Chapter 16 - No More Favors
They met in the Blue Hour's empty dining room at eleven on Monday. Denise had approved the visit on condition there would be no staff interruption. The neon was switched off; in daylight the place looked smaller, more tired, and less impressive.
Victor was already there. He wore the same gray sweater he'd worn at their apartment. A paper cup of coffee sat untouched beside him.
“I'm sorry about Rosie,” he said as soon as Nora sat. “I knew she was outside. I thought Malik would move her around to the front while I finished with you. I didn't tell him where you were because I wanted you to stay and sign.”
Nora didn't answer.
“I didn't think she'd be out there that long.”
“That isn't the defense you think it is,” Ben said.
“I know.” Victor rubbed his thumb against the cup lid. “I was angry. Nora used to be the one Dad chased after. I stayed and did the ugly work, and I started thinking I deserved something for it.”
“You deserved a chance to leave,” Nora said. “You chose to make everyone else stay.”
Victor looked up sharply. The sentence seemed to reach him more deeply than an insult would have.
Sal arrived a few minutes later, not to surprise anyone—Nora had agreed to let him join for the second half of the meeting. He sat at a separate table until Victor invited him over.
“I wanted you proud,” Victor told him.
“I used to say I was,” Sal answered. “I never told you what I wanted you to be proud of.”
Victor laughed without smiling. “Now you're going to teach me right from wrong?”
“No. I should've tried that twenty years ago.”
Sal placed a folder on the table, still closed. “Julia's reviewing my own decisions. I've told her about the orders I gave. You've got your own lawyer. Don't take advice from me about what to admit or deny.”
Victor watched him for a long time. “You're really going to let them look into us.”
“I can't fix what happened to Ben by making somebody else lie about it.”
Victor pushed his cup aside. “What happens to me?”
“I don't know.”
It was the first truthful answer Sal had given his son in a long time without trying to soften it.
Outside, a delivery truck bumped over a pothole and rattled the front window. Victor's eyes went briefly to the door.
Nora stood. “Rosie doesn't owe you a visit. If she ever asks to see you, we'll talk about it then.”
Victor nodded. He didn't ask for a hug.
May you like
As they left, Sal stayed behind with his son. Their conversation would be longer, messier, and private. Nora no longer had to stand between them and make it end well.
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