They ate at a Korean restaurant in Japantown, across from Japan Center and the tall Buddhist tower that Jake thought looked like the muzzle of a cartoon ray gun aimed up into the sky. Jake felt the awkwardness all night between Eugene and Rachel, and considered skipping dinner, even cutting his visit short. But he was curious. There was that odd moment when Eugene had walked into the apartment while Jake and Rachel were talking; Rachel was telling Jake about a small gym two blocks away that had mostly gay members, and she didn’t realize this for an embarrassing amount of time. “You know,” she was saying, “men work out together. They spot each other. So I didn’t think about it until I kept seeing a few men hugging. Now that’s unusual at a gym.”
Then Eugene came in. He stopped at the edge of the sofa and said he was sorry he was late. Then he looked directly at Rachel and said, “Hi, Rachel.”
“Hello, Euge. How was work?”
“The same. Good to see you.”
She nodded. “You mind if I tag along for dinner?”
“I wouldn’t have it any other way.”
They held each other’s gaze for a moment, then Eugene broke it. “I should change,” he said, moving towards the bedroom. “I was thinking of taking you guys to the New Korea place. Sound good?”
Jake noticed that Rachel’s cheeks were flushed, and he thought, Do I want to be here?
Now, they sat in a booth and began picking at appetizers and condiments, the first stage of a large Korean meal with different kinds of radish and cabbage kimchi, pickled cucumbers, sesame leaves, fried bean curd, seasoned bean sprouts, and spicy zucchini—these were set out in a dozen small bowls around the sunken grill. Jake tried to fill the silence with carefully worded questions about Eugene’s job. That seemed relatively safe. Jake had never grasped the concept of the company his brother worked for, and Eugene explained that they made software for managers to manage their clients. It had started out well, but competition nearly drove them out of business. They were now trying to make their program cloud-based. “They’re integrating a central cloud add-on that will let companies stay in constant contact with clients,” he said.
“How’s the latest version of ManageClient doing?” Rachel asked. Eugene said, “The reviews are coming out, and they’re not good. The programmers are jumping ship.”
“When’s the new version coming out?”
Eugene shook his head. “TBA. We’re sinking.”
Jake still didn’t quite get it, but asked about the job: “So what’s your role there?”
“I’m head of customer relations. Basically sales and support.”
“He started as tech support,” Rachel said. “Clawed his way up.”
Eugene quickly finished two beers, and ordered a third. Their main course was bulgogi, marinated beef that they cooked themselves on the small gas grill, a large vent directly above them. The smell of the strong marinade seeped into their clothes.
Jake said, “I haven’t had this in years.”
“No?” Rachel said. “Aren’t there Korean restaurants in Seattle?”
“Sure, in the International District. But I hardly eat out.”
“So you want to tell us what happened up there?” Eugene asked.
“I thought you didn’t want to know.”
“In Seattle?” Rachel asked. “Why, what happened up there?”
“My little brother has a tendency to get into trouble.”
Jake stared at Eugene. “It’s nothing.”
“Yes, but where did the jewelry and cash come from?”
“Jewelry and cash?” Rachel said. “I missed a lot.”
Jake used his chopsticks to flip the sizzling beef on the grill.
“Come on. Maybe we should talk about something else.”
“You said you had a fight with your partner,” Eugene said. “About what?”
Jake shrugged.
“I guess what all partners fight about,” Eugene said. “Right?”
“He tried to doublecross me,” Jake finally said.
“How?”
Jake sighed. “He wanted it all.”
“So what happened?”
“Why are you doing this?”
“Doing what?”
“You never wanted to know this stuff before.”
Eugene stopped. He motioned to the waitress and ordered a fourth beer. Jake glanced at the empty glass, then said to his brother, “You know, it’s not what you think. I’ve been working at a restaurant, a regular job. I was an assistant chef.”
“You were not,” Rachel said, smiling. “You cook?”
“Well, just salads and pastas. Assistant cold side chef.”
“So then what was with the knapsack?” Eugene asked. Rachel said, “What knapsack?”
“Temptation.”
Eugene nodded.
Jake felt someone kick his leg, and he looked down. Rachel said, “Sorry. I meant to kick Euge. What’s going on?”
Jake said, “Me and this guy did a small job. He tried to screw me over. I ended up taking everything, so I had to leave town. That’s it.” He wasn’t going to reveal anything else. He imagined Bobby’s dead body being lifted in the dumpster, then shaken into a garbage truck, pneumatic whirring and grinding packing him in with rotting vegetables. He had to admit to himself that he had killed Bobby. He was a murderer. It was self-defense, but he had never taken a human life before. There wasn’t guilt or remorse, or even a hint of sadness; no, he was glad to get rid of the kid. But now Jake wasn’t just a small-time burglar anymore. He wasn’t someone who did an occasional job here and there to supplement his income. This was different.
He was losing his appetite.
“Eugene? Eugene Ahn?” called out a voice from across the room.
Everyone turned. A thin, bald man with a goatee, dressed in a sportcoat and jeans waved to Eugene. Jake saw his brother’s mouth tighten, then smile. “Vincent,” he said.
Vincent approached, shook hands around and was introduced to Jake, who learned that Vincent used to work with Eugene. “Got out in time, though, wouldn’t you say?” he joked to Eugene. Rachel asked him what he was doing now, and when he said he retired, Jake took a closer look at him. He couldn’t have been older than forty-five, and he had a trim, athletic build. No, early forties. No real wrinkles around his eyes. Retired?
“Retired?” Rachel said.
“Took some of my stock gains, invested and started a small company. It was just bought out, so I retired.” He turned to Eugene. “Just read the PC Insider reviews of 4.3. How’re things there?”
Eugene tried to grin, “You know. A little stressed.”
“I told you to get out.”
“I know.”
“Well, live and learn. Catch you later. My son wants to see a movie.” He said goodbye and left.
Rachel asked Eugene, “Did you know about that? What company?”
He nodded. “He started Blue Zone, a temp agency for middle managers in the tech industry. Manpower bought it.”
“So, he’s rich?” Jake asked. “That’s why he retired?”
Eugene nodded.
“That bastard was rubbing your nose in it, wasn’t he,” Rachel said. “He told you to get out?”
“About four years ago. When the bugs began appearing.”
“Smug little man.” Rachel stabbed a piece of beef on the grill with her chopstick. “How much did he get for his company?”
“The papers said something like five million.”
Jake looked up. “That guy was worth five million dollars?”
“Well, less, after taxes, but depending on how he was paid, maybe about three million.”
Everything became a little fuzzy. His brother spoke of this as if it were nothing. What the hell was going on here? Jake asked, “Are you rich?”
Eugene smiled broadly, close to laughter. “Rich? I think not. We’re working in negative territory right now.”
“Negative? You mean debt?”
“I mean debt with a capital D.”
“How much debt?”
Eugene and Rachel exchanged glances. Rachel shrugged. “He just told us about his problems. What’s the big deal?”
Eugene said to Jake, “Debt is an interesting thing. There’s big debt—the mortgage—which we don’t even count. There’s small debt—credit cards, car leases, payment plans for furniture—which hover over us. There’s also leftover school loans—”
“Wait. You still have school loans?”
“Ah. Right. I guess the good thing about skipping college is you don’t have to owe anyone money.”
“You’re still paying off school?”
“Almost done, but yes.”
“So how much do you owe?”
“For school?”
“For everything.”
“Not including the mortgage?”
“Sure.”
He looked at Rachel again, and she frowned. She said, “There’s also my own separate credit card debt. And yours.”
“Right. In addition to the joint one.”
Rachel closed her eyes for a moment, and said, “Something like sixty?”
“No, you’re forgetting the Passat.”
She opened her eyes wide and grinned. “Yes. That’s a whopper.”
Eugene said, “So maybe seventy?’
“Don’t you know?” she asked.
“It’s on the computer. That big red line.”
She laughed. “It’s so red it fills the room.” Eugene gave her a crooked smile.
Jake was confused. “So, how much?”
“Not sure,” Eugene said. “About seventy thousand.”
“Seventy thousand dollars?” Jake asked. “You two owe seventy thousand dollars?”
They turned to him, their faces unconcerned. “You don’t have to yell it,” Rachel said.
“Jesus Christ. Jesus. I can’t believe it.” Jake felt something twist inside him. They owed more than he had ever seen in his life. If he owed that much to anyone he wouldn’t be able to function. He had never even applied for a credit card because he didn’t like the idea of a company having something over him. He looked at his brother, then at Rachel, but they had already moved on, Eugene asking Rachel how work had been today.
The waitress brought another dish: marinated squid for grilling. Jake poked at the appetizers, sipped soup, but had already eaten more than usual. Eugene said, “Are you still thinking about our debt? It’s common, believe it or not.”
“Maybe.”
“We were almost rich once,” Rachel said to Jake. “Did he tell you about it?”
He shook his head.
Eugene said, “Never mind that.”
“No, it’s a good story,” Rachel said. “Eugene’s stock options of ManageSoft were worth close to a quarter of a million once, and if they had gone public, which they were planning to, his stake would’ve been worth maybe a million, probably more.”
“Holy shit,” Jake said. “Is she serious?”
Eugene said, “But then there was a lawsuit with some clients, the IPO was put on hold, and some bugs began appearing. It went downhill.”
“You never told me this.”
“You never asked.”
Jake said, “So what’s your share worth now?”
Eugene waved his hands in the air. “Who knows?”
“You know,” Rachel said. “Don’t they calculate it quarterly?”
“They do. The losses keep rising.” He turned to Jake. “Debt with a capital D.”
Rachel smiled. “But for a moment, it was really nice.”
Eugene laughed. “We actually looked for a big-momma house in Marin. What a joke.”
“Seventy grand,” Jake said quietly.
“Stop that,” Eugene said. “It’s common.”
“Common.”
“Dad had tons of debt. Did you know that? He had a hell of a time getting out from under it.”
Jake said, “I didn’t know that.”
“You were young. He filed for bankruptcy, went on a payment plan. It was harsh.”
“How old were you?” Rachel asked Eugene.
“Twelve. This was right after our mother left. In a way that bankruptcy helped for college later. I was able to get a lot of financial aid. Big-ass loans.”
Rachel turned to Jake. “You were how old when she left?”
“About eight.”
“What was it like?” Rachel asked.
Jake shrugged. Eugene said, “After she left? Our father was really pissed for a while.”
“Did he get more violent?” she asked.
Jake was startled. He looked at Eugene, who nodded and said, “Yes, our good mother sometimes took the brunt for us, and with her gone, it was a little tough.”
“You told?” Jake said.
“Well, she’s my wife,” Eugene said. He hesitated, then added, “At least for now.”
Rachel turned sharply towards him. Jake felt a headache coming on. He wondered how long he was going to stay. Probably not much longer. He just didn’t understand this kind of thing. He knew locks. He knew jewelry. He knew pasta salads. He didn’t know much else.