Being a Man for Himself

In fact, he sort of thought he did see something but he needed more solid information to be sure. Anyway, that wasn't what he had to do that day.

He packed up and got back on the road. It would be at least three more hours of driving.

After two hours of driving he stopped for lunch. He was in the home stretch. He was stuffing a hamburger in his mouth when the company called him.

Henry looked at his phone. Should he answer? What did they want? Maybe there was some personal item he'd left at the company.

He was just about to flip a coin to see if he would answer or reject the call but then just decided to answer and see.

"Henry Cooper."

"Hello, Henry. This is Susan Meyers. How are you?"

"Happier than I've been in a long time. Thanks for asking."

"I was looking over your personnel record and I noticed some inconsistencies."

"Is that so?" Susan didn't work in personnel. She usually never had anything to do with Henry. What was this about?

"It seems to be unclear if you quit or you were fired. Could you fill me in on the details?"

"I don't really care. You can write down either one."

"It might have an impact on the kind of recommendation we give to your next employer."

"I don't really think I'm going to even let my next employer know I ever worked for you."

"Why is that?"

"Is that all you called about? You're sort of wasting my time."

"Excuse me?"

"I'm busy. Are you going to be paying me for my time or did you expect to just talk to me for free?"

"Henry. I think maybe you feel we haven't been fair to you."

"You don't say. My mother dies and I get fired for going to her funeral."

"So that's what you think happened?"

"I know full well what they were trying to set up. They're saying that I'm disgruntled that I didn't get that promotion. You can believe whatever you want. You can say whatever you want. I'm not going to let you or anyone else down there affect my life or my family. They come first, not you."

"I don't think anyone would argue with that. Did you feel like maybe you were being punished professionally for something in your private life?"

"Let me ask you, have they found someone to do my job yet?"

"No."

"Let me guess, you were ok for a few days but things have started to get backed up."

"Something like that."

"Right. So each department has probably sent a guy to look for me to ask where their data is but I'm not there. So everyone is scrambling to compile and organize all the data that I used to take care of."

"You make is sound like you knew this would happen."

"Oh, but what do I know. I'm not an analyst. I'm replaceable. I'm just a cog in a wheel. And you didn't want me to train anyone."

"I never..."

"I didn't mean you personally."

"Who didn't want you to train anyone?"

"Who was my boss?"

"Sally. She stopped you?" From Susan's tone of voice that sounded like exactly what she wanted to hear. Then the call made sense to Henry. Susan was stocking up ammunition against Sally. They were still just using him as cannon fodder in their war of office politics.

"I told her she should let me train someone. I told her we should have backup computer systems in place."

"And she didn't listen."

"No. She was more worried about me making her look bad because she couldn't stop me from going to my mother's funeral of all things."

"I'm sorry, Henry. I just can't believe that."

"So now I don't care. You guys can figure it out yourselves."

"Would you be open to returning to the company, perhaps if you had more autonomy?"

"No. Not now. Not for the salary I was getting."

"Would you like to come in? We could meet in my office and discuss it. If you don't want to return permanently, maybe we could hire you for a short term until..."

"Until I train someone?"

"Something like that."

"Don't you think that would be weird?"

"I think it's something that needs to be done. And I was looking over a report you wrote. I have to say, I was very impressed by it."

"Is that so?"

"Yes. I investigated your claims and was very surprised by what I found. It got me thinking that we weren't properly using all of your talents when you were here. I'd love to get a chance to see if we could mend this relationship. No one wants hard feelings."

"Let me think about it. Right now I'm busy with a family issue that needs to be dealt with."

"I understand. No pressure. Would you like to meet next week? How's Monday?"

"Monday's ok but we better make it lunch outside the office. We don't want any distractions."

"Ok. I'll email you with the details."

"Great. See you then."

Well, that was different.

Henry got back on the road. To pass the time he was counting the songs on the radio. He was at five when his phone rang.

"Hello."

"Henry?" said Keiko.

"What do you want? Called to tell me we're now 700 thousand in debt?"

"You need to get back here."

"I'll tell you this one time. Don't take that tone with me. In fact, you're no longer worthy to use my name."

"What? Stop acting like a..."

Henry hung up. The song was still playing. He hadn't lost count.

She called back just as the song changed.

"Hello."

"Henry. You are making..."

"I told you, you can't call me that any more."

Click. Oh, there it was. It was actually pretty easy to block numbers from calling him. Done.

That was just in time too because he could see his exit coming up. Henry got off the interstate and drove through a wooded area that would have been easy to get lost in at night. He pulled up to the old house where his sister lived.

Henry was practicing what he was going to say when someone called him. He didn't recognize the number so he answered.

"Hello."

"Henry. You're going to have to come home sometime." Keiko said.

"What did I tell you?"

"You're being ridiculous."

"Say, can I ask a question?"

"No. You come home. I'll help you find a job. I'm going to lose everything. Don't you understand that."

"Can I borrow $100?"

"No. You're completely irresponsible with money. That's what got us into this mess in the first place."

"Excuse me. You're the one with 300 thousand..."

"That's not your business. Your job is to get over here and take care of the bills. That's your job."

"Oh, sorry, master. I guess I was getting uppidy."

"We're going to be in a lot of trouble if you don't..."

"I like the sound of that. Master. That's what you're going to have to call me from now on."

"No. I'm not calling you..."

"You call me that or I won't come home."

Henry ended the call and blocked that new number she was using. It was probably for some cell phone he hadn't known she had.

Henry rolled his shoulders and walked up to his sister's door. He knocked. He waited. He knocked again and the door was opened.

His sister was standing there in front of him and she didn't look so good.

"Hi." Henry said.

"Hi."

"Can I come in?"

It took a moment for his sister to register the question. When she did she moved out of the way to let Henry enter. Her house was not as clean as Henry remembered it being the last time he had been there.

"Are you ok?" he asked.

She just nodded her head.

"Tell me the truth." he demanded.

Instead of saying anything she came and hugged him. She was emotional. Why? Henry helped her to her old brown sofa, moved some papers out of the way, and sat down with her. She started to sob as he held her.

For the next half hour Henry would ask a question and then not get an answer. He'd wait, give her some time, and then try again. She just held on to him as tight as she could.

Eventually she did start talking but she didn't have much to say. Ever since the funeral she'd basically just stayed in her house. She didn't even know how many days had passed.

It was difficult for her to speak. She started crying really hard and all Henry could do was hold her. He thought back to the night he'd wanted to call her but fucking stupid ass Keiko was on the fucking phone. The fact that his sister had guns in the house did not escape Henry's notice.

Amy was ex military. Her real name was not Amy in fact. It was Pulchra. She'd always hated that name. There was a period when she had wanted people to call her Bella since it meant the same thing but eventually she abandoned it all together.

She joined the service a couple of years after high school. When she left, pretty much everyone would agree that she was an evil bitch. As the youngest of the siblings she always sort of got special treatment and she lorded it over her brothers. Henry was not sad to see her go. He was not sad when she missed Thanksgiving and Christmas because she was deployed to some third world country.

When her four years were over, she came back to the states. Henry avoided her. If she was a fucking ball breaker before, he could only imagine what she'd be like with army training.

Now that he thought about it, the wake had really been the first time for him to even talk to her in the three years she'd been back. A few people had said that the army had changed her. It was said that she was different somehow but Henry didn't care enough to investigate. He had his own problems. He wanted her to keep her distance.

It was funny. The last time he'd seen her before she left for boot camp had been his wedding and the first time for him to see her after she got back was their mother's funeral.

Henry helped her to her bed. He let her lay down and then Henry went about doing the cleaning. It was not going to be an easy few minutes of organizing either. This house needed some serious work. Why did she live this way?

First batch of laundry started. Next.

Dishes in the sink washed. More dishes brought to the sink. Next.

"I can do it myself." Amy said to Henry as he was scanning her living room and wondering what to tackle next.

"I know. But you go rest. I got this."

"You don't have to do this."

"I decided to do it and so I'm doing it."

"No, really. I don't want you..."

"Go back to bed."

"I'm not tired."

"Then go outside. It's nice. Go for a walk or something."

"Just stop. Ok. I can clean my own house."

"And yet it is not clean."

"I know. I'm sorry."

"Why are you apologizing? Just get out of the way and let me do this."

She didn't have the energy to fight about it. She stood on the side as Henry got back to work.

Laundry into dryer, next load started.

All the dishes finally in the kitchen. Washing. Done. Next.

Bag in the vacuum cleaner changed. Vacuuming. Done. Next.

When it was time to fold and put the clothes away, Amy insisted she do it. The final load was started and Henry went to work on one of the bathrooms.

Henry was almost finished with cleaning everything when he noticed the time. He needed to call the bank and see if that transfer had gone through. It had. Automatic payments were set up. Everything was ready. It would be nice, smooth sailing.

No one knew exactly what Henry had planned except him. His lawyer would eventually have to be told and brought in on it but before even telling her, he wanted to have it set up so there would be no way to talk him out of it. Henry had something that would look like the financial equivalent of a nuke. It was his ultimate escape clause. In the end it was really nothing but a bluff but it was a bluff that played to all the negative things that people thought about him. If anyone actually called his bluff then it would all fall away. Henry just hoped it looked too scary to call.

One thing that Henry knew was that people responded to incentives. Men, women, white people, minorities. Everyone was the same really. People were people and people were all looking out for their own self interest.

Once the phone call was done it was back to cleaning the house. An hour and a half later and the two siblings had done just about all they could do. Amy seemed to have woken up from whatever state she'd been in when Henry had first gotten there. Now that the house was clean it was time to go.

Amy was still putting clothes away when Henry went to his car and drove away. He hadn't told Amy he was leaving. He and Amy weren't close. They were almost the exact opposite of close. All he could ever remember of her was never wanting to be around her and from what he could tell she pretty much felt the same.

The little town that his sister lived near didn't have much but it had a supermarket. As Henry started to fill his basket with a few things he wondered if he'd ever seen this supermarket in his numbers. He probably had. There was some big thing happening a few years ago that affected the price of carrots.

Henry drove back to his sister's house and she was sitting on her front porch. As soon as Henry was out of his car she ran up and hugged him.

"I thought you were gone."

"I can go if you want."

"No. Stay. Please stay."

"What? What is this? What happened?"

"Just, don't go."

"I'll have to leave eventually."

"I know but just don't go. Not yet."

"Ok. Not yet. Um... can you let me loose a bit though?"

She eased up and then she saw that Henry had gone shopping for her. They got the groceries into the house and Henry started to cook. There was one recipe he knew well.

"Spaghetti?" asked Amy.

"Yep. You don't have to sit and watch. This is going to take some time."

There was silence as Henry cooked and Amy just sat watching him. Henry had this one specific question he wanted to ask her but seeing the very weird way she'd been acting, he wasn't going to mention it.

The time ticked away and the food was done. Henry served it and Amy actually smiled as her plate was put in front of her.

"Just like dad used to make."

"He's the one who taught me."

"When do you have to go back?"

"I don't have a set time table."

"Can you stay the weekend?"

"I could. Or you could come to the city with me. Do you have work or anything?"

"No. I haven't been able to... keep a job."

"I see."

"I just can't focus, you know."

"What happened?"

"They died."

"Mom and dad?"

"Everyone. My whole unit. They're gone. I was the only one left."

"I'm sorry."

Amy ate some of her food and just sat quiet for a while.

"This is good." she said.

"Thanks. Amy, why didn't you tell anyone? Why didn't you call Ron?"

"Ron? He hates me."

"He's your brother. He would have looked after you."

"He told me not to come around his house. He said I was scaring his kids."

"Well, you know how parents are. You know, I asked him for a loan just yesterday."

"How many 'fuck you's did he use when he told you no?"

"How did you know he said no?"

"It's Ron. He never lends money to anyone. Ever since he got married his wife has just kept him away from anyone who isn't mormon."

"You could have called me?"

"I did. Your wife would just put me on hold and then never come back to the line."

"Really? Well, I'm sorry she did that. If you were hurting, you should have said something at the funeral."

"Everyone already thinks I'm too selfish."

"You know. I've got an idea. How about I hire you?"

"To do what?"

"Clean my house. Do my laundry. Agree with me no matter what I say."

"You want a maid?"

"No. Well,... yeah. More like a secretary who also cleans. What do you say?"

"Ok. If you want me to."

"Are you sure? You don't sound too excited about it."

"I'm sorry. I just have trouble being happy about anything. It's crazy because I know I'm ok. I know I should be fine but I just can't feel happy."

"I don't really understand but that's alright. You need to be around other people. Living alone all the way out here in the woods by yourself is not helping."

"I'm sorry."

"You have apologized to me more today then the entire time we were kids."

"I know. I'm sorry. Will I have to stay in your house with your wife all day?"

"No. That's the great part about it. I'm leaving Keiko. I've got a new place all by myself."

"You're getting divorced?"

"Um... Yeah, something like that. So I'm all alone everyday. I need someone to be there with me."

"Ok, if you want."

"No, not if I want. If you want. Come on. Wake up. And look, I'll get you the best doctors. Whatever is going on, don't worry. I'll take care of it."

"Ok."

"Well, good. That's settled. We can start for the city tomorrow. If we hurry we should be able to make it in one day. I'll treat you to a great weekend. Nice restaurants, maybe a movie or play. How does that sound?"

"Nice. What about when you have to go to work? What should I do?"

"Oh, ha. Actually, I lost my job."

"Oh no. I'm sorry."

"But, don't worry. I can still pay you."

"You don't have to pay me."

"But I want to."

"I don't want to be a burden to anyone."

"Pulchra. Stop it. You're my sister. I can't have you living like this. No. I'm going to take care of you. I have the money. So don't worry about it."

For a few moments Amy was silent. Then she uttered, "Ok".

The night was very quiet at Amy's house. She said she didn't like tv or radio. She often liked to just sit in a dark room and stay still. While Henry was wondering about what all the repercussions of the deals he'd done earlier in the week would be, his sister was just sitting there with her eyes open.

Henry tried to guess at what she was feeling by her facial expressions but it was difficult. She seemed sad but she didn't look sad. She seemed scared but she didn't look scared. The only thing Henry could really conclude was that she was tense. She was wound up inside. She was on mental high alert even though the only thing to be scared of in the woods near her house were black bears.

Henry was about to nod off in a chair when he heard Amy speak.

"There was this guy." she said.

"Who's that?"

"When I was in country. There was this guy. We weren't together, not officially together. He had someone else back here waiting for him. But when we were out there it was just, you know, he was there and I was there. We both needed something."

"But he went back to his wife when he came home?"

"You could say that. She was at his funeral as the grieving widow. But she never knew him like I knew him. She never knew him when he was really afraid or when he was able to find his courage. That was me."

Henry was contemplating her words when she got up and left the room. She went to take a shower and that seemed to be the signal to get ready for bed. Henry figured he'd have to sleep on the sofa since his sister only had the one bed. Henry sort of tested out the firmness or lack there of in the thing and then took his shoes off.

Henry was putting his head down on the arm rest and wondering if it would be a good idea to use that as a pillow or if he should just let his feet hang off the side. It was during this discovery phase when his sister's shower ended and she eventually came back into the living room naked.

She was naked. So what. Of course Henry's cock noticed but the rest of him remained calm. This was her house. If she wanted to be naked that was ok.

Even as he was telling himself that it wasn't a problem that she was there like that with him in the dark another part of his mind was slowly looking over her body. After all, she was a woman still in her twenties. She was fit and probably pretty strong. She had a very nice figure that was indeed very pleasing to the eye. Henry hadn't even noticed that he was really looking hard at her until she said something.

"Do you need something?"

Henry looked away. "Sorry. I was just staring off into space."

They were both still as Henry averted his eyes. Henry figured she was going to get something or put her clothes on or talk or something.

"Henry. Can I ask you?"

"What?"

"Do you need something?"