Chapter 7 - DINNER IN QUEENS
Richard arrived in a black Mercedes.
Julian was waiting outside the diner.
“You couldn’t take the subway?”
Richard looked at him.
“I’m sixty-eight.”
“That is not a disability.”
“I paid for the car.”
“Fair.”
They went inside.
Vinyl booths.
Chrome trim.
Coffee poured whether anyone asked or not.
Richard looked around.
“You come here often?”
“Twice.”
“Then why—”
“Because they have menus with prices.”
Richard almost smiled.
“I deserved that.”
They ordered.
Julian chose grilled cheese and soup.
Richard ordered salmon.
$23.
Julian looked at him.
“What?”
“Nothing.”
“You’re judging my fish.”
“I’m calculating how many eggs it costs.”
Richard laughed.
A real laugh.
Julian had forgotten how much he missed it.
That made him angry again.
“What medical issue?”
Richard’s smile disappeared.
“Nora.”
“Don’t blame her.”
“I told everyone not to tell you.”
“Why?”
“Because I didn’t want you coming home because you felt sorry for me.”
“What is it?”
Richard looked toward the window.
“Aortic stenosis.”
Julian went still.
“Heart valve?”
“Yes.”
“How bad?”
“Moderate to severe.”
“Surgery?”
“Probably a transcatheter replacement later this year.”
Julian stared.
“You were in the hospital because of that?”
“Partly.”
“And stress.”
“Yes.”
“Were you going to tell me?”
“Eventually.”
Julian laughed bitterly.
“Mom would be proud.”
Richard flinched.
“Probably not.”
The food arrived.
Neither ate immediately.
Julian said, “Is Vance Urban failing?”
“No.”
“Is it in trouble?”
“Yes.”
Finally.
“How much?”
Richard explained.
Office properties purchased too expensively before remote work hardened into reality.
Refinancing at higher rates.
A Brooklyn office-to-residential conversion delayed by zoning and construction overruns.
A hotel redevelopment in Chicago bleeding carrying costs.
Not fraud.
Not a secret criminal empire.
Debt.
Bad timing.
Pride.
“Can you fix it?”
Richard stared at his coffee.
“Yes.”
“Without my trust?”
“Yes.”
“How?”
“Sell assets.”
“Which?”
“Maybe the Seventy-Second Street house.”
Julian stopped.
“Our house?”
“Mine.”
“Mom’s house.”
“She’s gone.”
The words hurt both of them.
Richard continued.
“Hamptons property.”
“You love that house.”
“It’s a house.”
“Since when do Vances believe that?”
Richard almost smiled.
“Apparently since interest rates went up.”
“Company assets?”
“Two buildings.”
“Your shares?”
“Potentially.”
Julian stared.
“You could lose control.”
“Yes.”
“Charles?”
“Doesn’t want that.”
“So he wants my money.”
“Yes.”
“Did you?”
Richard’s eyes lifted.
“No.”
Julian wanted to believe him.
That was the problem.
“Why not?”
“Because it is yours.”
“You’ve used family money before.”
“Yes.”
“Mom’s?”
“Yes.”
“Grandpa’s?”
“Yes.”
“Then why am I special?”
Richard sat back.
“Because every time I borrowed family money, I told myself the business justified it.”
“Did it?”
“Sometimes.”
“And the other times?”
“No.”
Richard’s fingers tightened around the coffee mug.
“Your mother hated that about us.”
“Vances?”
“Men.”
Julian almost laughed.
“Specific.”
“My father borrowed from his brother. Charles borrowed from me. I borrowed against Elise’s shares during the recession.”
“Did she agree?”
“Yes.”
“Then?”
“She still hated the assumption that family capital was automatically available.”
Julian thought about the letter.
If you ever need money from him, do not ask until he has learned he is allowed to say no.
“So this whole thing is about me saying no?”
“No.”
“Then what?”
Richard looked at him.
“You’re about to become wealthy whether I am alive, dead, rich, broke, proud, desperate, or begging.”
Julian’s throat tightened.
“You think you’ll be begging?”
“I hope not.”
“But?”
“I needed to know you could survive if I stopped being the answer.”
There it was.
Less cruel than Julian had imagined.
Still cruel.
“You could have talked to me.”
“Yes.”
“Instead you gave me two hundred dollars and had security watch me sleep in Queens.”
“They did not watch you sleep.”
“Not the point.”
Richard lowered his eyes.
“No.”
“Mom specifically wrote not to humiliate me.”
“I know.”
“Did you?”
Silence.
“Dad.”
“I thought shock would make it real.”
“It did.”
“I’m sorry.”
Julian had not expected that.
“For what part?”
“The cruelty.”
“Which was?”
Richard thought.
“Making you believe love and financial support disappeared at the same time.”
Julian looked away.
That was exactly what it had felt like.
His father understood.
Too late.
“Why didn’t you call?”
“Because I would have ended it.”
“The experiment.”
“Don’t call it that.”
“Why?”
Richard’s jaw tightened.
“Because I already hate what it sounds like.”
Fair.
They ate in silence.
At the end, Richard reached for the check.
Julian took it first.
“No.”
“Julian.”
“You came to my neighborhood.”
“I invited you.”
“You invited me somewhere else.”
He looked at the total.
$46.83.
A month earlier, nothing.
Now Julian felt every digit.
“I’m paying.”
Richard watched him.
“Can you afford it?”
Julian almost said of course.
Then calculated.
“Yes.”
Different answer.
He paid with his own debit card.
Left ten dollars.
The tip felt important.
Outside, Richard stopped before the Mercedes.
“You kept the watch.”
Julian looked at his wrist.
“Yes.”
“Why didn’t you sell it?”
“I almost did.”
“Why not?”
Julian smiled.
“Mrs. Soto said if I couldn’t make rent she would take it.”
Richard laughed.
Then winced and touched his chest.
Julian stepped forward.
“Dad.”
“I’m fine.”
“Stop saying that.”
Richard lowered his hand.
“Okay.”
He opened the car door.
Then turned.
“Charles will ask again.”
“For money.”
“Yes.”
“What should I say?”
Richard looked at him for a long time.
“Whatever you decide.”
Julian watched the car disappear.
Then his phone rang.
Charles.
He almost laughed.
“Uncle.”
“We need to meet.”
“About fifteen million?”
Silence.
“Your father told you.”
“No.”
“Then how—”
“I can count.”
Charles lowered his voice.
“This isn’t about saving Richard.”
“What is it?”
“It’s about protecting what your mother left you.”
Julian frowned.
“My trust is protected.”
“Cash is.”
“What does that mean?”
Charles paused.
“The Vance Urban shares inside the trust are not worth what Nora told you if the company loses control of the refinancing.”
May you like
Julian’s inheritance was not completely separate from the company after all.
Part of his thirty-one million could fall with his father.
