After a knock on the door, Martin himself answered, wearing an oversize T-shirt.
“AP? What are you doing here?”
“Hey, bud. Can I come in?”
A confused Martin nodded and stepped aside. Inside, the TV was blaring. An elderly woman was sitting on the couch watching some talk show at an extraordinarily high volume.
“That’s my grandma,” Martin said. Arthur raised his hand to wave, but Martin quickly grabbed it. “Don’t draw attention to yourself. She gets confused and she’ll probably think you’re here to rob us.”
“Understood. I don’t want to frighten her.”
“Oh, it’s not her I’m worried about,” Martin said ominously.
Arthur shook the comment off. “I’m actually here to do the exact opposite.”
“Why are you being sus? You’re freaking me out.”
Come on, Arthur, just come out with it already.He led Martin into the kitchen, out of Grandma’s sight, and took a look around as they walked. The inside of the house was no better than the outside. It looked like someone had made a valiant attempt to keep things clean—probably Martin—but there were a number of burned-out lightbulbs, blinking appliances, and loose floorboards. The place was in dire need of a handyman.
“Is it just the two of you here, you and her?”
Martin nodded. He remembered now, hearing a rumorlast year that Martin’s parents weren’t around. Kid always got his work done, never acted out, never let it show. But now it was all too painfully obvious. From what Wren had told him, she had spent a lot of time in a house not too unlike this. It was a tough and lonely way to grow up.
“Well, listen,” Arthur said. “I know it’s not much, but I really wanted you to have this. No strings. No paying me back. You can get that trumpet if you still want, or anything else you might need.”
He pulled the wad of bills out of his pocket and held it out.
Martin just shook his head no.
“I can’t take that.”
“It’s for you. It’s really OK.”
“Nah, my grandma will kill me if she finds out I took a handout.” An elderly boomer. Of course she would. “She says people should work for their money. What I don’t get is why it’s OK for her to get checks from the government, though.”
“Don’t waste your brain power, it’ll never make sense. Listen.” Arthur thought. He considered just accepting the boy’s answer and leaving. But no. He was here on a mission. He needed to be confident, have the right attitude, like Wren said. No one was ever going to look up to him if he couldn’t project strength and authority. “If she asks, just tell her it’s an investment.”
“An investment? In what?”
“Anything. You’re a smart kid. I did all kinds of stuff when I was your age. I mowed lawns, washed people’s cars. You get a bucket, some soap, and a sponge and you can make yourself a good little allowance.”
Martin pressed his lips together, thinking, staring at the money. But he still wasn’t moving to take it. Arthur decided,even though it physically pained him, to try some of Tristan’s advice.
“You know, when I was a kid, I really wanted to go to this chess tournament that was out of state. My parents said I could go, but I had to pay my own way.”
“That sucks.”
“Yeah. The difference was, I had the money. I told you, I worked all the time when I was a kid. I could have afforded it. But I was so uptight and scared to let it go that…well, I still think about what I might have missed out on.”
Martin nodded, understanding.
“It would really help me out if you’d take this, so I know my mistake wasn’t for nothing.”
Damn, Arthur. That was good, he thought. He was proud of himself, and especially so because every word had been true.
Finally, Martin reached out and took the cash.
“OK. But just as an investment.”
