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“Oh, no, nothing like that. I own too much stock to be fired. It’s my company, Benny. Or rather my grandfather’s, then my father’s, then mine, and now my nephew’s. I was ready for a change in life. I just haven’t decided exactly what, yet.”
“And your family?” Ben asked. “They don’t mind?”
“My mother minds very much, as does the board, but Jeff has been working for the company for a long time now and he’s brilliant. Handing the company over to him was the right move, both for me and for him. And for the company as well. New blood is a good thing.”
Ben’s brow creased. “What about your wife? Does she care?”
Hudson, who wasn’t supposed to be listening but did anyway, snorted a laugh. “As if.”
Simon felt his cheeks grow hot. “As Hudson so elegantly pointed out, I am a confirmed bachelor. No wife. Just me.”
“Oh, that’s right. I remember you telling me that now. The confirmed bachelor thing,” Ben said his cheeks gone pink. “Me, too. But being alone isn’t all bad,” he added. “Yeah, it can be lonely, but I think it’s better sometimes to have no one around telling me…” Another pause, and then he said, “things. Things that aren’t nice. Being on your own is better than that.”
Simon had the strongest urge to pull Ben against him and hold him close. There were words under his spoken words that Simon could almost hear and didn’t like the sound of them at all.
Hudson stopped the car in front of a house. As was common, there was barely a foot of space between it and its neighbors. Most of the houses and two-flats had a cared-for look about them. Trim was painted, sidewalks shoveled, and lights on porches twinkled invitingly. The house Hudson pulled up in front of was far shabbier than any of the others around it.
“This is your house?” Simon asked with apprehension.
“No. I mean yes, this is where I live, but I rent an apartment in it. It’s not much, but it’s in my price range.” Ben laughed nervously. “So. Thank you very much, sir. Thank you for everything.” Again he bit his lip, not looking in the least bit happy. “So. Goodbye.” He moved to open his door but Hudson beat him to it.
“That walk looks slippery, sir. Let me help you to the house.”
Simon watched the two of them walk away from the Rover, trying not to feel like something was being torn away from him. He enjoyed the other man's company, that was all. He was sweet and genuine and like no one Simon had ever met before.
He wondered what name Ben had come up with for him. He hadn’t missed that Ben avoided volunteering what it was. Not Old Businessman, surely, but probably something similar. Old Man With All the Coats, maybe.
Lost in his thoughts, it took a while for Simon to realize that he’d been sitting alone in the car for quite some time. Concerned, he took Hudson’s key fob and powered down the Rover then locked it behind him. What on earth had delayed Hudson?
He walked carefully in shoes that weren’t meant for traversing snow and ice. The walk was indeed treacherous, and it didn’t help that no one had shoveled the snow here recently. Over the past day or so they’d gotten about two inches of accumulation and now it had frozen into a death trap of uneven ice and packed snow. Simon made it to the front door eventually. The front porch had no light—just an empty socket—and was strewn with discarded cans and bottles and cigarette butts.
Simon tried pushing the doorbell but he couldn’t hear anything and thought it must be broken. After a while, he knocked on the door. When that also provided no response, Simon started banging on it with his fist.
Abruptly it was yanked open by a middle-aged man wearing jeans and a t-shirt full of holes. He had a pot belly barely covered by the shirt and a deeply receding hairline. “What the fuck do you want?” the man snarled. Behind him was the barking of what sounded like several dogs. “Make it quick or the puppies’ll get out.”
It took Simon a few seconds to take it all in. “I’m here for my—friend.” Substituting friend for driver seemed like a smart move in the situation and it wasn’t a lie. Simon trusted Hudson with his life. “We brought Ben home because he didn’t have a ride. Hudson escorted him to the house but it’s been several minutes and he hasn’t come back.”
The man gave Simon an incredulous look. “You’re bringing that boy home because he didn’t have a ride? Yeah, right. Never figured the kid was earning money on his back—or knees. Ha! Probably his knees. It just goes to show you never know people. I hope you paid him really well because the kid owes me money.”
Bile rose up in Simon’s throat. The man had a disgusting mind. Simon didn’t bother telling him the truth. There was absolutely no point. “Please,” he said as politely as he could, “take me to his apartment. I’m sure that’s where Hudson is.”
“Name’s Kyle by the way. And I just bet that’s where your ‘friend’ is. Probably wanted to get in a quickie before heading home. Sorta like dessert, am I right?”
Simon was not and had never been a violent man. He didn’t own a gun and he’d never been in a physical fight with another person. Nevertheless, something primitive rose up inside Simon and wanted to destroy this Kyle person slowly and painfully. Simon balled his hands into fists unconsciously. He noticed what he’d done and made his hands relax. “Ben’s apartment, please.”
“Apartment.” Kyle laughed. “Don’t that sound all fancy? It’s just a space in the basement he rents from me. I got two families living on the upper floor, too. One of ‘em has a baby that screams constantly, but the rents more than pay for the mortgage and taxes. Can you believe that? Real estate is just crazy right now and don’t get me started on taxes.”
Simon had no intention of getting Kyle started about anything.
Inside the house was dingy and smelled like wet dog and mildew. “Scuse me for a second. Gotta lock the dogs up.”
Two dogs that looked like badly bred rottweilers on steroids barked and snarled and tried to get past a barrier of sorts that had been erected in front of a hall door. Kyle stepped over the mess, nearly unbalancing, then grabbed each dog by its collar and dragged them away somewhere deeper in the house. While he was alone Simon thought he saw something skitter across the floor out the corner of his eye. He dearly hoped it was his imagination.
After several shouts and threats and a slamming door, Kyle came back. “Where were we? Oh, yeah, taxes. Fuck Cook County taxes, amiright? Okay, through here. Mind the water on the floor. Dishwasher’s busted.”
Kyle led Simon through a kitchen where every surface was piled high with debris. The smell of mold and burnt food and cabbage hung in the air. The floor was flooded with dark gray water. Things were floating in it that Simon didn’t want to think about. He never thought he was particularly squeamish but after being here for just a few minutes he felt like his body needed to go through decontamination.
“Okay,” Kyle went on. “It’s just around this corner and down the stairs. There’s no railing so watch it. And there’s water down here, too. Damn water heater got busted on me, too. I can’t catch a fucking break. Hey, for real I hope that friend of yours isn’t really fucking that boy because I just ate and ugh.” Kyle made gagging noises. “I mean the kid’s obviously a fag—it’s written all over him and you just have to hear him talk to know—but I never got the impression he was any kind of sex maniac like most of them are. You know what I’m talking about, right? Anyway, before today I’d have said the kid had never gotten any in his entire life. I guess you just never know.”
