PART I
THE CONVENTIONAL WISDOM
Ellerbee had been having a bad time of it. Heād had financial reversals. Change would slip out of his pockets and slide down into the crevices of other peopleās furniture. He dropped deposit bottles and lost money in pay phones and vending machines. He overtipped in dark taxicabs. He had many such financial reversals. He was stuck with Super Bowl tickets when he was suddenly called out of town and with theater and opera tickets when the ice was too slick to move his car out of his driveway. But all this was small potatoes. His portfolio was a disgrace. He had gotten into mutual funds at the wrong time and out at a worse. His house, appraised for tax purposes at many thousands of dollars below its replacement cost, burned down, and recently his once flourishing liquor store, one of the largest in Minneapolis, had drawn the attentions of burly, hopped-up and armed deprivators, ski-masked, head-stockinged. Two of his clerks had been shot, one killed, the other crippled and brain damaged, during the most recent visitation by these marauders, and Ellerbee, feeling a sense of responsibility, took it upon himself to support his clerksā families. His wife reproached him for this, which led to bad feelings between them.
āWerenāt they insured?ā
āI donāt know, May. I suppose they had some insurance but how much could it have been? One was just a kid out of college.ā
āWhatshisname, the vegetable.ā
āHarold, May.ā
āWhat about whosis? He was no kid out of college.ā
āGeorge died protecting my store, May.ā
āSome protection. The black bastards got away with over fourteen hundred bucks.ā When the police called to tell him of the very first robbery, May had asked if the men had been black. It hurt Ellerbee that this should have been her first question. āWhoās going to protect you? The insurance companies red-lined that lousy neighborhood a year ago. We wonāt get a penny.ā
āIām selling the store, May. I canāt afford to run it anymore.ā
āSelling? Whoād buy it? Selling!ā
āIāll see what I can get for it,ā Ellerbee said.
āSocial Security pays them benefits,ā May said, picking up their quarrel again the next day. āSocial Security pays up to the time the kids are eighteen years old, and they give to the widow, too. Who do you think you are, anyway? We lose a house and have to move into one not half as good because itās all we can afford, and you want to keep on paying the salaries not only of two people who no longer work for you, but to pay them out of a business that you mean to sell! Let Social Security handle it.ā
Ellerbee, who had looked into it, answered May. āHarold started with me this year. Social Security pays according to what youāve put into the system. Dorothy wonāt get three hundred a month, May. And Georgeās girl is twenty. Evelyn wonāt even get that much.ā
āIdealist,ā May said. āMartyr.ā
āLeave off, will you, May? Iām responsible. Iām under an obligation.ā
āResponsible, under an obligation!ā
āIndirectly. God damn it, yes. Indirectly. They worked for me, didnāt they? Itās a combat zone down there. I should have had security guards around the clock.ā
āWhere are you going to get all this money? Weāve had financial reversals. Youāre selling the store. Whereās this money coming from to support three families?ā
āWeāll get it.ā
āWeāll get it? Thereās no weāll about it, Mister. Youāll. The stocks are in joint tenancy. You canāt touch them, and Iām not signing a thing. Not a penny comes out of my mouth or off my back.ā
āAll right, May,ā Ellerbee said. āIāll get it.ā
In fact āEllerbee had a buyer in mindāa syndicate that specialized in buying up businesses in decaying neighborhoodsāliquor and drugstores, small groceriesāand then put in ex-convicts as personnel, Green Berets from Vietnam, off-duty policemen, experts in the martial arts. Once the word was out, no one ever attempted to rob these places. The syndicate hiked the price of each item at least 20 percentāand got it. Ellerbee was fascinated and appalled by their strong-arm tactics. Indeed, he more than a little suspected that it was the syndicate itself which had been robbing himāall three times his store had been held up he had not been in itāto inspire him to sell, perhaps.
āWe read about your trouble in the paper,ā Mr. Davis, the lawyer for the syndicate, had told him on the occasion of his first robbery. The thieves had gotten away with $300 and there was a four-line notice on the inside pages. āTerrible,ā he said, āterrible. A fine old neighborhood like this one. And itās the same all over America today. Everywhere itās the same story. Even in Kansas, even in Utah. They shoot you with bullets, they take your property. Terrible. The people I represent have the know-how to run businesses like yours in the spoiled neighborhoods.ā And then he had been offered a ridiculous price for his store and stock. Of course he turned it down. When he was robbed a second time, the lawyer didnāt even bother to come in person. āTerrible. Terrible,ā he said. āWhoever said lightning doesnāt strike twice in the same place was talking through his hat. Iām authorized to offer you ten thousand less than I did the last time.ā Ellerbee hung up on him.
Now, after his clerks had been shot, it was Ellerbee who called the lawyer. āAwful,ā the lawyer said. āOutrageous. A merchant shouldnāt have to sit still for such things in a democracy.ā
They gave him even less than the insurance people had given him for his underappraised home. Ellerbee accepted, but decided it was time he at least hint to Davis that he knew what was going on. āIām selling,ā he said, ābecause I donāt want anyone else to die.ā
āWonderful,ā Davis said, āwonderful. There should be more Americans like you.ā
He deposited the money he got from the syndicate in a separate account so that his wife would have no claims on it and now, while he had no business to go to, he was able to spend more time in the hospital visiting Harold.
āHowās Hal today, Mrs. Register?ā he asked when he came into the room where the mindless quadraplegic was being cared for. Dorothy Register was a red-haired young woman in her early twenties. Ellerbee felt so terrible about what had happened, so guilty, that he had difficulty talking to her. He knew it would be impossible to visit Harold if he was going to run into his wife when he did so. It was for this reason, too, that he sent the checks rather than drop them off at the apartment, much as he wanted to see Halās young son, Harold, Jr., in order to reassure the child that there was still a man around to take care of the boy and his young mother.
āOh, Mr. Ellerbee,ā the woman wept. Harold seemed to smile at them through his brain damage.
āPlease, Mrs. Register,ā said Ellerbee, āHarold shouldnāt see you like this.ā
āHim? He doesnāt understand a thing. You donāt understand a thing, do you?ā she said, turning on her husband sharply. When she made a move to poke at his eyes with a fork he didnāt even blink. āOh, Mr. Ellerbee,ā she said, turning away from her husband, āthatās not the man I married. Itās awful, but I donāt feel anything for him. The only reason I come is that the doctors say I cheer him up. Though I canāt see how. He smiles that way at his bedpan.ā
āPlease, Mrs. Register,ā Ellerbee said softly. āYouāve got to be strong. Thereās little Hal.ā
āI know,ā she moaned, āI know.ā She wiped the tears from her eyes and sniffed and tossed her hair in a funny little way she had which Ellerbee found appealing. āIām sorry,ā she said. āYouāve been very kind. I donāt know what I would have done, what we would have done. I canāt even thank you,ā she said helplessly.
āOh donāt think about it, thereās no need,ā Ellerbee said quickly. āIām not doing any more for you than I am for George Lesefarioās widow.ā It was not a boast. Ellerbee had mentioned the older woman because he didnāt want Mrs. Register to feel compromised. āItās company policy when these things happen,ā he said gruffly.
Dorothy Register nodded. āI heard,ā she said, āthat you sold your store.ā
He hastened to reassure her. āOh now listen,ā Ellerbee said, āyou mustnāt give that a thought. The checks will continue. Iām getting another store. In a very lovely neighborhood. Near where we used to live before our house burned down.ā
āReally?ā
āOh yes. I should be hearing about my loan any time now. Iāll probably be in the new place before the month is out. Well,ā he said, āspeaking of which, Iād better get going. There are some fixtures Iām supposed to look at at the Wine and Spirits Mart.ā He waved to Harold.
āMr. Ellerbee?ā
āMrs. Register?ā
The tall redhead came close to him and put her hands on his shoulders. She made that funny little gesture with her hair again and Ellerbee almost died. She was about his own height and leaned forward and kissed him on the mouth. Her fingernails grazed the back of his neck. Tears came to Ellerbeeās eyes and he turned away from her gently. He hoped she hadnāt seen the small lump in his trousers. He said goodbye with his back to her.
The loan went through. The new store, as Ellerbee had said, was in one of the finest neighborhoods in the city. In a small shopping mall, it was flanked by a good bookstore and a fine French restaurant. The Ellerbees had often eaten there before their house burned to the ground. There was an art cinema, a florist, and elegant haberdashers and dress shops. The liquor store, called High Spirits, a name Ellerbee decided to keep after he bought the place, stocked with, in addition to the usual gins, Scotches, bourbons, vodkas, and blends, some really superior wines, and Ellerbee was forced to become something of an expert in oenology. He listened to his customersādoctors and lawyers, most of themāand in this way was able to pick up a good deal.
The business flourishedādoing so well that after only his second month in the new location he no longer felt obliged to stay open on Sundaysāthough his promise to his clerksā families, which he kept, prevented him from making the inroads into his extravagant debt that he would have liked. Mrs. Register began to come to the store to collect the weekly checks personally. āI thought Iād save you the stamp,ā she said each time. Though he enjoyed seeing herāshe looked rather like one of those splendid wives of the successful doctors who shopped thereāhe thought he should discourage this. He made it clear to her that he would be sending the checks.
Then she came and said that it was foolish, his continuing to pay her husbandās salary, that at least he ought to let her do something to earn it. She saw that the suggestion made him uncomfortable and clarified what she meant.
āOh no,ā she said, āall I meant was that you ought to hire me. I was a hostess once. For that matter I could wait on trade.ā
āWell, Iāve plenty of help, Mrs. Register. Really. As I may have told you, Iāve kept on all the people who used to work for Anderson.ā Anderson was the man from whom heād bought High Spirits.
āItās not as though youād be hiring additional help. Iām costing you the money anyway.ā
It would have been pleasant to have the woman around, but Ellerbee nervously held his ground. āAt a time like this,ā he said, āyou ought to be with the boy.ā
āYouāre quite a guy,ā she said. It was the last time they saw each other. A few months later, while he was examining his bank statements, he realized that she had not been cashing his checks. He called her at once.
āI canāt,ā she said. āIām young. Iām strong.ā He remembered her fierce embrace in her husbandās hospital room. āThereās no reason for you to continue to send me those checks. I have a good job now. I canāt accept them any longer.ā It was the last time they spoke.
And then he learned that Georgeās widow was ill. He heard about it indirectly. One of his best customersāa psychiatristāwas beeped on the emergency Medi-Call he carried in his jacket, and asked for change to use Ellerbeeās pay phone.
āThatās not necessary, Doc,ā Ellerbee said, āuse the phone behind my counter.ā
āVery kind,ā the psychiatrist said, and came around back of the counter. He dialed his service. āDoctor Potter. What have you got for me, Nancy? What? She did what? Just a minute, let me get a pencil.āBill?ā Ellerbee handed him a pencil. āLesefario, right. Iāve got that. Give me the surgeonās number. Right. Thanks, Nancy.ā
āExcuse me, Doctor,ā Ellerbee said. āI hadnāt meant to listen, but Lesefario, thatās an unusual name. I know an Evelyn Lesefario.ā
āThatās the one,ā said the medical man. āOh,ā he said, āyouāre that Ellerbee. Well, sheās been very depressed. She just tried to kill herself by eating a mile of dental floss.ā
āI hope she dies,ā his wife said.
āMay!ā said Ellerbee, shocked.
āItās what she wants, isnāt it? I hope she gets what she wants.ā
āThatās harsh, May.ā
āYes? Harsh? You see how much good your checks did her? And another thing, how could she afford a high-priced man like Potter on what you were paying her?ā
He went to visit the woman during her postoperative convalesc...