EIGHT

 

Mrs. Yu had a big greasy breakfast waiting for Adam when he entered the kitchen yawning the next morning.

“You trying to kill me with all this cholesterol, Mrs. Yu?” he asked as he took a seat in the breakfast nook that overlooked the garden.

She laughed, patted the top of his head. “You sirry.”

While Adam was eating, Gwen entered the kitchen, joined him in the breakfast nook. She wore denim shorts, a white T-shirt with James Dean on the front. “Any later and you would have missed lunch,” she said, smiling. She had a cup of coffee with her and sipped it. “How are you?”

“Tired. I needed the sleep.” He sipped his coffee, passed a napkin over his mouth. “How about you? Feel any better today?”

She stared at her coffee, took a cigarette from a pocket and lit it. She looked sad. “Some, maybe. I don’t know.” She took a drag on the cigarette.

Mrs. Yu stepped into the breakfast nook, smiled. “’Scuse me, Missy Jurian, but Missa Jurian no rike cigalette smoke innadoors.”

“Thank you, Mrs. Yu, for pointing that out,” Gwen said pleasantly. “But from now on, there are some things Missa Jurian is just gonna have to get used to. I’m tired of being sent outside my own house to smoke, like a dog with fleas.”

Mrs. Yu bowed her head and hurried away.

“Hey, hey, go easy on Mrs. Yu, okay?” Adam whispered.

Gwen frowned and leaned toward him. “What’s wrong with you?”

Adam scrubbed his face with both hands, yawned. “Nothing. I’m sorry. Just lay off Mrs. Yu. You might even want to get to know her. She’s had a very rough life and somehow she’s managed to remain a good person in spite of it. That’s more than you can say for most people who’ve led easy lives.”

Mrs. Yu returned briefly to set a small crystal ashtray in front of Gwen, then disappeared.

“So, what did you do that kept you out so late?” She gave him a calm smile, as if to show the sudden outburst was forgotten.

“First, I was with Carter. He’s making this severed head that is truly amazing.”

“I’m telling you, that boy is a serial killer in the making. What about last night?”

“I went...out.”

The left side of Gwen’s mouth curled upward. “Who is she? What’s she like?”

Adam cautiously searched her face.

She laughed and said, “You don’t have to worry, Adam. You should be dating, I want you to date.”

Adam put down his fork and smiled, pleased to hear her say that. “Her name is Alyssa. She’s...different. Not like anybody I’ve known, really. We just met, but when I’m around her, she makes me feel like...like we’ve known each other a long time but didn’t get around to actually meeting until this week.”

“Oh, such a romantic, Adam. It’s sweet.”

“I guess that’s better than being a boy.”

“Did you happen to see Rain anytime last night or this morning?”

He chuckled. “Thought you wanted me to stay away from her.”

“The more I think about it, the more I think you might be good for her.” She sighed, shook her head. “She just got back to L.A. and she stays out all night. She’s upstairs asleep now, but I don’t know where she’s been.”

“Did you ask her?”

“Not yet. You’ll be hearing that when it happens. We always end up shouting, she says horrible things—” A deep breath as she fidgeted, “—and I suppose I do, too.”

“Does she have friends around here?” Adam asked.

“A few. She did before she went off to live with her dad, anyway. A bunch of lowlifes.”

“Why did you let her hang out with them?”

“Let her?” She tipped her head back and laughed. “Same reason I let the earth revolve, honey. I don’t have much choice.”

Having spent some time with Rain, that made perfect sense to Adam.

“She’s...you just don’t know her. Her dad could talk to her. I never could.” She smiled at Adam again. “Maybe you’ll be a good influence on her.”

Adam laughed to cover his discomfort. “Yeah. I’ll let her borrow my Bible. I’ve already underlined all the holiest parts.

“Just be careful. Like I said.”

“You talk about her like she’s the Incredible Hulk, or something. What are you afraid she’ll do, break my neck with her bare hands and throw me down the Hitchcock steps?”

Gwen scooted her chair closer to Adam at the end of the oval table, leaned close. He smelled whiskey on her breath.

“An ex of mine, before I met Michael,” she said. “He’s in prison right now. At the bottom of the food chain, you know what I mean?”

“What’s he in prison for?”

“Child molestation.”

“Is he a child molester?”

Gwen laughed. “Of course not. Rain was never a child, not even at twelve.”

Adam shook his head, rubbed his eyes. “I’m sorry, you’ve lost me.”

“Rain seduced him. And when he wouldn’t give her money, she cried rape. Poor Taylor. He wasn’t such a bad guy. Now he’s in prison, probably with some big guy’s bitch.”

The image terrified Adam, made him feel nauseated. But it confused him, too. He could not understand Gwen’s attitude toward what had happened. “Gwen, the man fucked your twelve-year-old daughter!”

“I think everyone will fuck her eventually. Probably before she’s twenty. You didn’t see her when she was twelve, Adam. She developed early. Looked like an expensive whore before she was thirteen.”

“But this guy, your boyfriend, he knew she was twelve, right?”

Gwen reached over to stub out her cigarette in the crystal ashtray on the table. Instead, she dropped it in when she heard Michael’s voice.

“Who’s been smoking in here, Goddamnit?”

Adam turned to see his dad standing in the kitchen with his attorney, Roger Menkin. Rog was Michael’s age and short, midway between five and six feet. He tried to make up for his lack of height with clothes and jewelry. One of Michael’s oldest friends, he had been his attorney long before Michael had become a success and amassed an army of attorneys. A freshly-lit cigarette dangled from the corner of his mouth.

“Oh, shit,” Gwen breathed as Michael came toward the breakfast nook. Rog stayed by the kitchen doorway.

“How many times have I gotta tell you, Gwen?” he said angrily. “This is a non-smoking family. We’ve all gotta die, but nobody in the Julian family’s gonna do it because their lungs don’t work or they’ve got cancer.” He reached down and stubbed out the butt in the ashtray.

Gwen stood and went to him, kissed him on the cheek. “I’m sorry, sweetie. I was being naughty.” She reached down and squeezed his ass. “What brings you home so early?”

He softened quickly, put his arms around her and smiled. “My baby’s health, that’s what,” he said, lowering his voice. “I don’t want anything to happen to your lungs. You know how much I love your...lungs.” They laughed together.

Chuckling, Rog said, “Am I going to be able to get you out of here, Mike?”

“Yeah, I’ve gotta go. I just came to pick up some stuff I left in the office.” He kissed her again and started to leave, but turned to Adam. “Hey, what about July Fourth? We need to know how many to plan for. You coming? Gonna bring anybody?”

Adam cringed inside at the thought of a week on the yacht with his dad. Michael Julian went out on his yacht occasionally throughout the year, usually with assorted industry types. But every year on Independence Day, he took his family out for the week. It had been fun when Adam was a kid. Sometimes they went to Mexico, or north up the California coast to Oregon, Washington. On the night of the Fourth, Michael always shot off some elaborate fireworks. But as Adam grew older, the fighting between his parents had grown worse, and being with them for a week became less enjoyable every year. He had stopped going after his mom died, and now the very sight of Money Shot, as Michael had christened the yacht, depressed him.

But it might be fun if Alyssa were with him. He liked the idea, but would have to decide if he was ready to expose her to his dad yet.

“Yeah, I might go,” Adam said with a nod.

“Might? What, you gonna check with your personal assistant? See what your schedule’s like?” Michael guffawed. “Okay, Adam, you have your people talk to my people. But do it by tomorrow, Goddamnit.” He kissed Gwen again, then left the breakfast nook saying, “I’m out of here.” Rog followed him out of the kitchen, and his cigarette trailed a ribbon of smoke.

Gwen sighed. “I suppose I should try to accomplish something today.” She stood, picked up the coffee mug, and winked at Adam. “See you later.”

After she was gone, Adam picked at his breakfast for a while before deciding he could not finish it. He wanted to get out of the house.