Glory Boys. Harry Bingham

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СКАЧАТЬ issue with Willard’s words or the disobedience of his cigar. ‘No, no… Not our income. Your income.’

      ‘Very well, if you prefer, but in any case –’

      Powell was done with his cigar. He waved it at Willard. ‘I made you a loan. If I’d been dumb enough to come in for some equity, then you could say our income. That’s the beauty of lending. I don’t care if the movie was a beaut or a stinker, you pay me back just the same.’

      ‘And I fully intend to.’

      ‘Right. Otherwise you end up bankrupt.’ Powell was still smiling.

      ‘I hardly think you need to speak to me in those terms.’

      ‘I’m calling in the loan. The whole of it. Due in two and a half weeks. Margaret, my secretary, will give you written notice before you leave.’

      ‘But I have eight months. We agreed. There were to be at least eight months.’

      Powell wagged a finger. ‘You’re in default. The rules change. Read the contract.’

      Once again the suggestion of migraine came to press on Willard’s temples. Somewhere in the last few weeks and months, his world had changed. Not for the better. Very much for the worse.

      ‘Powell, may I be candid?’

      ‘Call me Ted.’

      ‘Ted, I’d like to be candid.’

      ‘Nothing to stop you.’

      ‘I haven’t any money. Nowhere near enough.’

      ‘Bad thing to tell your banker, my boy.’

      ‘I guess I figured you already knew.’

      Powell smiled. He was very calm for a man owed almost two hundred thousand dollars by someone with no money. Willard noticed this and felt even more unsettled.

      ‘I guess you could run along to Pappy. From what I hear, it’s been another great year for guns and bombs.’

      ‘Yes.’

      Willard knew that Powell was right. After a sharp collapse in profits after the end of the war, the Firm had begun to rebuild. ‘Strengthen the Old; Build the New’ was Thornton’s watchword. By 1922, Willard’s father had proudly announced that the Firm’s profits would equal those of 1916. Since then, each year had continued better than the one before.

      ‘Look, I have spoken to Father and he’s offered to bail me out if necessary. Most handsomely, as a matter of fact.’

      ‘Excellent. Money in two and a half weeks, then.’

      Willard shook his head. Up until a few weeks ago, life had seemed simple. He had looks, he had luck, he had charm, he had money. But things had grown complex; horribly so. Life had come to seem like a puzzle with a million moving parts and only one correct solution.

      He hadn’t simply accepted his father’s ultimatum. The choice of cheques and the conditions that rode with them felt humiliating and unfair. But all his arguing had been useless – and, as a matter of fact, it hadn’t really been an argument. An argument takes two and the businessman hadn’t even bothered to raise his voice. Willard might as well have been throwing sand against granite for all the difference he’d made.

      So the scene ended as it had begun, with a choice. Willard could bail himself out and give up his future throne. Or he could take the smaller cheque, extricate himself from his mess with Powell, and take his proper place beside his father, the heir anointed.

      ‘Listen, Ted, my father has offered to clear my debt, but I’d sooner, if I can, clear the debt myself.’

      Powell stopped puffing, stopped smiling. His face was suddenly very cool, very still.

      ‘You wish to clear the debt yourself?’

      ‘Yes. Yes, Ted, I do.’

      ‘I see. And how do you propose to do that, may I ask?’

11

      Abe said no.

      What else could he have said? A foxy old storekeeper wanted Abe to save the town from a bunch of gangsters down the hill. From all Hennessey had said, it was clear that the gangsters were well-established, well-organised and well-financed. Even supposing that Abe felt like playing the hero – and he didn’t; he truly didn’t – what could one man do in such a situation? The cops, the county, the state had all proved useless or worse. How could one man, working alone, do anything to help?

      So he said no. Positively, certainly and finally no.

      Hennessey had accepted his answer, or pretended to. But the next day, Hennessey returned to Abe’s slatted barn-cum-workshop, warm and cordial as ever. The storekeeper’s ostensible mission was a concern about getting Main Street ready for Abe’s impending take-off.

      ‘The street’ll be fine. I just need everyone well clear,’ said Abe.

      ‘There are some potholes. I’m getting ’em filled. Should be done by the end of today.’

      ‘Thanks.’

      ‘And them trees at the end of the road. They ain’t gonna be in the way?’

      ‘I’ll wait for the right wind. If I get the conditions right, I’ll either clear the trees or have room enough to slip left of them.’

      Hennessey shook his head. ‘That ain’t right. We owe you a proper send-off. I’ll have ’em felled. The worst ones, anyhow.’

      Abe felt caught between two feelings. On the one hand, he was pleased to get Main Street properly cleared for a take-off. On the other hand, friendly as Hennessey was, Abe suspected him of ulterior motives.

      ‘Didn’t you hear me last night, Hen? I said no.’

      ‘Sure I heard.’

      ‘Listen, I know how to fly a plane. I can fix an engine if it breaks. And if my plane happens to have a gun on it, I’m a pretty good guy for shooting at other airplanes. That’s it. That’s me. That’s all.’

      ‘Sure, I understand. Probably I was dumb for asking.’

      ‘You knew that before. But you still went ahead and asked.’

      ‘It wasn’t because you can fly a plane, Captain. It’s because you’ve got it here.’ The storekeeper struck his heart. ‘And here.’ He tapped his forehead.

      ‘I reckon you’ve got plenty in both those places yourself.’

      ‘Hah!’ Hennessey made a hacking noise in his throat. ‘My wife’s got a sister over in Atlanta. If things get bad enough here, we got another place to go. Things being how they are, I don’t see I’d get a lot for the store, but –’ he shrugged ‘– there are others who lost a whole lot more.’

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