“Please, Sebastian, I don’t have the money for my dad’s surgery. He’s a good man, and since the divorce, he’s devoted his life to raising me. Will you pay for the surgery? There’s no one else I can ask.”
My heart was thump-a-lumping in my chest, and I wished I could sit, but my stepfather hadn’t invited me. He loved making people squirm, and it was easier to do that if they were standing.
“Can’t he join a gym or stop eating burgers? Why does he need an operation?” His watch caught the light as he cut the fish.
“It’s too late for that.” I could have thrown facts, like an automatic weapon, telling him how we couldn’t afford that either. “Please. He can no longer work, only walks with difficulty, and his harsh breathing is so loud it keeps me awake at night.”
Sebastian dabbed at his mouth with a napkin. “Do you know how much your father gave his former husband over the years? No, he didn’t tell you how in those early years we struggled because you needed a roof over your head, food, and an education.” He sneered and his lips curled as if he’d tasted something bad.
I stifled a response because he wouldn’t hear, and whatever I said would only antagonize him further.
Sebastian put his elbows on the table, a habit my dad hated, and I imagined him telling my stepfather to get them off. He rested his chin on his hands, and he appeared to have somethingstuck in his teeth because his tongue was rummaging around his mouth.
“I might help you.”
I raced around to his side of the table and fell to my knees. Oh yeah, that carpet was soft.
“Thank you, Sebastian. If there’s anything I can do for you, tell me.”
“I can give you a job.”
My heart sank, because no matter how much he paid me, I couldn’t make enough to pay for the operation. I’d been so close, and I pictured my stepfather holding a bundle of cash and snatching it away at the last minute.
“But I?—”
“Don’t interrupt.”
He was speaking to me as if I were a child, and my father’s words echoed in my head.
Stand up for yourself.
I couldn’t punch him or scream. My earlier performance got me an audience, as though he were an ancient king and I were a peasant, coming cap in hand to beg for his majesty’s favor.
“And stop whining. I’ll pay for the damned operation and I’ll give you a job. It’s a little unusual, but I think it might work.”
He was going over and above what I’d asked for, and I wondered what the “unusual” job entailed. Maybe he had clogged toilets or wanted his toenails cut. Anything to humiliate me. But I’ddo it without complaining if Dad could undergo the life-saving surgery.
“And get up, for gods’ sake.” He made a face. “You stink.”
I staggered to my feet, and my belly rumbled. It’d been hours since I ate. Sebastian leaned away and flapped his hand.
“Don’t expect me to feed you.”
“No, but can you give me a hint when you might hand over the money?” Sebastian might be all talk, and Dad couldn’t wait while Sebastian enjoyed watching him suffer.
“Send the details to Vince.” He grinned. “And don’t worry about the job. You’ll have more money than in your wildest dreams.”
He shooed me away. “Now let me finish my meal.” He stuck the fork in his salmon. “Even though it’s cold.”
I sidled out of the room and leaned on the door. Father would have been proud at how I didn’t allow Sebastian to steamroll me. And yet, I suspected a trap regarding the job. He’d been almost giddy when he spoke of it. My stepfather got excited about one thing: money. What was in it for him?
But that scent captured me, and I trailed along one corridor leading to the main dining room, but it faded. Retracing my steps, the aroma lingered outside one of the private dining rooms, one much larger than Sebastian’s. I placed my ear to the door but could only pick up a murmur of voices.
“What are you doing?”
A man stood at my elbow, his arms folded, as he looked down his nose.
“Termites. In the wood. Terrible. My boss says the place will need tenting.”
