looking back at me. He actually looked concerned. Even

  sad.

  “She’s in rehab,” I said. “The state is paying for it.

  Clarence Willingham is quite a guy. She has some good

  people looking out for her.”

  “I never got to tell her I was sorry,” he said.

  “I have her address,” I said. “Write her a letter. She’d

  appreciate that.”

  “Maybe I will.” The way he said it let me know that

  no such thing would ever be done.

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  Jason Pinter

  “So they got the guys who did it. Who killed

  Stephen.”

  “They’re both dead. The real killer, Kyle Evans, tried

  to frame his friend. Then the cops killed him.”

  “Good riddance,” he said. “It’s all tied up with a

  pretty pink bow. I never want to set foot in this city

  again.”

  “I still don’t fully get it,” I said. “If Stephen was

  really as high up as Kyle and Scott said he was, did he

  really need to leave the country to get away from them?

  And if they were able to get close enough, obviously

  Stephen didn’t think they were a threat. Which makes

  me wonder just who Stephen was afraid of.”

  “No disrespect to the dead,” my father said, “but I

  don’t think any of those boys were in their right mind.”

  “And the cop, Makhoulian. I’m glad he worked so

  fast to get you out. I just didn’t think he needed to kill

  Kyle. He looked like he was giving up.”

  “You’re saying the guy who killed your brother

  should have lived?”

  “One death doesn’t always merit another. We have a

  justice system.”

  “Which would have probably screwed up somehow

  and either let that boy walk on a technicality, put him in

  some cushy detention facility because some quack doctor

  on somebody’s payroll said he has woman issues. Or he’d

  be out in enough time to kill somebody else’s son. I don’t

  know what’s going on in this city, Henry, but being

  among criminals day in and day out is no way to live.”

  “Maybe I’ll move back home with you and Mom,”

  I joked. That made him laugh. He checked his

  boarding pass.

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  “I should head to the gate. They’ll probably give my

  ticket to some freak if I’m not there on time.”

  His flight didn’t board for another hour, but the

  Parker family bonding hour had run its course. We both

  stood up. My dad stepped forward, then wrapped his

  arms around me, the most tentative hug I could imagine.

  I returned it. Just a little stronger.

  “Thank you for your help,” he said. The feeling was

  genuine. He wasn’t going to apologize for the years

  before that, and I wasn’t going to ask him to.

  “Take care of yourself,” I said. “And please take care

  of Mom. Do me one favor?”

  He frowned. “What?”

  “Mom was knitting something when I saw her in

  Bend. If it’s not too much trouble, I’d like to have it.”

  “I’ll tell her,” he said.

  “And if you change your mind and decide to take a

  vacation in NYC, at least give me a call.”

  “I will. And give my best to your girlfriend. She

  seems like a catch.”
r />   “One in a million,” I said. “Without her you’d still

  be in jail.”

  “Guess I owe her a thank-you then. Pass it on for

  me, will ya?”

  “I will. And Dad?”

  “Yeah, Henry.”

  “I’m sorry too. About Stephen. I wish I’d had a

  chance to know him. Maybe we could have saved him.”

  His eyes closed as he took a deep breath. When he

  opened them, he sighed and said, “Take care, Henry. It’s

  good to see I raised you right.”

  Then he was gone.

  34

  We were almost done packing. After several years in

  that apartment, the time had come to say goodbye

  before the floor gave out or a black hole opened up that

  sucked us into some alternate universe. A man can only

  face so many attempted assaults on his doorstep before

  rethinking his living situation. And since I’d already

  been thinking about more space, when Amanda agreed

  with me it made sense. My lease was up in a few weeks.

  It was as good a time as any to start over.

  We were submerged amongst folded cardboard

  boxes, masking tape, clothes, books, papers and every­

  thing else you forget about and probably have no need

  for. My books took up the most room. I packed all of

  my first-edition Jack O’Donnell tomes in a padded box,

  reinforced with enough masking tape to hold up the

  Brooklyn Bridge. My clothes were another story. There

  were two small boxes marked Henry’s Clothes. They

  weighed about as much as a pizza.

  “You know,” Amanda said, “you could have saved on

  the moving van and just rented a bike. You could have

  fit all your stuff into one of those E.T. baskets.”

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  “I’m not a shopper, what do you want from me?”

  “Not a shopper?” she said, putting down her Sharpie.

  “Even being able to use the word shopper implies that

  you have, in fact, shopped in your life. I’m guessing

  most of these clothes survived from college, or else the

  local Salvation Army dropoff is pretty bare. When we

  get settled, first thing we’re doing is taking you on a

  proper shopping spree. You could use a new suit. And

  new pants, new shirts, and don’t get me started on your

  underwear.”

  “Is this what we’ll be like five years from now?” I

  said, smiling. I went up to Amanda, wrapped my arms

  around her. She snuggled in, resting her head on my

  shoulder. “On each other’s cases about clothing and

  stuff?”

  “I’m playing with you, you big baby.” She tilted her

  head up until I was staring into those beautiful eyes.

  “Besides, I just want the best for you.You’re great at your

  job. I just want people to know that just by looking at you.”

  “You know that just by looking at me.”

  “Hopefully, most people won’t need to wake up next

  to you in the morning in order to know you’re the best

  young reporter in the city.”

  “Best young reporter?”

  “Don’t get ahead of yourself. Give it time, Henry.”

  I gave her a quick kiss, then went back to packing.

  Though there were enough bad memories here to make

  me want to run away from this block screaming like a

  banshee, I’d miss it ever so slightly. Like that crazy first

  girlfriend who showed up at your apartment drunk at

  4:00 a.m. and burned all your CDs when you broke up,

  there would be a small (well-guarded) place for it in my

  heart.

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  Jason Pinter

  I wished there would be room for Stephen Gaines in

  my heart, but I couldn’t force what was never there. I

  don’t know how many people have pasts that exist

  without their knowledge. There was more to Stephen’s

  life than what I’d uncovered. He’d lived for thirty years,

  abandoned by his family, given up by his father. The

  man who killed him had faced the most severe retribu­

  tion possible. Yet a lingering doubt still remained, as I

  could see him on that street corner, tortured by some­

  thing. Not Scotty Callahan. Not Kyle Evans.

  Having dealt in vice for ten years, Stephen had seen

  more evil than most men did their whole lives. To do

  what he did took resolve, the knowledge that you were

  bringing poison into the world, that you couldn’t be

  scared of the consequences. Every day could have

  brought jail or death. Yet he kept on living that life. And

  finally the odds caught up with him.

  So what scares a man who isn’t afraid of losing his

  freedom or his life?

  My cell phone rang. It was the moving van. They

  were here to pick up our furniture, though we’d be

  lucky if it made it to their warehouse without disinte­

  grating. I answered, and a hoarse voice told me the van

  would be there within fifteen minutes. I turned to

  Amanda, said, “Moving company’s almost here. Should

  we, like, start bringing stuff down?”

  She looked at me like I’d just admitted to wearing

  women’s underwear. “Henry. They’re a moving

  company. We pay them to move us. That’s their job.”

  “I know, I just feel a little silly watching people carry

  all my stuff.”

  “This is New York. If you can pay four bucks for a

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  coffee and not feel bad, paying someone to carry and

  store your crap shouldn’t even register on the guilty-o­

  meter. So enjoy it, babe. It’s not too often people are

  going to do your heavy lifting for you.”

  Suddenly the buzzer rang. “That was quick,” I said.

  “They told me fifteen minutes.”

  I went over to the window, expecting to see the truck

  and some burly, impatient men. Instead, I saw just one

  man standing on the street. He was wearing brown pants

  and a blue shirt that was untucked and flapping in the

  wind. He turned up to look at me, palms facing upward

  as if to say, Are you gonna let me in or what?

  “No way,” I said. Amanda came over to join me at

  the window. She looked out.

  “Who is that?” she asked.

  “It’s Jack,” I replied.

  “I thought he was…”

  “In rehab. Me, too. I guess he’s out.”

  “Well, you should go…”

  I was out the door and running down the stairs before

  she could finish her sentence.

  The steps couldn’t be passed fast enough. I hadn’t

  seen Jack in months, since his name was dragged

  through the mud and he disappeared to presumably

  battle his internal demons. He’d left no forwarding

  address, no note. And now he was here, at my doorstep.

  I had so many questions to ask I hoped he didn’t have

  plans for the next year.

  When I arrived on the first floor, I sprinted through

  the lobby and burst through the front door. Jack O’Don­

  nell was standing on the sidewalk, hands in his pockets.

  Then he took them out, checked his watch.

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  Jason Pinter

  “Forty-three seconds from buzzer to outside. Not

  quite Olympic caliber, but not too shabby for a guy

  who sits in front of a computer most of the day.” I didn’t

  know what to say. So I just went up to Jack and threw

  my arms around him. He stumbled backward, saying,

  “Easy now, Henry.”

  When I untangled myself, I took my first real look

  at Jack in months. His gray hair was neatly combed, if

  slightly disheveled due to the weather. His face had

  none of the red ruddiness I was used to, and his cheeks

  seemed fuller. Jack’s beard was neatly trimmed, cut

  razor sharp along his jawline, and he looked like he’d

  put on a few pounds.

  “You look good,” I said, patting him on the shoulder.

  “Scratch that, this is the best I’ve seen you look since

  we meet. Where have you been?”

  “Away,” Jack said. “We can discuss the wheres and

  whys later. Just think of what I went through as dialysis

  of the soul.”

  “I’m getting a disturbing image of you passing

  Ghandi through your urethra.” Jack laughed, a quick ha.

  “It’s good to see you, kid. Been a long time. I spoke

  to Wallace before. He filled me in on what you’ve been

  up to, you busy little bee.”

  “You already talked to Wallace?”

  “Hell, yes, my young friend, I spent all of last night

  in the office, getting reacquainted with my computer.

  Making sure nobody stole my Rolodex. And asking

  him for permission to chase one particular story.”

  “Oh yeah? What’s that?”

  “Well,” Jack said, “while I was on my little sabbati­

  cal, I got the Gazette delivered to me every day. Gen­

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  317

  erally it was the same old stuff. World’s going to hell

  in a handbasket, the dollar can barely buy so much as

  a loaf of bread, foreign investors are buying the Statue

  of Liberty. And Paulina Cole still has a job. All things

  that make you want to hide under your bed and cry.

  Then I read one story last week, and that’s when I knew

  I was ready to step back into the light.”

  “What story was that?” I asked.

  “Stephen Gaines’s murder,” Jack said. His face was

  now solemn. The grin gone.

  “I didn’t write that.”

  “I know you didn’t. Wallace told me he wouldn’t let

  you since Gaines was your half brother. But there was

  one line in that story I knew came from you. Wallace

  told me how close you were, how you were right there

 

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