These Dreams of You

~ ~ ~

Father and son spend the next day packing. Zan moves by rote; he can barely think at all. He arranges with the front desk to leave their bags behind; he has no idea how to explain that he can’t settle the bill. Ruling out the clandestine escape in the night, nonetheless he can’t stand the prospect of humiliating himself before his son.

The woman at the desk says, “Yes, Mr. Nordhoc, it’s taken care of.”

“What?” says Zan.

She looks at the computer. “Mr. Brown has taken care of it,” and Zan is too relieved to feel bruised. Well, you’re all right then, James, he thinks to himself; maybe this is the first sign of straits at their most dire, when pride dies.