Slam the Big Door (5 page)

When he was in the hall, safe, like the swimmer caught in an undertow who climbs out onto a sand bar, he turned and said, “It’s messed Troy’s life up, Jerranna.”

“So I’m bleeding? It wasn’t me, Mike. He was ready to be messed up. He was looking for it.”

“What makes you say that?”

She lifted one narrow shoulder. “I just know. I can tell. I knew others like that. They get hooked on me, like on a drug, on account of—like a drug—I can stop them from thinking about anybody else or anything else in the world. I can keep them from even knowing who the hell they are, and maybe that’s what they want me for. But they got to be ready for me. So don’t blame me.”

“You’ve got it all figured out.”

“I’ve been here and there,” she said, and winked with great solemnity and closed the door, opened it immediately and said, “Thanks for the jugs,” and closed it again.

After he had gone down one flight he leaned against the wall for a few moments, his eyes closed. His body felt sticky and there was a bad taste in his mouth and a dull headache behind his eyes. Though not a superstitious man, he felt that he had been in the presence of evil. Not contrived evil, full of plots and connivings, but a curiously innocent and implacable evil. He knew that Buttons should never know how close he had come to an act that would have irreparably changed his own inner image of himself, made it forever hard for him to have looked deep into his own mirrored eyes.

As he reached the sidewalk he saw Troy paying off a cab driver a hundred feet away. As the cab pulled away, Troy turned and saw him. Troy looked lean and pallid, unpressed, unsteady on his feet. Mike wondered what in hell he could say to Troy. Troy whirled and went around the corner onto Second Avenue, almost running. When Mike reached the corner, Troy was halfway down the block. Mike did not follow him.

A month later, while Bunny was in Reno and her girls were with her people in Rochester, Mike got a phone call one evening from a man in New York named Grady. After he hung up Buttons stared at him, frowning, and said, “Who was that? What about Troy? When do you have to go to New York?”

“It’s a man named Grady. Troy’s at his place, in bad shape. I either go get him, now, or Grady calls Bellevue and has him picked up.”

“So let him call Bellevue!”

Mike looked at her with a fond and crooked smile. “Grady said he had resigned so that left just one friend of Jamison’s. Okay. I’ll call back and tell Grady I can’t bring a mess like that into my home.”

“Darn you anyway,” Buttons said. “I’m going to feel awfully disloyal toward Bunny, but go get him.”

“Bunny would understand how it is.”

It took three and a half hours to drive to New York, and another twenty minutes to locate John Grady’s bachelor apartment in the Village, so it was nearly one in the morning when Grady, a tall young man with big glasses and a harried expression, let him in.

“Mr. Rodenska? Good. He’s in the bedroom. I got worried after I called you, so I got hold of a doctor. He charged me fifteen bucks for a house call.”

“I’ll pay you back.”

“Hell with that. Call it my last contribution to Troy Jamison, thank God. I better brief you. Sit down. Drink?”

“No thanks. What did the doctor say?”

“Alcoholism. Malnutrition. He gave him some shots.”

“Can he be moved?”

“Not tonight, damn it. In the morning, when he wakes up. Which will be about ten. If he has the shakes too bad to travel, he can have a two-ounce shot in the morning. I won’t be here. I’ve got to go to work.”

“He’s out of work?”

“Man, he’s about as far out of work as you can get. He left in a big way almost a month ago. I’m with K. F. and S. too. He hired me, as a matter of fact. There’s been talk about him for months, around the shop. His marriage busting up. And when he was coming in at all, he was coming in half-loaded. And he didn’t seem to give a damn. I think they were trying to talk him into a leave of absence. When you get as high up as Troy was, there’s a sort of rule you don’t fire a man. They took Walther Electric away from him. It had always been his baby, a very tender account. They bill three million five. They took it away two months ago. Just about three weeks ago Mueller was giving a presentation to a flock of Walther executives. Jamison came walking in, boiled. Before they could hustle him out he yelled that the new program was tired old crap, that Walther would be better off with somebody else. He busted Mueller a beaut right in the eye and knocked him down. He knocked the projection machine off the stand, then turned and told the executives of Walther he was glad he didn’t have to deal with such lint-heads any more. About then they got him out, too late. Walther canceled out. And they didn’t even let Troy clean out his desk. They sent his stuff to the hotel by messenger. It’s a damn shame, Mr. Rodenska. He was as sharp as they come. But he’s dead in this industry forever. There isn’t anybody connected with it from coast to coast who doesn’t know the story by now. He’ll never get back in, and I guess he knows it.”

“Where do you fit in, Grady?”

“Good question. He hired me. I felt some obligation, even though I hope everybody forgets I was hired originally by Jamison. So I’ve been taking care. I got him out twice when he was charged with D and D. After he got tossed out of the hotel he slept here a few times. I’ve loaned him money.”

“He can’t be broke!”

“He gives a good imitation if he isn’t. Lately I’ve been thinking it isn’t going to do me any good at the agency if people find out I’m helping him. Anyhow, he’s been getting worse. And I figure I’ve paid off any obligation. Tonight was the end. He knocked. I opened the door. He staggered in, fell down, threw up on my rug and passed out. He’d told me about you. So I phoned you. I told you what I was going to do if you didn’t feel like taking over. Want to look at him? If you haven’t seen him lately, it’ll be a shock. He looks like any skid row bum.”

Troy woke up at eleven the next morning. He didn’t seem either surprised or grateful to see Mike, or particularly interested in the plan of going up to West Hudson. Mike could detect neither shame nor remorse. Just a dullness, an impenetrable apathy. Grady had donated some elderly but clean clothing to the cause. He had said it wasn’t necessary to have them back. After the hot bath and the permissible two ounces, Troy was steady enough to shave himself.

Mike made a few futile attempts to start casual conversations on the way north, and then gave up. He did not take Troy home. He took him to the office of a friend who was a doctor. After the examination, Troy was taken directly to a rest home fifteen miles from town, a place which specialized in such problems. Three weeks later Mike brought him back to the house on Killian Street. Buttons received him politely, and with a measured amount of warmth.

“When you want to talk,” Mike said. “I’ll listen. In the meantime you can stay here until you’re well.”

“It’s a lot for you people to do.”

“Don’t worry about that.”

“One thing you may be glad to know. They told me out there. I’m not a genuine, honest-to-God alcoholic. This was more like a nervous breakdown. So you don’t have to lock up the liquor. I thought you’d like to know that. They said I can drink socially again, if I feel like it. But not this year. It won’t matter a damn to me to see other people drinking.”

“Okay.”

“I’ll stay out of your way as much as I can. Don’t figure on trying to pull me into social things. I’m not ready.”

“All right.”

“I’ll go to work soon as I can.”

“Don’t try to rush it.”

“Maybe you could do one more thing. I don’t know where the hell I stand. I don’t even know if the house was sold. That goes into the settlement. You could check with George Broman, 114 East Forty-third. He’s my lawyer and tax guy. It’ll be interesting to find out if there’s anything left.”

“How about alimony?”

“It’s being set up on the basis of a percentage of earnings. That’s lucky for me, and tough on Bunny. She’s got people to help her, though. She gets it until she marries again. And I’ve been wondering about mail, Mike. I didn’t…”

“I fixed that up. They were saving a bunch of stuff at the hotel. It’s here now. I changed your mailing address to here. They didn’t want you getting mail out there. Do you want to see it now?”

“No. Not now. I’ll look at it later on.”

He slept a great deal in those first weeks, and as the spring days grew warmer he would sun himself in the backyard. Later he began to take long walks. Buttons took pride in putting the pounds back on him. He spoke little and seldom smiled, though he was not irritable or sullen. He was good with the boys. As his strength came back he began to do minor repairs around the house—fixing doors that stuck, ripping up and replacing asphalt tile in the store room. He was good with his hands, neat and quick.

The divorce became final. George Broman ascertained that, after income tax refunds had come in, and after Bunny’s settlement, Troy Jamison had a balance of nearly thirteen thousand dollars. After it was transferred to a savings account at West Hudson National, Troy insisted, despite Mike’s protests, on paying the medical expenses Mike had incurred on his behalf.

In late June of 1953, Mike and Buttons got a letter from Bunny, postmarked Colorado Springs.

Dearest Ones,

You may cluck and shake your heads wisely as my entire family did, and you can feel hurt and left out, just as they did, and about all I can do is apologize and say it was all terribly sudden.

But not too sudden, believe me. I’m Mrs. Robert Parker Linder, and I’ve been married four whole days. Bob’s ranch is twenty miles from the Springs, and it’s half dude and half working ranch. We met in Reno—both there on the same mission. We’ve gone through all the necessary soul-searching and we’re confident that it isn’t purely rebound. I’m very happy. The country here is glorious. Bob is forty, a big, slow, sweet guy with the world’s best disposition and a grin that can turn me to butter. My gals adore him, and his son, Jaimie, age sixteen, seems to think I am a wondrous thing. You can judge how messy his situation was and how blameless he was by the fact he divorced her, and he got total custody of their only child.

Buttons, I haven’t heard from you for almost a month so I do not know whether Troy is still there with you. I hope not. You’ve had more than your share of giving and forgiving. I feel sort of queer about writing this news to him. So if he is there would you please tell him, or, if not, drop him a note. He will probably be relieved to know he is off the alimony hook. I don’t want to wish problems on you but I would rather he heard that way than more indirectly.

As I wrote you before, Troy has court permission to see the girls at his request, but not oftener than six times a year, and for not longer than eight hours at a time. You could give him this address and tell him that when he gets back on his feet and wants to see them, he can write to me and we can make arrangements.

All my love to both of you, Bunny

The letter arrived at lunch time. After Buttons read it she gave Mike an odd look, and then handed it to Troy to read. He was halfway through his lunch. He read it quickly; got up without a word and left the house. Mike then read it. Troy was not back by the time they went to bed. He had his own key.

At three in the morning Buttons shook Mike awake and said, “I think he just came in, honey. He may be dreadfully drunk. You better go check.”

He put on his robe and met Troy in the upstairs hall-way. Troy was not drunk. He whispered to avoid waking the boys.

“Sorry I took off like that, Mike. It was rude.”

“Where have you been?”

“Walking. Thinking. A hell of a long walk.”

As Mike looked at him he sensed that Troy had changed during that walk. There was more alertness in his expression. The brooding look was hidden. Not entirely gone. But not as obvious.

“I had to get used to her being married to somebody else,” Troy whispered.

“Sure. I know. Well… good night.”

He went back to bed and told Buttons. As he was going back to sleep he realized that Troy would soon be gone.

Two days later, on a Sunday afternoon, Troy told Mike his plans. “I know I can’t get back into advertising. Maybe I could get some crummy little job with a small-town agency, but I don’t want that. My father was a builder. Not a big one. Small houses, and I don’t think he ever had more than eight men working for him at one time. I worked for him for four straight summers. I’ve got a tiny bit of capital. That’s what I’m going to do. It’s the only thing I can think of.”

“Here in West Hudson?”

“No. I’ve decided on Florida. The west coast. I’m going to go down there and hire out to a contractor down there and learn what’s new in the field, and what special local problems they have. When I’m ready, I’ll try it on my own.”

“All cured?”

“Thanks to you, Mike. And Buttons. I’ll never forget it. It’s not… a total cure, I guess. But the best I can manage.”

“What happened, Troy? Is that a fair question?”

“It’s a fair question. I just wish I could give you an answer. I don’t know what the hell happened. Everything was fine. Overnight everything went sour for me. I hated the work and the city and myself. I just plain stopped giving a damn. Like a motor stopping. Running down. I don’t know.”

“I saw that woman.”

“I know you did. I remember seeing you in front of her place. Memory of that period is all… misty. And I don’t get things in the right order. But I remember seeing you there. Running away from you. But she didn’t do it. Every thing had slipped a long, long way before I found her. She just helped me find bottom—slide all the way down.” He managed a faint smile. “It was easy.”

“Grady told me about your farewell performance in the office.”

“I can just barely remember that. I did a great job. It was just a few days after she disappeared. I don’t know how many.”

“Strange girl.”

Troy stared into space. “There should be a better word than that. I think about how it was. And sometimes it makes me want to throw up. It couldn’t have been me. But I’ve got this fear, Mike. That if I ever saw her again… I’d either kill her, or it would be the same thing all over again. But this time… there’s not as much to lose. You can only lose your career and your wife one time.”