“Sal!” Ethan cried again.
Sal’s Bronx baritone filled the air. “There he is, Mr. Big! Is it nice outside, or what? Ten to one, it’s nice outside.”
“Nice. Outside. Hot.”
“I don’t know where the hell you are, but yeah, it’s fucking hot here.”
“Sal, watch what you say.”
“You been a good boy?” Sal asked. “Walking the line?”
“Yes!”
“Yeah? When you get here, we’re gonna eat a lot of pickles. Live it up.”
“Where. Sally. Be?”
“She’s here. I’m in a hotel. Kind of a hotel.”
“Where. Karen?’
“She’s sleeping, buddy; she’s up in her room. Listen, you make sure you’re a good boy, okay? We’ll play catch or hoops when you get here. And you call me anytime you want, okay?”
“Okay!”
“Now, who’s your favorite uncle?”
“Sal!”
“And who loves you, baby?”
“Sal!”
“And who takes you to football games, Bulls games, Cubs games, the track?”
“You took Ethan to the track?”
“Sal!”
“Book ’em, Danno! Now, let me talk to your father. Put the professor on.”
Ethan handed me the phone.
“Where the hell are you?” Sal asked. “I’m drinking alone out here.”
“I’m in Knoxville.”
“Jesus, John, that sounds far.”
“It’s not that far. So, how’s everything there? How’s Karen? Is everything okay?”
“She’s all right. Some shit going on though. Something.”
“You mean between Karen and Roger? What, what is it?”
“They had a blowout, a real knock-me-down. Fifteen rounds.”
“What exactly happened?”
“That’s all I know. Details are sketchy, you know, the fog of war. Hey, how is he doing on that ride?”
“He’s fine. How’s Karen?”
“You know, I got to be honest here, I think you’re crazy driving with him.”
“Where’s Karen?”
“In her room. Everything will blow over. The Jaw and her, they gotta work things out. Listen, I gotta warn you about something before you get here though. There’s something else you should know about.”
More trouble. I braced myself.
“This place, this inn or whatever, the rooms, they don’t have no TVs.”
Sal paused, waiting, I’m sure, for me to share in his disbelief, raise my voice, scream, “What the hell?” My hulking brother-in-law held very few tenants in life, and one of them, the one he clung to, the one he would take to his deathbed, was that any flat surface required a flat-screen.
“You believe that, John? I mean, what kind of bullshit is that?”
“It’s a historic inn.”
“What’s that supposed to mean? TVs aren’t historical? What the hell—I watched, what, the first moonwalk on TV. The Towers go down. Roots.”
“Roots.”
“So I bought a TV and had them put it in my room.”
I digested this before repeating, “You bought a TV and had them put it in your room.”
“That’s what I just said.”
“You bought a TV and had them put it in your room.”
“Hello? You hear me okay?”
“Why. Mad?”
“I bought a flat-screen. Small thirty-two-inch, LG. Nothing fancy. And when I’m done, they’re gonna ship it back home. I can get one for you, too, if you want. I got a guy down here, in Charleston, this Korean, if you believe.”
“I can’t believe that.”
“They got Koreans everywhere, John.”
“The TV, I can’t believe that.”
“You sound like my wife. What you want me to do all day, huh? How many times I’m gotta stare at the goddamn ocean? I got news for you: that thing never changes. I’m going stir-crazy here. Everyone’s walking around crying here.”
“Who’s crying?”
“No one. Everyone.”
“Can you be a little more specific?”
“I don’t know details; I just told you. They’re keeping me in the dark. Shutting me out. That’s why I need a TV. The rooms are already wired for cable, which is very ironic, when you stop to think about it.”
I felt the familiar pain of a Sal headache coming on. “I have to go.”
“Where you going? What’s the rush? What, suddenly you got plans? You’re in Knots Landing for Christ’s sake.”
“I’m in Knox—Listen, tell Karen that I’m thinking about her. Can you do that for me?”
“You want me to wake her with that urgent message? Hold on, I’ll run up there and bust down her door. Hey, Karen, wake up, your dad is thinking about you.”
“I’m going.”
“Put Ethan back on, then. I want to talk to him some more. He’s the only one who listens to me. Only one who gives a shit.”
“Fine.” I passed the phone back to Ethan, who eagerly took it with both hands.
“Hello! Hello! Hello!”
“There he is, Mr. Big!” I heard Sal say as Ethan squealed with delight.
*