Malabarista

WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 5
chapter 21

“Roz needs a walk.” Lane sipped coffee while he sat on the deck.

Roz’s head lifted at the mention of the word “walk.” Arthur dropped his chin, pretending, unconvincingly, to be asleep.

A car door closed. Roz lifted her head.

“What time do the kids get home?” Lane asked.

“Christine won’t be back ’til six. She’s driving the beer cart today. Matt should be back by noon.” Arthur reached for his coffee. He winced with pain.

Roz barked. The doorbell rang. Lane got up. “I’ll get it. Need a refill?”

“Please.” Arthur handed Lane his cup.

Roz followed Lane into the house.

Arthur closed his eyes and felt the warmth of the sun on his face and arms. He heard muffled voices inside the house. He opened his eyes when the back door opened.

“Hello.” Joseph stood in the doorway wearing a black golf shirt and casual grey pants.

“Go ahead and sit, I’ll bring out some coffee.” Lane looked at Arthur with an unreadable expression.

“It’s nice back here.” Joseph sat down and looked around at the variety of marigolds and gladiolas. He bent to pet Roz. She growled and backed away to get closer to Arthur. She crawled underneath his chair. The hair along her back stood up in a ridge.

Lane opened the back door, balancing a tray with three coffee cups, milk, and sugar. He set it down on the table.

“Where’s Christine?” Joseph asked.

“At work.” Lane caught a whiff of his brother’s aftershave. Smells like money.

“Oh? Where?”

“A golf course.” Lane bent down to pet and reassure Roz. “Which one?”

“Lynx Ridge. Matt works there too.” Lane watched his brother, who was avoiding eye contact. Lane fixed a fresh cup of coffee for Arthur and handed it to him.

Joseph stood to add sugar and cream to his coffee. He sipped. “Very good.”

Lane waited for Arthur to take the first sip of his coffee, then got up and fixed his own.

“Are you the person with the green thumb?” Joseph asked Arthur.

“Yes. It gets me outside.” Arthur studied Lane as he sat down.

“Very nice.” Joseph nodded with approval at what he saw.

What do you want? “You were in the neighbourhood? On your way to a golf game?”

Joseph sipped his coffee and looked at Roz, who kept watch from under Lane’s chair. “I thought perhaps we could reach an agreement over the will. There has been correspondence from your lawyer, a Mr. Thomas Pham.”

“Tom is our lawyer.” Lane looked at Arthur.

“It would be better if we settled this one like family.” Lane noted the patronizing tone in his brother’s voice.

Joseph looked at Arthur as if he expected him to get up and leave them alone.

“Arthur’s my family. As are Matt and Christine.” Lane felt the old rage clawing its way up his throat. Use it! It’ll keep your mind sharp!

“Very well,” Joseph replied, his voice dripping with disapproval.

You didn’t think I would get a lawyer. You thought it was a bluff. The realization almost made Lane smile. “What do you want?”

“I want to settle the will.” Joseph met Lane’s eyes and looked away.

“As I said before, we have two children to educate.” Lane set his coffee down. Before I throw it in his face! He’ll do anything to keep this quiet, to keep it out of the papers. Joseph Lane’s brother is gay!

Joseph inhaled. He pulled a pen and two sheets of paper from his pocket. He slid one over to Lane. “You write down a figure that you think is fair, and I’ll write down what I think is fair. Then we’ll negotiate.”

“We need a third piece of paper.” Lane looked at Arthur.

Arthur shook his head. “It’s okay,” he told Lane. “You take care of it.”

Joseph wrote down a figure and folded the paper in half.

Lane worked out the price of books and tuition in his head, then multiplied by two. Then he thought, Fuck you! He wrote down a number, added two zeroes, and showed it to Arthur, who blanched.

Joseph slid his number over to Lane and waited for Lane to do the same.

Lane opened his brother’s piece of paper and looked at the figure. He worked the numbers in his head. It’ll cover school for Christine and Matt with some left over.

“Your figure is a bit imaginative,” Joseph said.

“Yours is a bit frugal.” Lane folded the paper in half and folded it again. “Besides, my number includes Mr. Pham’s expenses.”

“A very generous fee.” Joseph pretended to sip his coffee.

Lane waited and watched his brother. He could hear Arthur set his cup on the table.

Roz groaned.

Joseph tapped his close-cut manicured fingernails on the cup.

Lane closed his eyes. “Perhaps the best way to settle this is the way a family would. A bit of give and take. We add the two numbers and divide by two. Then I phone Thomas to get his approval.” Lane opened his eyes.

Joseph rubbed his bottom lip with his thumb and forefinger. “Agreed. Thomas will contact me with the amount we’ve agreed on, then?” Joseph stood up.

“I don’t foresee any complications.” Lane remained seated. He watched his brother open the back door, enter the kitchen, and close the door behind him.

“Aren’t you going to say goodbye to him?” Arthur asked.

“We did that a long time ago.” Lane drank his coffee.

“How does it feel?” Arthur asked.

“How does what feel?”

Arthur looked at his coffee cup. “Being bought off.”