In the early nineties, when Carl was twenty-five and single and Hank, a new father at forty, attended law school together, they didn’t socialize. Years later, they connected at an alumni mixer when Hank approached Carl, standing alone in the crowded ballroom. Carl never asked Hank why he spoke to him that night, but he was grateful.
Carl phoned Hank again.
“Hi Carl, sorry I missed you before,” said Hank. “How are you?”
“Terrible. I’m desperate. The Dutch billionaire is fucking with me again. I have an
important interview for an associate position at a major law firm next week.” “Use me for a reference.”
“I will. Since I successfully negotiated the Pakistani deal, the CIA hinted they are giving me five million and my parents another two million dollars. It’s going into my special needs fund.”
“That’s great, Carl,” said Hank. “That’s a big accomplishment.”
Carl was proud that despite not having a “real” job, he supported his parents and extended family with large amounts of money wired into their bank accounts from the grateful governments of a dozen countries he’d assisted.
“Carl, how do you know they’ve received the money?” asked Hank.
“They’re suddenly very nice to me, and they go shopping. They love to spend money. The CIA also hinted they may need my help with Iran again, but the billionaire found out. He put malware on my computer. I’ve lost all my valuable classified research.”
Suzanne C Martinez 