Metropolis, p.27
Metropolis, page 27
“But if you saw him . . .” Crying overtakes her words.
“Tell me what can I do to help.”
“If, if . . . When he gets better, do you think that judge is going to send him to juvie? Because he got into trouble?”
Jason hasn’t thought that far out yet, but of course they will. “Don’t get ahead of yourself. It’s all about getting him healthy, getting him out of there.”
“But will they?”
Jason hesitates again, then says carefully, “We can ask the court to take the fact that he’s been hurt into consideration.”
“Will that work?”
“I’ll do everything I can to make it happen.”
Before Marta was arrested, Jason had been spinning pleasant visions of a leisurely road trip to California in the near future, wending his way across the country, perhaps ending up in Sabrina’s bed. And now another complication: Michael Gentilini in the ICU and facing criminal charges. There’s little chance Jason will be able to keep the boy from being shipped off to juvie, most likely Carbone Hall in Framingham, where it will be difficult for Rose to visit, but he’s got to stick around and try.
“He can’t go there!” Rose’s voice rises, thin and reedy. “I was talking to this girl in the waiting room and she told me that everyone who gets sent there comes out worse than they were before. They’re all in gangs and have these new criminal friends and lots more criminal enemies. She said if he doesn’t die now he’ll probably die when he comes back!”
Jason can only imagine the conversation. “Rose, listen to me, this girl doesn’t know what she’s talking about, doesn’t know what’s going to happen to Michael. She’s just shooting her mouth off. I’m your lawyer, so let me—”
“You’re not hearing me! He. Can. Not. Go!”
“Okay, okay. I get it. He can’t go. But you can’t let this rattle you like this. You’ve got to focus on praying, and holding Michael’s hand, being there for him. I’ll start looking into the legal aspects of this right away. This afternoon.”
“We don’t have any money and I don’t have any—”
“We’ll deal with that later. Michael is the only thing you’ve got to think about now—and taking care of yourself so you can take care of him.”
“Thank, thank you,” she stammers, and then begins to weep again. “You’re a good man. May God bless.”
When he hangs up, he thinks about all the thanks he’s been getting lately. From Rose, from Liddy, from Marta. These women are thanking him because he’s telling them what they want to hear, not necessarily what’s true or what’s going to happen or what he’s actually going to be able to accomplish. It starts to spit a cold rain, and he thinks again of California, which is suddenly very far away.
54
Rose
The whole day feels weird as Rose takes orders, buses tables, and wipes down counters just like it’s any old shift. She’s so busy that for a second here and there she actually forgets that last night Michael got shot and he’s lying in a hospital bed because a bullet went clear through his body. It makes her feel guilty to forget but it’s also a relief.
Jason said he’s going to do his best to keep Michael out of juvenile detention, but Rose could tell from his voice that he doesn’t think his best will do the trick. She’s sure Michael is going to get arrested as soon as he can leave the hospital. That girl in the waiting room said she’d seen way too many boys go up as good kids and come back as bad men who end up dead or in prison right after they get home. This will not happen to her boy. It will not. Her mind spins with possible ways to make sure it doesn’t.
She and Michael could take off and try their luck in some other city. But this obviously won’t work. There’s the girls and Vince and no money. She could send Michael on a bus to her cousin Helene in New Jersey and tell the police he ran away. This would work better but won’t really work either. Rose isn’t going to be able to pay Helene anything and Michael isn’t the easiest kid. Plus he eats a lot. How long will someone who isn’t his mother be able to put up with that—or the trouble he’s probably going to get himself into?
What she needs is someone who’s got enough power and money to make the judge think again about what to do with Michael. Liddy is a possibility. But now with the television saying that the police are investigating if someone might have pushed Garrett on purpose—and it’s got to be Liddy they’re talking about—Liddy probably won’t be able to do anything. The only person she sort of knows who might be able to help is Garrett Haines. He’s as important as they come and must have lots of pull in the right places.
She bets ol’ Garrett would be more than willing to swap a little of that pull for an eyewitness who can place the blame for his accident on Liddy. There’s no doubt in her mind that Liddy pushed him, and must have pushed him hard. Rose went to the fourth floor the morning after it happened, and there’s no way Liddy wouldn’t have seen that the elevator door was hanging open. It was right there. Plus from everything Liddy told her about Garrett, Liddy had reasons to want him dead.
It would be a mean thing to do to Liddy and that’s what stopped Rose the first time she thought about this. But now it’s not money she wants. It’s Michael’s life. And she figures that being considerate of someone who hasn’t been that nice to her isn’t all that important anymore.
The next day, Rose goes to Mass General to talk to Garrett. This hospital has got it all over Boston Medical. Everything is cleaner, outside and inside. Even the people are cleaner. It’s prettier and smells much better. Rose buys flowers she can’t afford at the store in the lobby, figuring they’ll make her seem more visitor-like and proper. She’s wearing her best dress. When she asks for Mr. Haines they send her to a room where she’s got to show ID and then sit around and wait for someone to come and interview her.
The woman who comes looks more like an admin than a nurse and Rose knows this is going to be the hardest part. “I don’t know Mr. Haines personally,” she says the way she planned out. “But I’ve always admired him and what he’s done for so many people—especially my kids. Because of him, through one of his charities, Boston Partners in Education, my three children got to go to a really good preschool program and now they’re all on the honor roll. And this is because of what he did, and I’d like to tell him this,” she lies.
“That’s very nice . . .”
“So I just wanted to tell him how sorry I am about what happened to him. And to thank him personally for everything he’s done for my family.” Rose holds up the flowers like the admin can’t see them.
“If you give me your name, I’d be happy to bring him the flowers and tell him what you’ve told me.”
“I’d like to give them to him myself.”
“I’m sorry, Ms. Gentilini, but as you know, Mr. Haines isn’t well. His doctors restrict visitors to family and close friends.”
Rose grips the flowers so tightly she feels a stem break. “I was at Metropolis the night of his accident, and I saw what happened. I’d like to tell him about that too.”
The admin acts unimpressed, but she nods and asks Rose to please wait for her to check with Mr. Haines. In a few minutes she comes back and says Mr. Haines will be happy to see her, and then she takes Rose to his room.
The whole hospital might be nice, but where they’re walking is some supernice part that must be just for rich people. It’s quiet and there’s pretty tile on the floor and wood halfway up the walls. There’s lots of paintings and they might even be the real thing. When they get to his room it looks like it should be in some fancy hotel.
Mr. Haines is sitting in a wheelchair behind a big desk that’s covered with files and papers and a huge computer monitor. He takes off his glasses and his eyes are suspicious and cold when she walks over to him. “I understand you have something you’d like to tell me,” he says.
Rose lays the flowers down on the desk. “I saw her push you,” she says quickly. “Liddy, Mrs. Haines, I mean. I work there and was just leaving the building and I heard arguing and climbed down the stairs to see what was going on. I didn’t mean to be nosy but I was worried that something bad—”
Mr. Haines holds up his hands. “Tell me what you saw. Second by second, if you can remember.”
Rose does, except that she leaves out the part where she didn’t actually see Liddy push him. She doesn’t need to because it’s obvious that’s what happened. When she finishes he asks if she’s willing to sign some papers that say just what she told him. When she says she will, his voice and his eyes get all friendly and he wants to know what he can do to repay her.
She presses her fingernails into her palm so hard there are little red marks all over them when she gets home. “I’ve got a son . . .”
After she explained the situation, Mr. Haines said he would take care of it, and in a few days Michael’s arrest disappears. Poof, it’s gone. “Expunged” is what she thinks Mr. Haines called it. Whatever’s the right word, it’s just the same as if the whole thing never happened in the first place. So now there’s no reason for Michael to have to go to juvie. He’s got another chance to get it right and so does she.
Jason is surprised when Rose tells him Michael’s record got wiped clean, and he’s even more surprised when she says it was because she knew someone who knew someone. He doesn’t ask who and she gets the feeling that maybe he doesn’t want to hear the answer. And even though she feels a little bad about ratting out Liddy, it saved her child’s life, so how bad can she feel?
55
Liddy
Jason had said he hoped the lockdown at the jail would be lifted by this morning, but either way, Marta is still behind bars. As Liddy waits for the movers in the Metropolis parking lot, she tries not to obsess over those guard attacks. Instead, she focuses on the fact that once she shows the movers what to take, she’ll never have to step foot inside this building again. And this afternoon she should be able to fill out her visitor application and maybe even see Marta.
After the kids left, she took the cash she and Marta had stashed in their units, but Marta’s unit is still packed with dozens of cartons holding all the work product she’s completed over the past four years. The twins took the things they wanted, and Liddy has decided to just leave the furniture in both units. She knows she should donate it, but she’s exhausted and can’t take on anything else right now. Most likely it will be auctioned off and someone who needs it will eventually get to use it anyway.
So it’s just Marta’s things plus the dollhouse Robin claims she wants to save for her own children—but Liddy suspects she wants for herself—that will go into the storage room at The Tower. This is only temporary, as she doesn’t expect to be in the condo for long, but it’s the simplest solution for now.
When the moving truck pulls in, Liddy climbs out of the car and motions for the men to follow her through the front door. She punches in the code and avoids looking at Rose’s empty office as well as the police tape still guarding the elevator. So much lost. Rose lost her job. Marta lost a place to live. The owner will lose his business. Jason will lose his office. And everyone else will be forced to leave too.
It infuriates her that Garrett will end up with Metropolis, but so be it. She’s finally going to be free of him, although she’s a little troubled that she hasn’t heard from Dawn since the attorney submitted the countersuit to Garrett’s lawyer. Liddy has been so distracted by Marta’s situation she almost forgot about it. She calls Dawn’s office, but Dawn is in court, so she leaves a message with her paralegal . The day is warm, but a shiver crawls up Liddy’s spine.
When the movers finish unloading at The Tower, Liddy heads across the Common to the Public Garden to cheer herself up. The spring has been rainy and dreary so far, but the last two days of sun have transformed the city. The reddish buds on the trees are opening into shiny green leaves, tulips line the walkways, cherry trees on the Esplanade are flowering, and crocuses thrust their yellow stamens upward. Even a group of homeless people on the Common are smiling: two men play Frisbee with a woman in a red cape; a skinny redheaded man is sprawled out on a bench, his heavily bearded face tilted toward the sun.
The next morning she wakes to a text from Jason: Lockdown is over. Heading to Suffolk.
Liddy knows she can’t get her visitor application until three, but she rushes into the shower to make sure she’ll be ready. After she towels dry, she puts up water for tea and pops a piece of bread in the toaster. Still no word from Dawn, which is troubling, but it’s early, and surely she’ll call with news soon. Today is the thirteenth, the day Garrett has to respond to her countersuit, the day she turns his scheme back at him, the day he’s going to fail.
“Good morning, my friend,” she says when Jason calls.
“And a very good morning to you too.”
“I got your text. How’s she doing?”
“I haven’t been there yet. I’m on my way to the ICE office in Burlington.”
“Marta hasn’t seen anyone in days!” Liddy cries, astonished that Jason would make this decision. “You have to go see her first. She must be out of her mind!”
Jason chuckles. “It’s just that I’ve got to fill out some paperwork to make sure everything goes smoothly”—he pauses dramatically—“when she gets released.”
Liddy presses the phone to her ear. “Released?”
“Bail! Marta is getting out on bail!”
“Bail,” she repeats slowly, not quite comprehending. But as the word flows through her body, her muscles liquefy and she understands. “Bail!”
“That’s why I’m going up to Burlington,” Jason is saying. “When I’m done, I’ll head right over to Suffolk. Just have to pay the fee, and then—”
“How did this happen?”
“I annoyed the hell out of Judge Cohen’s assistant. The judge read through the materials and decided Marta is a good candidate for bail. And even better, she set—”
“When? When will this—”
“Hold on, Liddy. Don’t you want to hear the best part?”
“Best part?” Liddy knows she keeps repeating Jason’s words, but she’s having trouble taking it all in.
Jason laughs. “The judge set a date for Marta’s asylum hearing. A week from next Monday.”
“Thank you, thank you, thank you,” Liddy cries. “Will she be out today? Can I meet you at Suffolk so—”
“Be patient,” Jason warns. “You know how bureaucracies work. Slow and tortuous. Plus she has to be discharged from Suffolk and then sent to the Burlington office for the official release. So I’m—”
“Why can’t she just leave from Suffolk? That doesn’t make any sense.”
“Procedure, procedure, procedure,” Jason reminds her. “So I’m guessing Monday. Too bad it’s a Friday, because nothing can happen over the weekend. Probably in the afternoon. Will that work for you?”
“Yes, yes, that works for me. Absolutely. We’ll go together then.”
Liddy spins happily around the apartment for the rest of the morning. After Marta’s arrest, Jason brought over the clothes Marta had left at his apartment, along with her computer and files. But Liddy had been too superstitious to unpack them, wary it might jinx Marta’s chances. Now she hangs Marta’s clothes in the closet she cleaned out earlier and places the rest into bureau drawers. She sets Marta’s laptop on Garrett’s desk, clears room for the papers, and stacks the files. She stands back and surveys her work, pleased. Again, temporary, but Liddy can’t wait to see Marta’s face when she sees her new office.
The phone rings while she’s eating lunch. Dawn. “Did he agree?” Liddy asks. Of course he did. Today everything works out.
There’s a pause. “It didn’t go the way we hoped.”
Dawn reads a draft witness statement Garrett’s lawyer sent, asserting that Liddy pushed Garrett into the clearly broken door. Liddy starts shaking so badly that her phone falls to the floor. She scrambles to pick it up and drops it again. When she finally retrieves it, she sees that the glass has shattered. “This, this can’t be right.” She knows that it can be but tries anyway. “There wasn’t anyone else in the building. Who’s this so-called witness?”
“His attorney didn’t say, but he’s sending me the signed affidavit in a day or two, so we’ll know then. He did say that their original offer has been extended, and you have forty-eight hours to agree or they’re taking the statement and their other evidence to the police.”
Liddy stares at the half-eaten yogurt in front of her, tipped sideways on the place mat, the empty cup of tea. “So if I don’t go back to him, I’ll be arrested?”
“Not right away. At least not until after they do more investigating, make sure they have enough evidence. And I’m sure I can slow down the—”
“But I’ll have to go to the police station for questioning,” Liddy says, amazed that she’s thinking so clearly, speaking so lucidly. “And the media will find out.”
“We don’t know that for sure either.” Dawn hesitates. “But, yes, that’s likely to be the next step.”
Liddy watches the tiny sailboats on the Charles River catching the wind, tacking this way and that. “Tell them if Garrett agrees no one will ever see that statement, especially the media and the kids, and there won’t ever be a trial, I’ll live with him and pretend to be his loving wife. I’ll give up Marta, do whatever else he wants. But it needs to be in writing. Ironclad.”
“Don’t jump to a decision right now,” Dawn advises. “Give it some time. I’ll email a PDF of the draft statement over to you. We can still fight this. Still win, or at least get it down to simple assault. Eyewitness accounts are notoriously suspect, and—”
“This will destroy my children. I’m not going to do that.”
“Listen to me,” Dawn says sternly. “There’s no evidence you tampered with the elevator or that you were aware it was broken. And there’s no way they can prove you knew Garrett was coming that night. Also, battered woman’s syndrome is a viable defense, which both Marta Arvelo and Rose Gentilini can testify to.”
