Chapter 10 - The Old Man's Signature
Sal met Julia Serrano in her office overlooking a street where delivery trucks double-parked with casual confidence. He brought a cardboard file box. Its bottom was soft from being kept too long in a damp closet.
Julia opened the first folder. “You've been signing broad authorizations for Victor for years.”
“He handled operations.”
“Then you need to tell me what that meant. Not what you hoped it meant.”
Sal described security contracts, informal collection calls, and agreements he had approved without reading. He didn't confess to offenses he didn't know about. He did admit when he'd knowingly allowed intimidation to settle a disagreement. Julia took notes and told him cooperation with authorities might carry legal and financial consequences he couldn't predict.
“Good intentions don't erase past actions,” she said.
“I know.”
“You keep saying that. I need you to act like it.”
Back at the club, Victor was arranging shifts around Malik's removal from the door. He still paid Malik, but made him work nights stacking supplies far from customers. Malik hated the humiliation. He hated even more that he had done something similar to a frightened little girl.
He found Sal outside the kitchen.
“I'll give a statement,” Malik said. “The real one. What I did. What Victor ordered. All of it.”
“Don't do it for me.”
“I'm not.”
Sal nodded and put him in contact with an independent attorney. He also ordered the manager to restore Malik's normal hours pending a formal review, though Malik decided he would look for another employer anyway.
At home, Ben had received a partial paycheck from the transit depot. He was still doing his regular shifts, but the truck held the tools he needed for the extra repair jobs that covered Rosie's school expenses. They could pay rent; they couldn't keep replacing lost income forever.
Nora unfolded a grocery receipt at the table and began crossing things off.
“Don't cut her birthday,” Ben said.
“It's not until next month.”
“I know when her birthday is.”
She pressed the pencil so hard the lead broke. “I know. Sorry.”
Ben took her hand. “I don't need you to be fine.”
The words nearly undid her.
That evening Sal phoned Nora. He told her he had preserved the business records and was considering a formal change of management. He did not promise Victor would go quietly.
“Do what you have to,” she said. “But don't tell Rosie you've fixed it until something is actually fixed.”
After the call, Nora found a folded drawing under Rosie's pillow. It showed their apartment, the little yellow chairs, and a tall gray-haired figure standing outside a fence.
May you like
Above his head, Rosie had written in uneven letters: LET HIM IN?
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