Long Island Compromise by Taffy Brodesser-Akner

Author:Taffy Brodesser-Akner [Brodesser-Akner, Taffy]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Random House Publishing Group
Published: 2024-07-09T00:00:00+00:00

* * *

The next day, when Nathan went to meet Mickey, he was exhausted and defeated. Of course he hadn’t slept. Of course he’d been made to feel angry at Alyssa’s infidelity (“Well, what else should I call it?”), and then of course he’d been made to feel sad and ashamed that he had been depriving her of something she so wanted.

He’d spent the evening at first ranting, but then apologizing, then quietly contrite, trying to be helpful as he goaded the twins to do their various bar mitzvah lessons and then watched over their shoulders as they played their various role-playing games, his stomach liquid and trembling. He thought of the beta-blockers in his medicine cabinet but would not consider them. He was still living with the consequences of his prior sojourn into drug experimentation.

So he was bleary and not quite sharp, but he was not dragging his feet as a waiter dressed in a tuxedo showed Nathan to Mickey’s daily table.

Owing to his own natural chemistry, Nathan’s suit was rumpled and sweaty. He arrived at the table to find that Mickey was not rumpled and sweaty. Mickey was in a clean navy suit that fell exactly where it was supposed to, according to the men’s magazines that Nathan used to read in the waiting room of his regular visits to his doctors—too short on the legs, hitting at just the ankle, you’d think, but then look at him: He looked perfect. He looked like a spy! And was it too tight around the middle? It was not! Did it bunch when he sat? It did not! Mickey had a visual coherence. Sleek suit, power-shaved skull, icy blue eyes, a smile you had to earn.

“My man,” Mickey said, standing up. He took Nathan’s right hand with his own right hand, like he was preparing to arm-wrestle him, and instead pulled him in hard and close to his chest so that Nathan almost impaled himself on one of the fancy chairs at the table. It was smooth, swift gestures like that that always underlined to Nathan how much a part of the world Mickey was, and how Nathan felt that he was always just catching up.

“Now,” Mickey said, as Nathan sat down. “What the fuck can I do for you, my friend?”

Nathan opened his mouth to speak but Mickey cut him off.

“I’m glad you wanted to have lunch,” Mickey said. “I have been meaning to take you out and celebrate with you for a while now.”

“Celebrate, right-o. Of course. Well, I’m not so much here to celebrate as—”

“You probably think I’m talking investment. No. I grew up watching you and your family, and my parents, they were living so close to the edge all the time. It was so stressful. Do you remember my mother had that clothing store? It was always something, trying to get rich. But I’d come to your house. That place, the way everyone was calm. Your tennis lessons. You’d think I’d be bitter. No. I was grateful for it.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.