Being a Man for Himself

It was after midnight when Henry unlocked the door to his house only to discover that it was open. He entered the structure to find his wife waiting for him.

"Where's my money?" she asked.

"Excuse me?"

"You heard me. Where is my money? You tell me before I call the police."

"You're going to call the police and tell them what? It was My Money."

"Oh, so I'm not allowed to have my own money?"

"Gee, I thought all of it was OUR money. But if you want to part things up then fine. You show me what's your money and I'll make sure not to touch it."

"You shouldn't have been touching any of the money. What did you do with it?"

"I spent it."

"On what?"

On pizza. He wasn't going to tell her that though. "I went to an adoption agency. They charge fees for signing up."

"What! You did what?"

"Adoption agency. You know... so I can adopt a kid and be a father."

"And just who do you expect to raise the thing when you're not here. And besides that, you're not responsible enough to be a father. You're still just a kid yourself."

"I am 34 fucking years old. How in the world can you stand there and call me a kid?"

"You can't pick up after yourself. You can't do your own laundry. You don't even know how to buy the right kind of shampoo. I have to do all those things for you. You'd be lost without me to be your mom."

My Mom! Henry did not like her saying that. He really did not like her saying that.

"That's funny, because I can clearly remember a time before we got married when I was perfectly capable of doing all those things without your interference."

"Do you really expect to be able to take care of a child when you eat junk food everyday."

Henry looked at her. She was still as beautiful as ever. In many ways she was more beautiful than a lot of other women he had to deal with. But her beauty did nothing for him. What did it matter if she was beautiful? She was not now, nor would she ever be the mother of his children.

Henry turned away from her. Even as much as he didn't want to go back out into the night he'd rather face that than listen to any more of Keiko. As he opened the door his wife grabbed his arm.

"Where are you going?"

"Let go of me."

"You aren't leaving."

"Let go of me."

"No. You stay here."

"Let go of me or I'll call the police. You can't keep me here."

"I'm only..."

"Let go of me NOW." He yanked his arm away from her. "I'm not your slave." he said as he headed out the door and slammed it in her face.

Henry walked to the statue of a lion by the entrance to the neighborhood. From a nice little place in the shadows he saw his wife drive her car back and forth past the gate in a vain effort to find him.

For what seemed like an hour or so Henry tried to make a plan for what he was going to do for living quarters for the rest of the week. There was a sleeping room in the office building. He could crash there. He really needed to go to the bank and see what his funds looked like. For that matter, he needed to open an account he did not share with his wife and at the very least get a bank card for the one he did. Here he was with a salary of over $70,000 a year and he was a homeless pauper until his next paycheck. What would his mother think if she saw him like this?

As Henry worked out his plan for how to spend his salary, get a cheap car and a cheap apartment near work... ok, there were no cheap apartments near work but there might be something. He'd have to look. Anyway, while he was working out the details of his plan he saw two police cars with lights going as they pulled into the neighborhood.

"She called the cops." he actually said out loud. She was going to try to make him a fugitive. This was the last straw. If there was any part of him that didn't really want to go through with filing for divorce, they were on board with it now. He'd have to hire a lawyer. The number of things he needed to do outside working hours was growing fast.

It was a long walk back downtown. He swung by the train station to try to get his bike but the area where it was chained up got shuttered after closing. So he just walked. He walked all the way back to the office. It took him five hours. He was tired, had blisters on his feet, and his knees hurt, not to mention how hungry he was.

...

Thursday

"How long have you been married?"

"Seven years." said Henry to the lawyer who worked in the company's legal department.

"Well, you might not have to file for divorce. I'll have to check but I think I remember that if you've been married for fewer than ten years and your spouse has refused to have children then you can get an annulment."

"Really. Does that cost less than a divorce?"

"Oh, yeah. It basically means you were never really married. So then there's no division of assets. You'd be treated like two live-ins who wanted to break up. Whatever you bought with your money is yours and whatever she bought is hers. It's a little more complicated with a house since you're both on the mortgage but an annulment makes it a lot easier for you to get off the mortgage and sell your interest in the house to someone else."

"That seems a much better deal than I'm likely to get from her." He could almost imagine the conversation with his mother in his head. She would of course not be happy if he was getting a divorce but then he could tell her that it wasn't a divorce, it was simply never being married in the first place.

"But you have to have proof that she refused to have children. If it was just discovered after the fact that she was barren then it wouldn't work. If she knew she was barren before the marriage and concealed it from you then you could get the annulment."

"No, she just doesn't ever want to be pregnant. And she doesn't want me to adopt either." His mother had wanted grandchildren so much. Henry's brother had children but Henry always sort of felt like his mother had wanted him to have children too.

"Well, if she admits that in front of a judge then you have your annulment."

"What if she lies?"

"I don't know. You'll have to talk with an attorney you actually hire for that."

"Ok. Can you recommend anyone?"

"I'll call around. Say, be careful. These days a lot of women claim domestic abuse to try to get a leg up legally over their husband. After you file, don't be alone with her and let security know not to let her in the building."

"Got it."

"And don't answer her calls either and whatever you do, do not talk to the police. Don't answer any questions."

"Why not?"

"Anything you tell the police can only be used to hurt you in court, it can never be used to help you."

"Really? But if I explain..."

"No. Listen to me. No. Just No. If you say anything that exonerates you, a cop can never say that in court because of the hearsay rule. They can only, I repeat, they can only talk about things you say that hurt you. So DO NOT TALK TO THE POLICE. Ever. Only speak to them through an attorney."

"Ok. I think I understand." His mother would have told him to fully cooperate with the police no matter what but Henry was not about to say anything if it meant the cops would put his mother's son in jail.

"Seriously, promise me you won't ever talk to the police."

"I promise."

That advice turned out the be just the thing Henry needed to hear. After Henry went to the bank and discovered that his wife had completely cleaned out all his money he went to a different bank to open a separate account for his direct deposit to go into. He informed payroll of his new banking information as well as his new phone number that went to a prepaid cell phone while dodging questions about his new system for saving money. His system was going to be very simple. He just wouldn't let his wife have any of it from then on. Problem solved. When he returned to the office a police officer was there waiting for him.

"Mr. Cooper."

"Yes."

"I'd like to ask you some questions about last night."

"Go ahead." Henry sat down at his desk and started to do his work. He didn't even look up at the officer.

"Did you have an altercation with your wife, last night?"

Henry didn't answer.

"Hello, Mr. Cooper."

"Yes."

"Did you have an altercation with your wife last night?"

"Oh, did you expect me to answer?"

"That's why I asked the question."

"Are you threatening me? You're on camera in case you didn't know. If you pull that gun out there's no way you can claim self defense."

"What? I'm asking you about your wife."

"And did I give you an answer?"

"No. And I don't like your attitude. You keep getting lippy with me and I'll haul you in. You don't want to know what the other prisoners do to wife beating trash like you."

Henry put out his wrists. "Fine. Do your job."

"I'm just asking you some questions."

"When did this alleged beating take place?"

"Aren't you listening? Last night. Your wife called and filed a complaint. I have to determine if I should issue a restraining order."

"Right, because you're a judge."

"Watch your fucking mouth. I'm a cop. See the badge. Show some respect."

"Like the respect you showed the guy you choked to death? Or how about all those unarmed people with their hands in the air your lot have just been gunning down."

The cop stewed in his anger for a moment and then asked again. "Mr. Cooper, did you or did you not have an altercation with your wife last night?"

"My attorney has advised me not to answer any questions posed to me by police."

"Now that's funny. Why would he do that?"

"I'm not an attorney. But by all means if you want to arrest me and charge me go ahead. If the issue is some such thing that happened last night then I've already beaten the charge because I can prove where I was. And while you're at it issue your restraining order but you can go back and tell my wife that I don't actually need to physically be there for a property warrant to be executed."

"So, you're saying she's lying?"

"Why are you even asking me? You can't repeat any of this in court anyway. I ride the train everyday. Go ask the train company where I was."

"You spent the night here?"

"Now, Officer Sanders..." Henry wrote the name and badge number down. "I really wish you'd wait to ask any more questions until I have my attorney present. So if you don't mind, I have matters to attend to that are millions of times more important than you, your petty little badge, and your chokeholds."

The insult to the cop hurt him but he didn't let the comment get the better of him. In the end the cop decided not to issue the restraining order but advised Henry not to go home. That was easy enough. Henry didn't plan on going home anyway and the property warrant was already filed with the justice of the peace thanks to the advice Henry had gotten from the legal department.

Once Henry was alone in his office he pulled out the last box he'd bought that day. He sat in his chair and took his shoes off. FUCK! His feet hurt so much.

Band aid. New socks. New shoes. That was better. That was a lot better. He was technically breaking the dress code since these weren't dress shoes but black tennis shoes he hoped wouldn't be noticed. If his boss gave him any trouble about it he could just show her his feet and he hoped she'd understand. If not, then well, why did he still work here? That was a good question. With his skills and qualifications he'd surely be able to get a job had half a dozen other companies with in walking distance. Even if he wouldn't be able to find a higher salary, he might find people who would appreciate him more.

...

For the rest of the day, the rumor circulated around the office. A policeman had come and talked to Henry in his office and Henry had called the cop's bluff. Henry had stood his ground against the government and won. Henry... was a badass.

"I heard it might be insider trading."

"Someone told me Henry might run for Mayor and that guy was from the police union."

"The police force have all really gone crazy if they want to go after Henry. He's never broken a law in his life."

"I bet the cop wanted a bribe. It's pure extortion."

As the five o'clock hour drew near the stories about what happened began to exaggerate the facts. It changed from Henry holding out his hands daring the cop to arrest him to Henry giving the policeman a full dress down with Henry screaming at the guy and wagging his finger in the cop's face. The mood the cop was in when he left the office changed from an annoyed mood to a pensive and submissive one.

...

It was almost time to go. Just a few more minutes. Henry walked over to the water cooler just to get a drink and someone tapped him on the shoulder.

"Hey, you must have had a wild night."

"Something like that." Henry answered.

"Me too. That girl, Merissa, I picked her up at six so we could go out, you know and she was wanting to do some girly thing like watch the sunset or some shit. I let her know what was up. I just pulled out my..."

"Wait. Merissa was here until ten last night."

"uh... Yeah, you know cause I wasn't going to... I mean... watching the sunset. That's too boring for me. I came back to get her after lock down."

"Is that so?"

"Totally. Right there in my car. I bent her over and..."

"Stop. You're embarrassing yourself."

"What? I'm telling you. It happened."

"And I'm telling you that you're a fucking liar."

"Don't tell me you got the hots for her or nothing. She's blown half the guys in the office and she's only..."

"Merissa, with the green eyes. No. She did no such thing."

"She can deny it all she wants but who are you going to believe. Her or all the guys in the..."

"Her. You know why? Because she was on camera last night. I know when she left here. I know when she got home. I know what she did in between leaving here and getting to her house. So, would you like to revise your story?"

"Um... I think maybe we're both thinking of two different girls."

"Is that so?"

"Yeah. Obviously. In fact, I don't think you've even met her. But she's fine. She's hot and all that."

"Get out of my face."

The guy skulked off and all Henry could think was that the guy was nothing but a fucking loser.

As soon as Henry could get out of the office that day he bolted for the door. Step one was hire a lawyer. Henry wasn't going to shop around. He went right to the office of a lawyer that had been recommended to him by the company's legal department. On his way back to the office he dropped his card at a rental agency and told them to start looking for an apartment.

He stopped by a store to get some fresh clothes. In, out, and no talking to the sales staff because that would be a waste of time. He wanted them to just hurry up, take his money, and let him get out of there.

At seven Henry sat at his desk counting the cash he still had left. He looked through the listings of apartments he'd gotten from the realtor when his boss came to see him.

"I didn't think you'd still be here. I looked in the system and saw you were logged out."

"Oh, I'm not working. I'm looking for a place."

"Trouble at home?"

"Not especially but I don't really want to talk about it."

"I see. You know, I was looking over our reorganization plan and there's an opening on the 14th floor. I was thinking of recommending you for the position."

"Well, that's interesting. What sort of position is it?"

"We don't have a title for it yet but you'd be Heather's boss."

"So I'd be taking Dan's old job?"

"More or less. The department is going to be bigger since we're consolidating."

"Does that mean we all get higher salaries?"

"No, but you'll be making what Dan used to make plus your seniority bonus."

"In that case, sign me up."

"I have to think about it though. I need to know that you're 100%. Plus, I'd need someone here who can do your job. Any ideas?"

One idea came to mind. Just run a computer program. On second thought, that was a bad idea. Don't let them know that. "You could let me train someone."

"But I need to know you're ok at home. I can't put you in for a promotion if you're going to melt down on us."

"Sally, everything's fine. No, it's not the same as before but it's fine and it's going to get a lot better."

"Why was that police officer here?"

"It was just a formality. I'm moving out and just to be on the safe side I'm getting the police to get my things from my house."

"That's all?"

"That's all I cared about."

"So, are you going to be filing for divorce?"

"Maybe but not any time soon. Right now my work is the most important thing to me. That's what I'm focused on. Keiko just couldn't understand that."

"You know, you don't have to stay every night. Work shouldn't be the reason you break things off with your wife."

"It's not, and it won't be. But things couldn't stay the way they were. So I'm making some changes. These things happen and we have to just deal with them. Same is true when we have to reorganize."

"That's true. Alright. I'll put your name up there but promise me you won't let me down. I need you to pull through."

"I promise."

In the aftermath of the conversation Henry wondered if she really had ever considered him for a promotion. A week ago he'd have been completely surprised, floored even, by the notion that she wanted him to take Dan's job. But maybe he'd gotten her attention with the pizza thing yesterday and the cop thing today. She'd noticed him. Being noticed around here wasn't always a good thing but if this would lead to him finally getting a promotion then he wouldn't mind.

He turned his attention to his computer. If he was going to be in the building he might as well get something done. He pulled up all his data and again, right there in the numbers was this mysterious imbalance. It could not last and it was getting bigger. Sure, sometimes this sort of disruption might happen when the markets changed, never to go back but that wasn't what this was. No. They were going to have to go back. It was inevitable and in his mind Henry could start to see clearly the chain of interactions that were necessary.

When it happened it would happen fast. It was like a build up of electricity on one side of something and like a bolt of lightning it was going to be instant and brutal when the charge got too high.

He looked at the numbers and a plan started to form. If someone wanted to do something, what could they do? Where would be the best place to strike?

...

It was ten pm and in a few more minutes the building would go to next level of security where everyone would need a guard to buzz them in or out of the building or other important places. Henry had fallen asleep at his desk. Even though he had the key to the room with the cot in it, which he had learned was called the bunk room, he didn't actually know where it was.

The sound of a knock on Henry's door woke him and he felt a chill go over his body.

"You work way too hard." said Merissa and she entered his office without permission.

"No. I was just tired." Henry tried to straighten up and make himself presentable in front of her.

"No, You really do work way too hard. You're famous for it in case you didn't know."

"Really?"

"Oh yeah. Everyone says it."

"They're just exaggerating. It's not really like that."

"Well you can't spend the night here. Come on. I'll give you a lift home."

"Ah, no. That's ok. I was actually going to... well my plan was to sleep here actually."

"In the building?"

"Yeah, we've got a place to sleep... somewhere."

"Don't be silly. I don't mind. It's not that far."

"I appreciate the offer but I'm not just not going home tonight."

"Oh, well, if it's like that then I suppose you could surf my sofa."

"Huh?"

"You can stay at my place."