The Night the Rich Men Burned (32 page)

Arnie’s actually relieved. This sounds like no big deal. A few punches thrown in a nightclub. Bouncers chucked him out. Chances are nobody even called the cops. As soon as the door was shut behind him, they all forgot him and got back to their partying. The odds are slim that last night’s incident will draw the police to Glass, which is good. This boy wouldn’t cope with a police interrogation. If he burst out crying and confessed to Arnie, what would he be like with some rough detective barking at him? He’d crumble. He’d tell them everything. He’d end up looking at fifteen years, minimum. Worse than that, he would grass the people that made him do it. Then he’d be a walking target.

Let him finish eating in peace. Let him sit back in the chair, a little uncomfortable at having a full stomach for the first time in a long time. A boy making no effort to look after himself. Holding those bruises on his stomach. They did look bad last night. In normal circumstances, Arnie would insist on him going to see a doctor. These are not normal circumstances. Glass won’t go to a doctor. Won’t go near anything that looks like authority.

It’s Glass who breaks the silence while Arnie washes the dishes. ‘About what I said last night,’ Glass is saying. You can tell he’s thought about how to bring it up. Tried to work out the best tone to use with Arnie. ‘About, you know, killing that guy. I don’t . . . I would appreciate it if you didn’t tell anyone.’

Arnie’s looking at him with a raised eyebrow. ‘Of course I’m not going to tell anyone. It never occurred to me for one second to tell anyone. But you have to do me a favour in exchange.’

Glass is looking at him. A little bit crestfallen. Didn’t expect Arnie to be demanding favours from him. ‘Okay.’

‘You have to promise me that you’re going to get your life in order, okay? I mean, come on, look at you. You’re in a bad place right now, and I don’t like to see that. I want you to sort yourself out. I want you to get your life back under control. I’m willing to help you, lad. I am. But you have to be willing to help yourself. You have to want to change this life of yours.’

Glass is crying again. This time it came from nowhere. He had no intention of crying. Wasn’t emotional. Just suddenly came bursting out of him. Someone offering to help. Someone who cares enough to help. Not wanting anything in exchange. Just wanting to help.

Arnie’s no social worker. He’s no good at the old give-us-a-hug stuff. He’s standing back at the sink and letting the boy cry it out at the table. When he’s quite finished with the emotional stuff, Arnie will start talking again. They’ll try and come up with something. A plan that’ll direct Glass back onto the right path.

Strange to see him this way, young Alex Glass. He was a strong and independent kid. Always in trouble, which is why Arnie didn’t like Oliver hanging out with him. But he was independent. Went and got a place of his own when he was eighteen. Always seemed to earn enough money to keep him going. Not sure how, but he always did. He seemed like a kid who knew how to point forwards. But now? Now is different. Now he’s stuck in the spiral.

They spend nearly an hour talking round in circles. They both want the same thing. Neither has any clear idea on how they’re going to get it. Glass is walking home now. His stomach still hurts, but he can walk without bending over. He’s not the wreck he was last night. Back to the flat. Not expecting to find anyone there. Surprised to find Ella sitting on the couch in the living room, her phone in her hand.

‘Hello,’ he’s saying. Uncertain.

‘Where have you been?’ she’s saying, getting up from the couch and walking to him. She said it louder than she intended, more emotional than she realized. ‘I didn’t know where you were. I went back to the club. I looked around for you. I was going to call the hospitals, or the police, I don’t . . . Where have you been?’

‘I stayed at a friend’s,’ he’s saying, nodding slowly. ‘Didn’t want to, uh, walk all the way home last night. I was pretty out of it. His place was closer.’

There’s an awkward silence. Each filling the silence with thoughts of what the other’s just said. Ella said she went back to the club looking for him. Back to it. So she went with the guy. Left him there and went with the guy. Has to do her work. Has to earn money. She’s thinking about Glass, not being able to make it home.

‘How are you now?’ she’s asking quietly.

Glass is nodding. ‘I’ll be okay. Little bruised, nothing more than that.’

‘Okay.’

More of that silence. Both building up to a big conversation. Just a question of who gets there first. It’s Glass.

‘Can we sit down, and talk?’

‘Yes,’ Ella’s nodding. She’s not sure if this is promising or ominous. They’re both on the couch now.

‘Listen, Ella. Thing is, last night. I . . . well, thing is, it was like, a wake-up call. That’s what I’m trying to say. Last night, it was a wake-up call for me. We need to look at, uh, the way we’re living.’

‘Yes,’ she’s saying, and nodding her head enthusiastically. This is what she wants to hear. Glass accepting that he’s been behaving poorly for the last few months. Committing to changing that behaviour.

‘Yes,’ he’s saying, and smiling. ‘Good, yes. And I think we can. We might need a bit of help, but we can get that. And we’re both young, we can do what we want to do. I’ll go find something serious. Something proper. Make some real money. And you can find something as well. It’ll be so much better.’

She’s not nodding now. She’s frowning a little, because she thinks she can see what this is. This is Glass trying to come up with some conniving way to get her to change her job. Stop her doing what she’s been doing. If that’s what the last few months have been about . . .

‘How do you think I’m going to change my job?’ she’s asking quietly. ‘What am I going to do? We have no money. You’re not earning anything. You haven’t been able to find anything for ages. And I won’t be able to find anything else. Not for a while, anyway. So what are we going to use for money in the meantime? Alex, you’re not thinking.’

‘But we need to change.’

‘I know that,’ she’s saying, voice rising. ‘I know that. And I want to. But we have no money, and we need to have money. I have to work. If you’re not working then I have to, and this is the only thing I know how to do.’

‘I will find something,’ Glass is shouting. ‘I will. I will find something, okay.’

This shouldn’t have turned into an argument. Glass is sighing. Ella’s getting up from the couch, going through to the bedroom. Her relief at his return has been wrecked. Felt like he was blaming her. Glass is sitting on the couch, wishing he was better at explaining the things he wants. The things he’s sure they can get. He has Arnie to help him now. They have the chance at a life they can be proud to live. A life that isn’t lived under a ticking clock. Waiting for time to run out.

10

You make sacrifices. That’s how you do it. That’s how you help people. Especially people who are in real trouble. They need help. You give it. You lose a little something along the way. Dignity, for one thing. Something you spent sixty years clinging on to. Believing it’s the one thing of value you have left. The one thing you have to protect ahead of everything else. Arnold Peterkinney has clung on to his dignity long past the point anyone else noticed he still had it. Now he’s going to let a little go.

He’s telling himself that he’s doing it for the right reasons. That’s supposed to make it easier, isn’t it? When you’re doing it for someone else. Doing it to help them. Your sacrifice becomes something noble, rather than something pathetic. Doesn’t help. Not a damn bit. It’s humiliating, and that’s all it is.

He’s been standing across the road from Oliver’s office for more than ten minutes. Making sure his grandson’s in there. Hoping that other fellow in the office will leave. Oliver’s there. So is the other one. Some poor-looking bastard went in a few minutes ago. Arnie’s waiting for him to leave. Doesn’t want anyone else in there. Not unless it’s unavoidable. He’ll tell the other one to leave as well. Just him and Oliver. But then, it’s only Oliver’s opinion he cares about.

There was a day that boy wouldn’t have sneered at him. Wouldn’t have dared. Wouldn’t have wanted to. Today he’ll be in his element. Revelling in what Arnie’s going to ask. He’ll be one snide remark away from a punch in the mouth. Arnie might be older than him and smaller than him. He might love the boy. But he will punch him in the bloody mouth if he pushes his luck.

The fellow who went in looking sorry is coming out looking sorrier. Actually looks scared. Went in looking for a favour and didn’t find any waiting. Poor sod. Another one like Glass. Another one who couldn’t see another way. Ah, the hell is he standing here thinking this for? Get in there, get this done. The sooner it’s over, the sooner he can go home and punch a wall.

Across the street and pulling open the office door. Oliver and the other one are in the same seats they had yesterday. They’re both looking at him as he comes in. There’s a glare from Oliver. Not welcome. Did the other one roll his eyes? Looked a bit like it to Arnie. Probably fed up of being sent out of the office. Well, he’s going to take another walk today. Either he walks, or Oliver doesn’t get to hear what he wants to hear.

‘Get rid of him,’ Arnie’s saying quietly to his grandson.

Oliver’s sighing. This is tricky for him. He sends Kilbanne away every time his grandfather shows up and it looks like he’s under the old man’s thumb. It also makes him look like a childish amateur. Papa’s turned up to tell him what to do. But he’ll do it this one last time. Not because he owes it to his grandfather. He doesn’t. He’ll do it because he’s intrigued by the old man’s tone. Because he’s intrigued about him coming back so soon. Yesterday’s conversation seemed like a goodbye.

Oliver’s looking across at Kilbanne. Nodding just a little. There’s an audible sigh and very clear shake of the head from the older man. Not happy at his young boss’s behaviour. This is not how you run a business. Not the successful sort of business they both keep saying they want. But he’s getting up because the young guy making the error is still his boss. Getting up and walking out of the office. Going for a ten-minute walk from which he will gain absolutely nothing. He’ll negate the health benefits of walking with a couple of cigarettes along the way.

‘So what do you want today?’ Oliver’s asking as soon as the door shuts behind Kilbanne. Little bit of sarcasm. Oliver wants this over fast. Another awkward goodbye.

‘I want to talk to you about something, and it’s a little awkward.’ Arnie sitting down this time. Didn’t do this yesterday. Suggests this is going to be a long conversation, which isn’t what Oliver wants.

‘Go on.’ Hurrying him up.

‘I need to ask you a favour. It’s just come up. It’s not for me. It’s for your little friend, Alex Glass. You remember him? You two were like two peas in a pod. Now he says he never sees you.’

‘Uh-huh.’ A cautious response. Now he is intrigued. How the hell could he know that Oliver bought the debt yesterday? How could he have found out this fast? How could this old fart have found out at all? He’s never shown any interest in Glass before. Always hated him, it seemed to Oliver.

‘Well, Glass showed up on my doorstep last night. I won’t go into detail. It’s none of your business. Let’s just say he was in no good condition. Me and him had a good long chat. The boy’s in all sorts of a mess. He needs someone to help him. I want to help him. So that’s why I’m here.’

‘Uh-huh.’

‘The boy’s in debt. It’s the second time he has been, and it’s pulling him down. See, anything he does is ruined by the debt now. We get him back clean and sober and working, and that debt is going to drag him down.’

‘But you can’t expect the debt to just be written off,’ Oliver’s saying. ‘He borrowed the money. He has to pay it back. You can’t just wipe out a debt like that.’ His tone is incredulous. A little confrontational.

‘I know, I know,’ Arnie’s saying. Getting tetchy himself. ‘I’m not saying he shouldn’t pay it off. I’m saying that he needs to be given time and space to pay it off. Let the boy have a fair chance. That’s why I’m here. The debt is with a guy called Gary Jefferson. I want you to buy it from him. I know how these things work, and I want you to do this as a favour to me and to Alex. You buy the debt, and he’ll pay it back. Not with that bullshit interest you people put on it. But you can work something out. Something that gives him the time he needs to rebuild his life.’

He managed to stifle the smile. Wasn’t easy, but he did it. He almost wants to tell his grandfather the truth. Wants him to see that with enough hard work, everything falls into your lap. The old man wouldn’t like hearing it, but Oliver would sure love telling it. But he won’t say it. Works out better if he doesn’t. Think about it. The one thing that’s been playing on his mind is his grandfather. That part of his past. This gets that under his control as well. Jesus, everything falling into place.

‘You want me to buy Alex’s debt? Despite the fact that he doesn’t have a job and probably couldn’t pay it off?’

A little sigh. ‘He doesn’t have a job just now, but that’s going to change. He’s going to get his life together. He is. He’s committed to it.’

‘Please, he hasn’t had work in months. Not qualified for anything either. And he’s got that wee girlfriend of his. A hooker, working for Marty Jones. Come off it. I’m telling you, if you want to help him, you need to get him away from her. He’s obsessed with her and she’ll drag him down. Been that way from the start.’ That sounded surprisingly personal. Sounded like he actually cared. He was there at the start of Glass’s relationship with the girl. Saw it for himself. Maybe he knows better than Arnie on this subject. Arnie hasn’t even met the girl, so he’ll accept Oliver’s word on this one.

Arnie’s nodding. ‘Sure. I know it’s not going to be easy. I’m not naive about this. But the boy needs help and he has nobody else to help him. I know you’re not a charity, but this is a chance . . . to do some good.’ Looking around him at the office. Thinking of the sorry sap who sauntered out of here while Arnie was watching.

Oliver’s shaking his head a little. ‘I need to know that he can pay it off. If I take it on and get saddled with however many thousands he owes, it kills my profit. I can’t put myself out on the street just to help you out.’