The Novelist Pt. 04

"Money doesn't buy happiness, Sir." She said. "Money only buys more expensive problems."

******

John stood in his living room while he dialed his son's number. He was standing in front of the mantle staring at a photo of Tom and him at the Pinewood Derby race for Boy Scouts. He remembered how proud his son had been. He insisted on making the car himself from the small kit. John tried to oversee it while his son had carved the wood block and painted the racing stripes on its side. As he looked at the picture he felt an awful pang of guilt. He listened to the phone ring until his son had finally answered.

Tom had been disturbed by the familiar ringtone, which pulled him out of his reverie with Alexis. He saw the number come up on his screen, and he walked a small distance away as if the distance would protect her or him from some uncomfortable reality.

"Hello?" he said as he answered the phone.

"Hi, Tom, it's dad." The tone wasn't contentious or malicious. Tom just thought it sounded sad and perhaps pathetic.

"Hi. I'm glad you called." Tom replied.

"Yeah. I was just... um... well you said that you were going to talk to your mother..."

"Look, dad," Tom said. "She's agreed to sit down and talk with you in person."

"That's good news." His father stated.

"There are a few conditions."

"Conditions?" The ire in John's voice began to rise as he tried to control his temper. "She's giving me conditions? Just to have a fucking conversation?"

Tom tried to catch him before he said something stupid. For a moment, Tom thought that maybe his father was getting to a point where he could be rational.

"Before you lose it, just listen to me. She wants to meet you in person, not on the phone."

This didn't sound so bad to John. "Alright. What else?"

"She wants you to come out to Los Angeles. The thought of going home is very emotional for her. I honestly think it benefits you."

"Are you kidding?!" He complained. "I have to drop everything to fly out there? I have a job!"

"There's more." Tom said. "She wants me to be present."

"Absolutely not!" John had lost control of his anger. "I'm not airing my fucking laundry in front of you. This is ridiculous. She's being ridiculous."

"Look, dad, whether you think she's being ridiculous or not, she watched you fucking a masseuse and then listened to you lie about it. All judgment aside from me, she's not exactly dying to sit down with you. It was hard enough to get her to agree to this. Just fly out. You can be in and out in a day if time's an issue. But trust me, if you don't come out then it's going to be strictly lawyers."

His anger boiled over. "I will not be held hostage by her inability to talk to me. If I fly out there then it'll just be so I can see the look on her face when I tell her to fuck off."

"That's up to you. She asked me to be there. I said yes. You can say whatever you want to her."

"Of course you said you'd be there for her. She's trying to get everyone to pick sides. Fine." He blurted. "I'll be there as soon as possible. I'll let you know when I get a fucking ticket."

John hung up the phone, and stomped into the kitchen grabbing a beer from the fridge before angrily popping the cap. Nothing was working out in his favor lately, he thought. He couldn't fuck Angie. He couldn't fuck his wife. He couldn't even muster an iota of respect from anyone. John Bolden was mad at the world.

He picked up the phone and called his son again. He was damned sure not going to get walked over by everyone. He waited for Tom to answer the phone, and then he launched into a tirade saying just how he felt.

"You know what?" He said "I'll be out there on Monday. I don't know what the fuck your mother is thinking. How long is she going to sleep on your couch in your little apartment? At what point is she going to have to come back home and live her life? Huh? I fucked someone else, okay? Big deal. So, what's she going to do? Throw away our marriage? You know I wouldn't have had to fuck anyone else if she wasn't such a prude. I've worked my whole life to support you and her. I've gone to work every day building a retirement so one day I could stop working and live the life I wanted. I'm not letting her take it from me. If she wants to move on with her life then fine, but she can't have a penny. No one is gonna want a middle-aged woman that doesn't put out. So I'll be there on Monday, and she can tell me whatever she wants. Then I'll look her in the face and tell her how worthless she is."

He hung up again feeling better that he had gotten it out of system. He wasn't sure why he had felt bad for his son. The kid was thirty years old. He wasn't responsible for him anymore. As far as John was concerned, his son was just prolonging this whole fiasco by giving his mother safe harbor. Well that wasn't going to be the case for much longer. John was going to tell her just where she could shove her divorce proceedings.

******

"What happened?" Alexis asked looking up from the blanket.

"He's coming out." Tom said. "He'll be here on Monday. You know for a second, I thought he sounded like the man I remembered. He almost sounded remorseful. He's gotten so angry. I was hoping we could just sit and be rational, but he wants conflict. It's like he needs it or something."

"What are you going to do, Sir?" Alexis asked concerned.

"I'm going to give it to him, Lexi." Tom replied.

******

To be continued...

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