All We Ever Wanted(32)

   Somewhere along the line, though, I had succumbed to the luxury, focusing less on the exclusivity and more on the beauty and serenity and utter convenience of our membership. It was a rare week that I didn’t spend at least a few hours there, whether playing tennis, meeting Finch and Kirk at the casual grill for dinner, or having drinks with my friends on the veranda overlooking the golf course.

“Do you have something against the club now?” Kirk said, as if reading my mind.

“Nothing,” I said. “I’m just not in the mood to talk to people. Given everything…”

“Okay,” he said, acquiescing faster than I’d thought he would. “Want me to call Etch or Husk?”

The likelihood of running into someone I knew was pretty high at those restaurants, too, but I didn’t want to be too difficult. Besides, I loved Husk. It was probably my favorite restaurant in the city. So I told Kirk I would meet him there.

“Great,” he said. “See you soon.”



* * *



—

TWENTY MINUTES LATER, Kirk and I were seated at a cozy table on the art-lined lower level of the restaurant, set in a nineteenth-century home in Rutledge Hill. He still hadn’t told me what happened, keeping me in total suspense, insisting that we have a glass of wine first. I was annoyed but hopeful, as we chatted with a waitress we’d had several times before, then put in our order for a burger (him) and shrimp and grits (me), as well as one glass of wine to split.

   As soon as she departed, I said, “All right. Could you please tell me now, Kirk?”

He nodded, then took a deep breath. “So. He got to the house right after you left….We went to my office and made a little small talk….Then we got into everything. At first he was a little touchy, but then I just gave it to him straight….”

“Meaning?”

“Meaning…I told him how sorry Finch is. How sorry we are, too.”

“And what did he say?”

“Honestly, not too much. He was pretty quiet. But I think he agrees that we can handle this privately….”

“He does?” I said, more than a little surprised.

“Yes.”

“Meaning he doesn’t want it to go before the Honor Council?” I asked.

“Correct,” Kirk said as the waitress brought two rolls to the table. He began to butter one of them, looking smug.

“But…how? Why?” I said. “He just agreed with you?”

“Well. Let’s just say I gave him a little…incentive….”

I stared at him, my heart sinking. “What kind of incentive?”

“A financial one,” he said with a shrug.

“What?” I said.

“What do you mean ‘what’? I just gave him a little cash,” he said, stone-faced. “No big deal.”

   “Oh my God. How much did you give him?” I asked.

He shrugged again, then mumbled, “Fifteen thousand dollars.”

I shook my head and let out a whimper. “Please, please tell me you’re kidding.”

“Oh, c’mon, Nina,” he said, his expression confirming that this was no joke. “You don’t think our son’s future is worth fifteen grand?”

“It’s not the amount,” I said. “If we’re just discussing the amount, I’d question the lowball—”

“Fifteen thousand is a lot to the average person,” he interjected, always a man of the people when it was convenient to his narrative. “And this guy’s a carpenter.”

“That’s not the point!” I shouted. I glanced around, reconfirming that we didn’t know anyone seated in the galley area, but still lowered my voice. “The point is—you gave him hush money.”

He rolled his eyes and gave me a condescending smirk. “This isn’t a gangster movie, Nina. It’s not hush money. I’m not asking him to be quiet about anything.”

“Then what’s the point?”

“Well, for one, it’s a token of our apology. For another…it’s an incentive.”

“An incentive to do what?”

“An incentive to tell Walt he doesn’t want this thing to move forward to the Honor Council.”

“Did you actually tell him that?” I asked, my disapproval growing by the second.

“Didn’t have to. It was understood,” he said. “Look, Nina. The guy willfully and gladly took the cash.”

“You gave him fifteen thousand in cash?”

“Yes. And again—he took it. It was a meeting of the minds, for sure. A contract.”

   I pressed my lips together, thinking. There was so much wrong with what he was telling me, I wasn’t sure where to start. “What about Finch?” I said. “Are you going to tell him about this little contract?” I said.

“I wasn’t planning on it,” he replied. “I think it’s better if we leave Finch out of this.”

“Leave out the person who single-handedly caused all the harm?”

“We’re leaving him out of the solution. Not the punishment. He is being punished, Nina. Remember?”

“Okay. But what if it gets out? What if Finch finds out his father did something shady?” I asked. “And his mother went along with it?”