Things We Didn't Say

Chapter 2

Michael



I yank open the heavy metal employee entrance door at the Grand Rapids Herald newsroom, my head already full of yesterday’s story and this morning’s last-minute edits.

The scent of fresh ink clings to the building, though the presses moved to a facility miles away more than two years ago.

Every morning as I walk this hall, I recall a full, bustling office, the police scanner fizzing with static, the television on to the morning news, reporters already working the phones, editors squinting at their screens.

Reality hits me when I round the corner: half the seats are now empty, the computer terminals removed and redistributed to other papers in the company. Here and there a coffee mug sits, ringed with the brown remnants of mugs swilled on deadline. There still should be a buzz of activity. But a malaise has settled on the survivors. The loudest noise is the muted clacking of keys.

I sit down and punch the button to fire up my terminal, glancing about for Aaron. I see he’s already busy with Tina, so I pull out my notes.

Gerald used to sit next to me. His computer is gone, as is his stuff. But there’s still a photo print on his low workspace wall, snapped by one of our photogs during a candid moment. Gerald is scowling at his screen, his glasses on the end of his nose like something out of Dickens. The caption reads: “I am smiling, dammit,” which became a famous Gerald-ism, uttered in response to an unbearable intern who exhorted him to smile. On deadline.

The terminal across from me, where Amanda works, has a note taped to the screen: Just on vacation! Don’t vulture my stuff.

Now that my computer is awake, I pull up my story about local election reaction, most of which I wrote last night but will polish this morning for the afternoon paper. The city council just had its vote, and one of the more bombastic councilmen was unseated. Made for some fun quotes, but I couldn’t get his city administrator nemesis to talk last night. He promised to call me this morning though, just squeaking under deadline.

Aaron has inserted a couple of editing questions easy enough to answer, so I set about doing just that.

That’s when I hear his clomping cowboy boots coming up behind me. He’s got a press release in his hand. I can see “For Immediate Release” from here.

“Hi, Michael, listen, I need you to get to a press conference at the university this morning, it starts at nine, sorry for the late notice.”

I turn back to my screen. “I need to reach Henning for comment on the election. He said he’d talk to me this morning.”

“We’ll have to go without it. The university is making an announcement, potentially funding cuts, or maybe someone important is quitting.”

Useless to argue. Our education reporter took the buyout last month. This might be an intern job, except the intern is already at the police station finding out who got killed overnight.

I sigh and hold out my hand for the release. As he gives it to me, Aaron says, “Oh, did you check out that rumor about a new strip club?”

“Yes, and it’s officially bullshit, like I told you.” I don’t bother to conceal my irritation, and Aaron ignores it as he stomps back to his own desk. Now that anonymous online forums are part of the paper’s Web site, some of the local cranks have taken to posting rumors, meaning I have to waste my time chasing them down, proving them wrong, wondering all the while how small-minded nameless trolls hiding behind keyboards became so important.

After polishing up my election story, I was supposed to spend the day analyzing building code enforcement violations for a series I want to do on housing blight and gentrification in the city.

I was supposed to do a lot of things.

I’m trying to read the release, but my snapshot of Casey distracts me. I don’t have time to think about her now, so I turn my back to my desk, facing the center of the newsroom as I try to read between the lines of the press release and guess the announcement.

Still can’t think. Angel’s voice is in my head, telling me this morning something is “up” with Casey. Then she stared hard at me. I only caught a glimpse of her look, because I was watching the road, but I could feel her turned toward me for long moments. Can she detect the distance between Casey and me these days? If so, it’s not a stretch to imagine that she’d be glad of it.

Last weekend Mallory took the kids, and we’d planned to cook a nice dinner for ourselves at home—going out costs too much, but I told her I’d light candles in the dining room and put on music. The conversation kept circling back to the kids, and Casey turned prickly and defensive at my gentle suggestion she was taking it all too personally. And in the midst of it all, Mallory found reasons to call me three times.

I’d hoped to fall into bed with Casey right after dinner and stay there, only she got up to clear the table and filled the sink with hot water and washed every dish. By hand, ignoring the dishwasher.

Watching her do that, her face locked in a resigned grimace, a look I recognized as Casey fighting back tears, twin geysers of sadness and anger erupted in me. I grieved for our vanished affectionate companionship, and was simply pissed that she chose to wash the f*cking dishes instead of coming to bed with me.

My e-mail dings, and I reflexively look. It’s a staffwide e-mail. Groans roll through the newsroom like a wave. Four o’clock staff meetings never bode well.

My cell phone goes off as I find the first blank page in a notebook, marking the spot with a paper clip. I scribble “Univ. press conf.” on the top line.

“Hello.”

“Michael, it’s your father.”

“I’m at work.”

“We’re having lunch today, are we not?”

I hadn’t even looked at my planner yet. “Oh, we are. Though I have a press conference to attend.”

“Surely you can manage to jot down some canned statements from a podium without too much strain.”

“I realize it’s not open-heart surgery,” I reply to Henry Turner, M.D., but he ignores my remark. “However, they might have an important announcement, there might be reaction, analysis . . .”

“Analysis,” he repeats, and I hear him huff through his gray mustache into the phone.

“I’ve gotta go. I’ll call you.”

I give up trying to make sense of the release and just take note of the location and parking.

Turning back to my screen, I decide to give last night’s story one more read-through, double-checking the quotes and the vote totals from the precincts. I can’t find it in the system at first, and I have a moment of queasy panic, thinking it vanished. Then I do find it, in a folder where I can’t open it. It’s already out of my hands, off to the copyeditors. Damn. Now I’ll be anxious all day that I couldn’t double-check. We never used to send the stories so early, but the copy desk is stretched so thin these days, they need more time. If I made a mistake on my late shift last night—I’m careful, but it’s always possible to screw up—now I can’t fix it, and it will be reprinted thousands of times, all over the city, with my byline.

There’s nothing I hate more than a mistake with my name on it.

I set my phone to vibrate and put it in my pocket. It goes off immediately, but I don’t even look. It’s probably Henning calling with some terrific quote for the election story, and now I can’t even use it.

I check my recorder for fresh batteries and head to my car to listen to some canned quotes from behind a podium.


The press conference is in the atrium of the administration building. They have arrayed many more chairs than necessary for just me, a radio reporter, a college kid in jeans and combat boots from the school paper, and a couple of TV cameras there sans reporters for the sound bite. I pick a seat close to the front, sharing nods with the handful of colleagues. I think I heard something on my way out of the office about a shooting at a nightclub last night, so that’s probably where the TV reporters are, doing stand-ups in front of the building.

Casey reacted the same way most people do when I told her I was a newspaper reporter. Her eyes got big and she said, “Ooooh.” She asked what I write and I told her, “I cover City Hall.” Most people start to shut down right there, their minds shifting from fedoras and crime scenes to dreary ordinances and budget hearings. But she stayed interested, even when I did talk about the ordinances. Just as she was interested in my kids right off, and not just Jewel, the youngest and most cuddly.

Mallory—and now Angel—have so much scorn for the fact that she’s young, but there’s something infectious about that twentysomething enthusiasm. I haven’t had that since, well, never. I had my kids too young for that and, anyway, I was old before I left the house for college.

I look at my watch. They’re late to start. The radio guy looks like he might make small talk. He’s trying to catch my eye. I leaf through my notebook—old notes from old stories, now in recycle bins and at the bottom of birdcages all over town—as if I’m doing something terribly important and shouldn’t be interrupted.

My eye passes over a note in the margin, a note to myself that had nothing to do with whatever meeting I was in at the time. Call Mallory re: weekend, it reads. As I recall, she’d sent me a text that she didn’t think she could take the kids. Another “headache,” which had years before become code for her just not feeling up to mothering that day. At various times I’d feel compassion for her—I know what she’s been through—and heated frustration. Aren’t you carrying this a bit far now? I’d want to say. In any case, the approach of every weekend when Mallory has “parenting time” means a creeping anxiety about whether she might call it off, leaving me to smooth things over and stay positive, just like that pamphlet from Friend of the Court says to do.

People have asked me, my father loudest among them, why I stayed so long, as if getting divorced is like a Ferris-wheel ride. Who would gleefully dive into a world of lawyers and paperwork and “primary physical custody” and “parenting time” and negotiated exchanges of the children from one house to another?

Plus, divorce means the same income supporting two households. Dr. Turner didn’t bother doing that math when he was telling me I should leave.

I was getting by. For a long time, I was getting by.

At least this weekend is our weekend. No explaining, no anxious pacing as we all hold our breath to see if Mallory will call and cancel. We can just pop some popcorn and watch a movie in front of the fire.

Men in suits spill out of the elevator, and all of us in the press corps, such as it is, straighten in our chairs.

Canned quotes about a new scholarship. The radio reporter asks, “What is the funding source?”

The suit behind the mic says, “Dr. Henry Turner’s foundation.”

My digital recorder clatters out of my hand, breaking off the battery door. It still seems to be running, which is fortunate because I can’t even hear what they’re saying. My own father, mocking my press conference task, and he’s the one behind it all along. This means I’m not even supposed to be covering this; I can’t write about my own dad. I’ll end up typing up my notes and giving it to someone else, to be under some other byline, or maybe no byline, just “Herald Staff Writers.”

He’s not at the press conference, because he’s not interested in the limelight. At least, that’s what he’ll tell whichever of my colleagues gets to call and interview him about this. Then he’ll say something about the importance of education for underprivileged youth.

I note that the scholarships are for science and math. Fields he respects.

The press conference breaks up, and that’s when I catch the quizzical glances thrown my way from the other reporters. Gus, from the radio station, sidles up. “Dude, I’m surprised you’re here.”

“I didn’t know. Aaron just threw this release at me this morning.”

I show it to Gus, who scowls at it. “Oh, that’s old, they put that out on Monday. There was a fresh one this morning that told all about it, your dad and everything.”

Jesus, Aaron. I fantasize about shoving one of his cowboy boots down his throat, pointy toe first.

Gus nods. “I know, dude. Sucks.” He waves and walks off, his recorder bouncing along next to him.

I flip open my phone to check messages. A voice mail and three texts, all from Casey. Dammit, what now? The texts say, Call home and then Where r u? and Call ASAP.

The voice mail is similar. Casey telling me to call the minute I get the message.

I text back: What? Busy here.

I keep telling Casey she doesn’t need to consult me about everything. If we’re getting married, she has to learn to handle it herself when Dylan forgets his saxophone at home or Angel wants permission to go to a friend’s house.

I drive back to the office, weighing how angry I can be with Aaron for the old press release. I decide I can be pretty f*cking well mad because what’s he going to do, fire me? We can barely run the paper with the staff we have now. Obviously.

And then, my dad. Good God.


At the office, I want to smash my watch on the desk, though it’s not my watch’s fault that so much of the morning has been wasted. Henning e-mailed me a great quote for the morning’s story, too: “Maybe now the city council can leave behind the sandbox-level bickering and make progress on the tough issues facing us today.” Won’t make the paper now.

I managed to restrain myself from forcing Aaron to swallow his own boot, but I did curse freely when I explained the press conference problem. He told me to type up my notes and he’d get Kate to finish the story, as long as I finished getting quotes for Kate’s holiday shopping feature.

“There, happy now?” Aaron had snapped.

“Ecstatic.” Even better than a press conference. Interviewing store managers about holiday shopping! Hurrah! Enough to make me jealous of the intern covering the shooting. I never got to cover shootings when I was just starting. But then again, we had experienced reporters to spare, back then.

Casey had sent a new text: It’s important.

“Fine,” I mutter to myself, and dial the home phone.

“Hi,” Casey says, and then right away, “Dylan’s missing.”

“What? No, he’s not, I dropped him off at school myself.”

“Well, he’s not there now. The school called this morning to say he never showed up in class.”

I suck in a deep breath. It’s probably nothing. It almost always is nothing, just like a hot news tip usually fizzles upon investigation. I recall a time at the park when Dylan was five and Mallory lost sight of him and went screaming his name in the woods around the playground. Turns out he’d been sitting inside one of those plastic slide contraptions while Mallory and Angel had an argument, and had dozed off. The effect of that day had caused her to start drinking earlier than usual. She should have just checked the damn slide.

I sigh and pinch the bridge of my nose, where a headache is starting to throb. “He’s probably being a rebel.”

“What do you mean?”

“I mean he’s fourteen years old. He’s hiding in someone’s car smoking pot or something. I’ll ground him for life when he turns up.”

“That doesn’t sound like Dylan. And you don’t sound worried.”

“Case, it’s only . . . 10:30. He’s probably just cutting class.”

“I don’t know.”

“Why, did he say something?”

“Not really, he’s just seemed distant. I tried to ruffle his hair this morning, and he ducked me.”

“He’s a teenager, not a four-year-old.”

“I know, but he never used to mind.”

“Just when you get used to kids, they change.”

“You don’t have to tell me that, it’s just—”

“Casey, look. I have to go. Call his cell and tell him to call us or he’s grounded forever.”

“I called it. Straight to voice mail.”

“See, he shut off his phone, which means he’s up to mischief. If he were dead in a ditch somewhere, it would ring. Anyway, he’s not dead in a ditch, because I drove him to school.”

“Not funny.”

“I didn’t say it was. Look, call me when he turns up, I really have to go.”

“Okay. Well. Bye, I guess.”

I guess. Casey’s classic hint, leaving the door open a crack, wanting me to walk through it and get into a long conversation. I guess means, Wait, don’t hang up, or Don’t walk away.

“He’s fine. He’s a boy being a boy. We’ll kill him later.”

She says “Bye” in a small voice that makes her sound like she’s twelve, a habit that sends a spark of irritation into my gut.

I’ve got ninety minutes to call mall managers before lunch with my father, the philanthropist, which means ninety minutes to figure out exactly what I’m going to say to his smug, mustached face about how he wasted my morning and embarrassed the hell out of me.


Dad always gets there first, always sits down first, every time we have lunch, and these days, since his semiretirement, he’s always having a Manhattan.

He acts like everything is utterly normal, sitting there in his salmon pink dress shirt. “Mikey!” he says, rising to greet me, but not entirely standing up, before settling back in his chair and snapping the cloth napkin out. “I’ve already ordered. I’m sure you must be busy, so I didn’t want to take up your time.”

“Why the hell didn’t you tell me that was your thing at the university?”

“I didn’t know it was the same press conference. Anyway, with the Herald being so short-staffed, can they afford to care who’s related to whom? It’s not like it’s much of a conflict of interest to type up quotes. I mean, really. What are you going to do? Make me sound heroic for giving a little money?”

He sips his Manhattan, a gleam in his eye, maybe imagining this hypothetical glowing article.

“You could have saved me a lot of grief.”

“You didn’t give me a chance, anyway, you rushed me off the phone so fast.”

He leans back in his chair, his subtle smile nearly masked by his gray mustache. His full head of hair is showing signs of curling at the edges, which means it’s been too long since his last haircut. He’s really cutting loose, now.

I slump back in my chair, defeated as ever by his surpassing confidence that he’s right.

“What’s wrong, son?”

“Just having a busy day. This press conference messed up my morning, then I got handed a feature on holiday shopping, and frankly I’d rather chew broken glass then quote mall managers about their stupid sales. And now Dylan—” I slam the door on that, not wanting to show him a chink in my parental armor. Dylan will turn up and be grounded and Dad doesn’t need the gory details. “Dylan is being sullen.”

“Not unlike someone else I know,” he says, stirring the cherry around in his drink with a plastic sword.

“He didn’t used to clam up so much.”

“Maybe it’s your new family arrangement?”

“Don’t blame this on Casey.”

“Not saying it’s her fault, Mike. But you have to consider what in his environment changed.”

“Form a hypothesis and test it? Run a study with a control group? He’s not a lab experiment.”

My dad sighs and stares out the window. “Windy out today,” he comments as a piece of trash careens down the sidewalk.

Our sandwiches arrive. Turkey, no mayo, side of fresh fruit, for both of us. Very heart-healthy from Dr. Henry. Usually I order this myself, but today I wanted a Reuben and greasy fries.

He waits until I have a giant mouthful of turkey to start in on my job.

“Sorry to hear you’re having such a rough day. My offer still stands, you know.”

I choke down my bite of sandwich and match his gaze. “If I want to pursue grad school, I’ll pay for it myself.”

“With what?” That smile again, at the worst of moments.

“I’m doing fine.”

“Hmmm.” He dabs at the corners of his mouth with his napkin.

With that one hmmm, he skewers my whole life, from my career choice to my disastrous marriage and the troubles between me and Casey he doesn’t even know about, yet somehow he does. I haven’t followed his advice, and as such he assumes my life is a train wreck.

The sickening thing is, he’s more right than wrong.

“How’s Mom?”

“Fine. Started a book club. Still swimming at the Y. This weekend she started winterizing the garden. How’s young Casey?”

“Fine. Getting plenty of work, so that’s good.”

“Good to hear. She should keep herself busy while the kids are at school.”

“She does. As I just said, she’s got plenty of work coming in.”

“Even in this economy? People still need computer programs, I guess. Well, good for her. And still plenty of time to help around the house.”

“She works hard in her job. She’s brilliant at it, in fact. She’s a great girl.”

“I didn’t say otherwise, Michael.”

I’m aware of the defensive edge in my voice, the paranoia even, that he’s hinting anything negative about Casey, like that she doesn’t really work. She’s always on her computer, or on the phone to clients, or e-mailing pitches to new potential clients for Web development. We talked about her getting a full-time job, but she said she likes it at home. Less distracting than being in an office.

My dad switches to water now that his Manhattan is gone. Always in control, even of his vices, which are few and carefully chosen.

Considering my life with Mallory, I have to admire this about him.

I tuck back into my sandwich, and the rest of the lunch is spent largely in silence, except for my dad fielding a call on his cell phone. He makes arrangements to return the call, and I know it’s a reporter. Kate, or someone from television.

The waiter puts the check diplomatically in the middle of the table. I don’t even bother to grab for it, knowing he would win, and in the course of winning the bill, manage to denigrate once again my career choice.

He strides off to his SUV as I stand outside the restaurant in the biting wind, looking at my phone, noting with some surprise that Casey hasn’t called to say that Dylan turned up. I swallow hard and clench my fist as I jam my phone back into my coat pocket.

I really will ground him for the whole year. I swear I will.