Chapter 14 - THE LAST TIME HE ASKED HER TO SAVE HIM
Walter came to the Wayne house on a cold Tuesday in November.
Evelyn had agreed to meet him there with Denise and Mr. Cho present.
Most rooms were already half-packed.
Walter stopped in the foyer.
“You’re really selling.”
“Yes.”
“To Keystone?”
“No.”
He looked surprised.
“Who?”
“I don’t know yet.”
“You don’t have a buyer?”
“No.”
“Then why pack?”
“I bought a condominium.”
Walter stared at her.
“You bought something without telling me.”
The sentence was so absurd that Denise almost laughed.
Evelyn didn’t.
“Yes.”
Walter walked into the living room.
Frank’s recliner was gone.
Family photographs were boxed.
A white rectangle marked the wall where the grandfather clock had stood.
“This looks wrong.”
“It looks temporary.”
Walter touched the mantel.
“When were you going to tell me?”
“When I wanted to.”
He turned.
For once, anger did not come.
Only grief.
“I really did take care of you.”
Evelyn’s chest tightened.
“I know.”
“I didn’t fake all of that.”
“I know.”
“I loved Dad.”
“I know.”
“I love you.”
“I know.”
His eyes filled.
“Then how did we get here?”
That was the most honest question he had asked.
Evelyn answered just as honestly.
“You started believing love meant you could decide for me.”
Walter looked away.
“And I kept forgiving smaller versions of that because admitting what was happening would’ve meant admitting my son was becoming someone I was afraid of.”
He swallowed.
“I’m not dangerous.”
“You took my cane.”
His face tightened.
“I was angry.”
“You grabbed my injured hand.”
“I never meant to hurt you.”
“You tried to make my body cooperate after I said no.”
Walter looked down.
That finally landed without an argument attached.
Evelyn stepped closer.
“I am not saying you are only the worst thing you did.”
He looked up.
“But I am also not calling it something smaller so you can survive hearing it.”
Walter sat on the edge of the sofa.
After a long silence, he asked:
“If I sign everything, is there any chance you stop the reports?”
“No.”
His face fell.
“The reports already describe what happened. Other people will decide what they do with that information.”
“My business is finished.”
“Maybe.”
“My kids barely answer me.”
“I know.”
“And you’re still selling the house.”
“Yes.”
He laughed softly, bitterly.
“So what do I get for doing the right thing now?”
Evelyn looked at him.
“Nothing.”
Walter stared.
“You do it because it’s right.”
The answer seemed to offend him.
Then exhaust him.
Mr. Cho placed the revised agreement on the coffee table.
Walter read each page.
Slowly.
For once, nobody rushed him.
Nobody held his hand.
Nobody told him where to sign.
When he reached the acknowledgment that Evelyn had never authorized the property transfer, he stopped.
He looked toward the front window.
Then at his mother.
“I thought there would always be time to fix it after.”
Evelyn understood more than she wanted to.
“That is how people lose things they thought were permanent.”
May you like
Walter signed.
Then he handed the pen back.
