Billy.”
“She’s going to send me toys?”
“Yes, she’s going to send you toys.”
“I like toys.”
It was official. She was gone to both of them.
O N MONDAY WHEN HE took Billy to school, he drew the teacher aside and said, “Mrs. Kramer and I have terminated our relationship.” Billy was in his care and she should be alert to him in case he might be feeling upset. The teacher said she was very sad to hear it and assured him Billy would be cared for—he could be the cookie boy that morning.
Ted would have much preferred this day to be the cookie boy rather than the bread-and-butter man. He had his job to protect, especially now. Billy was wholly dependent on him now. If it were true, as he surmised, that his business stock had gone up when he first became a family man, did his stock go down now that he was a cuckold? No, a cuckold was someone cheated on. He was not that. What was he?
“You poor bastard” was what he was in his advertising manager’s view. “Just walked out?” Jim O’Connor asked.
“That’s right.”
“She catch you screwing?”
“No.”
“Was she ?”
“I don’t think so.”
“You’re up a tree, Ted.”
“Well, what I’d like to do is take a week of my vacation now. Use my time to get organized.”
“Be my guest.”
“Of course, I don’t intend any of this to affect my performance here.”
“Ted, to tell you the truth, you’re doing fine. Better than the company. We may have to do another pay cut.”
Ted’s face tightened. Did his stock go down that fast?
“But considering your situation, we’ll leave you out of it. See that? By not getting a cut, you just got a raise.”
“If only I could go to the bank on it.”
“So what are you going to do with the kid?”
“What do you mean?”
“Are you going to keep him?”
“He’s my boy.”
“Doesn’t he have grandparents? This is going to be rough.”
The thought of doing anything except keeping Billy had not occurred to Ted. But O’Connor was a smart man. He was raising a question. Ted wondered if O’Connor knew something he did not.
“I thought I’d make the best of it.”
“If that’s what you want.”
Was it what he wanted? He decided to follow O’Connor’s question down the line. What about keeping Billy? There could be other options here—a way to force Joanna to take Billy. He would have to find her first. And even if he found her, why would she change her mind? She hated her life, she said. She was suffocating. Ted could not conceive that she would suddenly accept all the supposed pressure she was walking out on just because he tracked her down in a Holiday Inn with a tennis pro—he was beginning to allow himself little scenarios about her. No, I’m going to have to forget Joanna. You sure came up with a unique little Bicentennial celebration, lady.
What about other options? He would not send a four-year-old to boarding school. The grandparents? It seemed to Ted his own parents had exhausted themselves being grandparents to Ralph’s two children over the years. Ted was peeved at how little interest they had in Billy on their occasional visits to New York. His father would go into the bedroom to watch reruns of The Lucy Show while in Ted’s mind Billy was doing something spectacular like smiling. His mother was always holding forth about how wonderful Ralph was when he was a baby or how wonderful Ralph’s children were when they were babies. If his parents could not stay interested in Billy for a weekend in New York he did not think they would have much of an attention span through the Florida rainy season. His in-laws were the opposite in abundance. They were pathologically nervous. “Don’t let him stand there, he’ll fall out the window.” “Mother, we have guards on the windows.” “He’s running a temperature.” “No, Harriet, the day is running a temperature. It’s ninety degrees!” He could turn Billy over to them and hope the boy would survive. Billy
“She’s going to send me toys?”
“Yes, she’s going to send you toys.”
“I like toys.”
It was official. She was gone to both of them.
O N MONDAY WHEN HE took Billy to school, he drew the teacher aside and said, “Mrs. Kramer and I have terminated our relationship.” Billy was in his care and she should be alert to him in case he might be feeling upset. The teacher said she was very sad to hear it and assured him Billy would be cared for—he could be the cookie boy that morning.
Ted would have much preferred this day to be the cookie boy rather than the bread-and-butter man. He had his job to protect, especially now. Billy was wholly dependent on him now. If it were true, as he surmised, that his business stock had gone up when he first became a family man, did his stock go down now that he was a cuckold? No, a cuckold was someone cheated on. He was not that. What was he?
“You poor bastard” was what he was in his advertising manager’s view. “Just walked out?” Jim O’Connor asked.
“That’s right.”
“She catch you screwing?”
“No.”
“Was she ?”
“I don’t think so.”
“You’re up a tree, Ted.”
“Well, what I’d like to do is take a week of my vacation now. Use my time to get organized.”
“Be my guest.”
“Of course, I don’t intend any of this to affect my performance here.”
“Ted, to tell you the truth, you’re doing fine. Better than the company. We may have to do another pay cut.”
Ted’s face tightened. Did his stock go down that fast?
“But considering your situation, we’ll leave you out of it. See that? By not getting a cut, you just got a raise.”
“If only I could go to the bank on it.”
“So what are you going to do with the kid?”
“What do you mean?”
“Are you going to keep him?”
“He’s my boy.”
“Doesn’t he have grandparents? This is going to be rough.”
The thought of doing anything except keeping Billy had not occurred to Ted. But O’Connor was a smart man. He was raising a question. Ted wondered if O’Connor knew something he did not.
“I thought I’d make the best of it.”
“If that’s what you want.”
Was it what he wanted? He decided to follow O’Connor’s question down the line. What about keeping Billy? There could be other options here—a way to force Joanna to take Billy. He would have to find her first. And even if he found her, why would she change her mind? She hated her life, she said. She was suffocating. Ted could not conceive that she would suddenly accept all the supposed pressure she was walking out on just because he tracked her down in a Holiday Inn with a tennis pro—he was beginning to allow himself little scenarios about her. No, I’m going to have to forget Joanna. You sure came up with a unique little Bicentennial celebration, lady.
What about other options? He would not send a four-year-old to boarding school. The grandparents? It seemed to Ted his own parents had exhausted themselves being grandparents to Ralph’s two children over the years. Ted was peeved at how little interest they had in Billy on their occasional visits to New York. His father would go into the bedroom to watch reruns of The Lucy Show while in Ted’s mind Billy was doing something spectacular like smiling. His mother was always holding forth about how wonderful Ralph was when he was a baby or how wonderful Ralph’s children were when they were babies. If his parents could not stay interested in Billy for a weekend in New York he did not think they would have much of an attention span through the Florida rainy season. His in-laws were the opposite in abundance. They were pathologically nervous. “Don’t let him stand there, he’ll fall out the window.” “Mother, we have guards on the windows.” “He’s running a temperature.” “No, Harriet, the day is running a temperature. It’s ninety degrees!” He could turn Billy over to them and hope the boy would survive. Billy
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