Flying Too Close to the Sun, George Jehn [freda ebook reader txt] 📗

thing.” Next, the glass of booze went to his mouth with a smirk on his face. “Looks like you lose either way.” Ursula put a hand to her mouth and gasped, but he cast a shut up look her way.

Erik ground his molars so hard he thought they might crack. As despair engulfed him he looked pleadingly to his mother. She sat with frigid immobility, unable or unwilling to utter anything. She finally turned up her palms, got up and left the room.

In the immaculate kitchen her body shook and she cupped her chin in her hands. Should she tell Erik the reason Joe harbored such bitterness? She said nothing.

You can’t argue with an irrational person. Yet so much repressed hurt surfaced Erik’s immediate urge was to vent everything, by stating he had long known of his mother’s infidelity and just to rub it in, adding that he applauded what she’d done. That would hurt, but Joe’s response would probably be explosive. So he went to the closet and pulled out the suitcase he used while away during flight engineer school. A breath of stale air was released as he opened it and he threw in some of his belongings.

He knew what had to be done. He went to his parent’s bathroom as the cigarette and booze perfume followed him and he grabbed Joe’s toothbrush and secured it in a Ziploc baggie. Although no longer trapped behind invisible bars of unremitting fear, he still didn’t feel liberated. His shoulders drooped as he slammed the door and drove away from the immaculately kept house on Violet Lane, with only grim expectations and smoldering loathing as companions. The night exploded and anxiety engulfed him while driving. A time that should have been one of celebration over his new job and first love, was instead an impending disaster. He had to get back on course. Carol was all he had left. Would she be there for him?

After Erik left, Ursula implored Joe, “Please. Help him.”

“Why?” he responded with a wave of his hand. “He screwed a bank and would do the same to me. You want to lose this house and live in poverty? We’ll rent out his room to someone else and charge more.” After a moment of awkward silence he snarled, “He certainly doesn’t take after his father. But you already know that, don’t you? Cheating seems to be a common trait in both of you.” He stormed upstairs and slammed the bedroom door.

.     .     .

While driving aimlessly Erik contemplated his father’s actions. Even during times when nothing seems to go right, children are supposed to be a source of joy. He would get proof, one way or the other whether or not he fit that definition. As his thoughts began to focus, the idea of spending the night alone in a hotel room didn’t sit well. He recalled a flyer posted in the operations office stating there was a room available in a small commuter apartment near the pilot ghetto. There would probably be at least a half-dozen other pilots and the rent most likely wouldn’t be cheap, but he wouldn’t be alone. He drove to the airport and called the number. The place was still available. The landlord offered the first two weeks for free as an incentive. He dropped off his belongings and sat down in the kitchen. If a person swims far enough into the ocean you can lose direction, not knowing the way back to shore. He knew what had to be done, so he went to a pay phone and called Carol.

“Can I come over? Now?” he hoarsely whispered.

“Sure,” she replied, concerned by his tone.

.     .     .

Erik arrived approximately fifteen minutes later. “Let’s go downstairs. I have something to tell you.” Carol could tell his mind was running at warp speed. They plopped down facing each other on the couch and he fired off his story. “The bank contacted Shuttle Air and my job is at risk. I only have two weeks to make full restitution.” He paused. “And it’s not only that. If I get canned I have to repay Shuttle Air an additional sixty thou for my training. That would be almost a hundred grand. I asked my father to loan me the money because I thought maybe when he heard what was at stake, he’d help. But the dysfunctional bastard became irate and kicked me out of the house.”

“Hold on. Slow down! Your father threw you out?”

“Yeah, and told me not to come back. I moved my stuff into a commuter apartment near the airport.” Erik wanted to tell Carol every lurid detail of the heist, but couldn’t bring himself to do that. Maybe she would kick him out also. She was all he had and he had to hold onto her at all costs.

“He knew you’d lose your job if he didn’t lend a hand?”

“Yeah.”

“Why would he help carry the rope to your lynching?”

“He said he’d have to take a loan on the house and didn’t want to take a chance on losing it. Bottom line, he doesn’t trust me.”

After a moment she added, “We’ll work this out, together. He abandoned you, but I won’t.”

Following another moment’s silence he said, “There’s more.”

“More?”

“There was some money on one of my flights and it’s missing.”

“Are you a suspect? Did you take it?”

Erik couldn’t bring himself to lie directly to her, so he skated. “It was a lot and if I had, I wouldn’t be in this mess.” He quickly related the information the police had given him about the money. To get off this subject he asked, “I need to look up a business address for another important matter. Since you have internet access, can I use your computer?”

“It’s over there,” she said, pointing to the next room. Maybe he’s looking for a way to come up with the money?

Erik returned a few moments later after having written down the address of a DNA testing lab.

“Did you find what