Free Seize the Day by Curtis Bunn Page B

“Neither of you really cared about Walter. That’s obvious. If you did you would have shown some semblance of remorse about all this. But you’re here looking for his money?”
    â€œUncle Donovan, you really should not be here. You haven’t talked to my dad in years. You claim it was about his behavior off his meds. But I ain’t stupid. You thought your wife liked him so you stayed away.”
    â€œWhere you get that from, boy?”
    â€œBoy? Boy? I’m a man. And I got it from your wife, that’s who.”
    â€œWhat?”
    â€œYeah, at the family reunion about three years ago. She said she felt responsible that you and my dad were not talking. I asked her why and she said you came up to them while they were on the dance floor with an attitude at some party years before. But the reality was that she had her arms around my father. She said she was drunk and flirting and you held it against him , not her.”
    Donovan threw onto the desk a pile of papers he had in his hand. I could tell Walter Jr. had been waiting to share that bit of news for a long time.
    â€œMy dad didn’t want your wife. He introduced you to her. If he wanted her, he probably would have tried to get her instead of introducing you to her.”
    â€œMy wife is my wife. That did happen, but Walt and I were already having issues. That just sealed it for me.”
    I couldn’t help but interject.
    â€œI don’t get people,” I said. “If your wife was flirting with Walter, why were you mad at him? You should take that up with your wife, don’t you think? If you know your brother wouldn’t try to get your wife—if he introduced you to your wife—why would you be angry at him to where you don’t communicate with him?
    â€œOn top of that, you knew he was bipolar. So when he’s reaching out to you for the last few years and you’re just ignoring him, don’t you think that affected him?”
    â€œWalter Jr. is as much at fault as me.”
    â€œWhat are you talking about?”
    â€œYou didn’t think I knew, did you? I know you went to rehab for cocaine use about two years ago. I know your father paid for it and he was worried about you. I know you broke into this house and took his flat screen TV and sold it for money, that you took his Apple desktop computer and sold it. That you robbed your own father to get money for drugs.
    â€œAnd after you got arrested, my brother bailed you out and sent you to rehab. He didn’t press charges and you did not have to do jail time. But you broke his heart. You know Walt was a do-gooder. He taught you the same thing. But you became a crack head and broke his heart.”
    I thought I was standing inside a soap opera. I didn’t know what to say.
    â€œMy dad and I made peace with that. We talked it out and made peace.”
    â€œIf you made peace, why weren’t you seeing him or in contact with him for the last few years?” I asked. I figured that since I was in the middle of it, I might as well get clarity.
    â€œMy wife didn’t want me to. She believed my dad was a reminder of a bad time in my life and that to move on. I needed a fresh start.”
    â€œYou’re joking, right? The man who brought you into this world, who bailed you out of jail and sent you to rehab to get your life in order…that’s the man you need to stay away from? How weak is that? How weak are you ?”
    Ordinarily, I would not speak so candidly. But my life was coming to an end and I knew it. I had no time to be subtle.
    â€œYou can’t judge me; you don’t know me or my life.”
    â€œMan, look: I can give you my opinion based on being here right now and what you just said. Why you think you’re entitled to your dad’s money after being so wrong to him—both of you—is sad.”
    I turned and walked away. I could hear them talking then arguing with raised voices and by the