CHAPTER 13
BODHI GREEN
“Pearl!” I shouted for my assistant.
Will sat in front of me, his head in his hands, tension rolling off his body as we waited for Pearl to come in with the documents we’d been waiting for.
“Pearl, goddammit!” I shouted again, finally hearing the scurrying of footsteps coming around the corner. She appeared in my doorway, a perfectly manicured thirty-year old woman with blonde hair and red lipstick, her tailored blue suit perfectly hugging her curvaceous frame. She waved a piece of paper in front of her as she rushed over, placing it on my desk.
“Sorry, Mr. Green, the printer jammed.”
“Get out,” I barked, devouring the words on the paper she’d laid in front of me. Will looked up at me expectantly as I scanned the printed email from my attorney in New York.
“It doesn’t look good,” I muttered. “They want more time to investigate the deal.”
“Dammit!” Will shouted, shaking his head. “If we don’t get a signature on that contract soon, we won’t have time to get all the permits in place to open the hotel on time.”
“I know,” I said. “Look, Andrew will work on them. He’ll wear them down soon enough.”
“We don’t have much time.”
“Yeah, you just said that and I said I knew that. How many fucking times do you have to repeat yourself, Will, why the hell do you do that?”
He shook his head, silently glaring at me.
“If you’d kept everything on the up-and-up, we wouldn’t be facing these challenges now, Bodhi.”
His words cut through me, igniting my anger in a flash. Anger is an emotion I’m quite familiar with. In fact, it’s what I seem to feel the most in life. But I’m not one of those assholes that blows up every second.
At my angriest, I’m also at my quietest.
Will knows this. Will knows me quite well.
So, when I just stared over the desk at him wordlessly, I was satisfied when he began squirming in his seat before he began the backpedaling that I knew was coming.
Will was easy to read and easy to manipulate, as I’d found most people to be. You just had to know what you were doing.
“Sorry, Bodhi, this whole thing is so damned frustrating. We’ve worked a long time on this and it just seems to be dragging on.”
“Well, it’s not my fault,” I insisted, even though it probably was, but that was another thing I’d learned — never admit when you made a mistake. If you admitted to one mistake, you had to admit to a second and a third and then your whole life was just one big mistake.
My life was executed with utter confidence, even if it was fake.
“Yeah,” Will agreed. He was so damned gullible. “I know.”
“Shit happens. We just have to roll with the punches, Will. You should know that by now.”
“Yeah,” he agreed again, letting his head fall into his hands again.
“So, it’s fucking stressful, all the waiting. So what? Without a few unexpected obstacles, this wouldn’t be any fun, right? C’mon, Will, you know your boring ass secretly likes to live on the edge.”
“Actually, that’s not true,” he said, grabbing his gut. “I think I’m getting an ulcer.”
“Are you calling me a liar, Will?” I asked, raising an eyebrow, another one of my go-to tricks. Sometimes, the most subtle act could speak so loudly.
“No, I —.”
“—Good. You don’t want to piss off the hand that feeds you, do you?”
“No, Bodhi, I —.”
“—Get out. I’m done with you. I need to go home and make sure my idiot fucking wife hasn’t overdosed on painkillers. God, sometimes I wish she would. It would make life so much easier, you know?”
Will stood up and buttoned the jacket of his Armani suit. The suit I’d bought him, with money I’d paid him as a bonus when our last real estate deal went through.
See? I’m generous. Maybe too generous, considering how thankless people are to me these days. But, loyalty comes with a price and I was willing to pay that price.
Silence also comes with a price, and Will knew that just as much as I did. He owed me. He’s owed me for a long fucking time and I wasn’t about to let him forget it, not for a New York minute.
He stood staring at me, as if he wanted to say something more.
“I thought I told you to get the fuck out?” I whispered, my voice a low growl. “You have something more you need to say?”
“No, Bodhi,” he said, with a heavy, dramatic sigh. “Have a good night.”
He walked out of the room with slumped shoulders and low energy, the kind of posture that was enough to make me scream. I’d fire him if he wasn’t the most loyal damned employee I’d ever had. He’d gone off to Cornell and gotten a fancy degree before landing right back here in Greenville and working for me for the last two decades.
I’m pretty certain he secretly hates me, but he’s also got other secrets and keeping them for him keeps him loyal to me.
It’s a two-way street, you know?
That’s just how it is and luckily, outside of an occasional act of minor resistance, he follows the rules and stays in line.
He’d better, if he knows what’s good for him.
I could ruin him with one phone call, with one word, with one finger pointed his way. In a flash, I could rip away his entire life, that precious perfect family, that huge house on the hill behind my own, his entire fortune and future, all gone in the blink of an eye.
I yield a lot of power.
I was born with it — hell, I fucking love it.
I can walk down the streets of my town and the crowds part to let me go by, the citizens singing my praises on every street corner.
My inheritance was huge, my family’s legacy even larger, my fortune massive.
Unfortunately, at home, I have to wield that power a little more forcefully, considering the thankless consideration my wife and daughter show me lately, but that’s okay.
I make up for it here in my office and out there on the streets that my family built.
After a few moments, I grabbed my suit jacket and walked out of my office.
“Pearl, I’m going home.”
“Have a nice night, Mr. Green.”
I walked out without a word, leaving her there to lock up as I walked out to the parking lot. Jasper was waiting for me, and as soon as he saw me exit the building, he jumped out of the limo and jogged around to open my door.
“Evening, Sir,” he bowed.
I slid into the backseat and watched my town roll by silently. The sun was setting in the horizon and darkness was falling on the Greenville streets. By the time we pulled through the heavy iron gates of my estate, I was in desperate need of a drink.
I walked up the stairs slowly, dreading the evening ahead. If there was more to do in this Podunk town, I’d go do it. Instead, the best amenities were the ones I’d installed myself.
My movie room, with my full bar waiting for me…
Silence and solitude, two more of my favorite things…
Out at the bars in town, I knew they’d be crowded with people just getting off work from the mill or the few farms we had close by. Those people reeked of sweat and liquor and stupidity, and the further I could stay away from them the better.
***
Tom Cruise hung from a helicopter on the full-size movie screen in front of me, as I sank deeper into the buttery-soft leather recliner, a glass of hundred-year-old scotch in my hand. I’d had three glasses already and the open bottle beckoned me to have more as I watched the movie.
Tonight, I’d opted to have dinner alone, not even going upstairs to change clothes. I didn’t want to face Marilyn right now. If she was even awake. She was either a sweaty pile of limp limbs languishing away in her memory-foam mattress bed or she was awake, staring at me with accusing eyes.
She’d grown quite bold lately, talking back to me as if that sort of behavior was something I’d accept. More than once, I’d had to put her firmly back into her place.
There wasn’t much more I hated more than tears.
To me, it was a sign of immense weakness, and I had no tolerance for weakness. When I’d married her, she’d been strong and lively. Hell, that’s what had attracted me to her in the first place, even though in the beginning she was still dating Will and was flat as a board on top.
It didn’t take long for her to look my way. Once she’d agreed to go out with me, I stole her away pretty quickly. She was too beautiful to be partnered up with a nerd like Will, and she knew it. As soon as she told me her favorite smell was the smell of money on our first date, I knew I had her.
Of course, I didn’t realize that years later she’d be the biggest thorn in my side and I’d avoid her as much as possible, but I suppose even the best relationships end up that way.
I mean, I never expected to be happy.
She was a prop that I needed to maintain appearances. Just like this house, like Jasper and the limo, like the balance in my bank accounts.
Appearances matter. Confidence matters.
With those two pieces of the puzzle in place, there’s not much someone won’t do for you.
Molly was another prop.
She’d been such a beautiful child, all smiles and pretty red curls and she looked just like me, which infuriated her mother, but only made me love her more.
She was the closest I’d ever come to love, to be honest.
But now that she was getting older, she was growing more and more distant, and on more than one occasion, I’d caught her staring at me with those accusing eyes her mother was so used to throwing my way.
I hated it, but I’d done what I needed to do.
She was getting out of hand. Just like her mother tried to do, and with situations like that, if you let them fester, they could get away from you.
No, I had to nip that daughterly rebellion right in the bud.
She made me do it. She knew that.
If she’d only do better, be more obedient, sweeter and more compliant to my wishes, then I wouldn’t have to hurt her. But she pushes me so far over the edge sometimes, she leaves me with no choice.
Sometimes, you have to teach your children lessons.
After the movie ended, I grabbed the bottle and carried it up the stairs and entered the top floor of our home, walking up to the wing that held our bedrooms. I checked in to the bedroom I shared with Marilyn and saw she was doing what she always seemed to be doing since the surgery — sleeping.
I changed into my pajamas and took another swig off the bottle as I made my way to Molly’s room. The door was closed, but light poured from the crack at the bottom, the faint sound of music pouring through the walls.
I opened the door slowly and peeked in.
Molly sat on her bed reading a book, that hideous flat-faced dog that she’d begged me for curled up against her hip. She looked up at me, unsmiling, obviously not happy to see me.
“You’re still awake?” I asked, as I sat on the bed.
“Yes, Daddy,” she replied, setting down the book.
“How was school?” I asked.
“Fine,” she replied, avoiding my eyes.
“Did Ms. Canterbury talk to you?” I asked. I was still pissed some stranger had the nerve to walk into the principal’s office and ask about me, about Molly. I didn’t know who she was, but I’d asked a few people in town to keep a look out for her. Her identity would get back to me soon enough. I wouldn’t be surprised if those assholes from New York were down here poking around in my personal business.
“Yes, Daddy,” Molly replied, wringing her hands in her lap. She had that huge cast on her arm and I saw there were now several drawings on it.
“And?”
“And what, Daddy?”
“Did you tell her everything is fine? That you fell down the stairs?”
“Yes, Daddy,” she nodded.
“Good girl,” I said, leaning over and kissing her forehead. She flinched, but I ignored it. “You should take your bath and get ready for bed, Molly.”
“Okay, Daddy,” she said, jumping up from the bed as fast as she could and heading for the bathroom attached to her room. Lucky stirred and snorted before immediately falling back asleep. I walked over to her bedroom door and closed it, sliding the lock into place.
“Molly?” I called to her as she started to close the door to the bathroom.
“Yes, Daddy?”
“Leave it unlocked, sweetheart.”
She took a deep breath and nodded.
“Yes, Daddy,” she said, closing the door softly.
I sat back on her bed, looking around her frilly room, with the pink lace curtains and the white lace comforter, her collection of teddy-bears piled in the corner.
She has it good, I thought to myself, nodding with satisfaction. I took a few more slugs off the bottle in my hand and smiled as I heard the water come on in the bathroom.
I stood up, my heart beating with excitement, as I headed for the bathroom door. I placed my hand on the doorknob to go inside and paused, taking another drink. I shook my head and turned away, walking out of her room and back to my bedroom and got in bed next to my sleeping wife.