Chapter 1

1: 1

Laid off in middle age, I put every cent I had into opening a place with the friend I'd grown up with.

We'd agreed on it. Fifty-fifty.

Then at year's end the place cleared eight hundred grand, and my oldest friend handed me eight thousand.

I looked at the money on the table and didn't touch it.

Saul Gilbert had a cigarette in one hand, and the other slid brazenly around my wife's waist.

"What, not enough?"

"I found the storefront. I ran the renovation. I bought the ingredients. I handled all the paperwork."

"You chopped vegetables and worked a pan. Eight grand's more than fair."

Sarah Pruitt leaned into his chest, smiling.

"Earl, Saul's right."

"The startup money was yours, sure, but running this barbecue place was all Saul."

"Profit reflects ability. Without Saul there'd be no eight hundred grand. Eight thousand is already more than generous."

As she spoke, Sarah tossed a set of divorce papers down in front of me.

"Since we're being honest, go ahead and sign this too."

"I'm not spending the rest of my life with a good-for-nothing who reeks of grease and smoke!"

She didn't bother to hide the disgust in her eyes.

Looking at the cash and the divorce papers in front of me, I couldn't help a low laugh.

I never thought that after emptying myself out for this, all I'd get back was a double stab in the back, from my best friend and my wife.

1

I looked at Saul.

"We agreed at the start. Fifty-fifty."

This past year.

I got up at four every morning to prep. At ten at night I was still poring over recipes.

I'd poured nearly all my time and energy into that kitchen.

The moment the profit was tallied, I thought all of it had been worth it.

I'd let myself believe, with my whole heart,

that this time my wife and daughter could finally have a good New Year.

And out of eight hundred grand in profit, Saul gave me one percent.

Even the capital I'd put in he took as if it were simply his.

Saul lounged back against the couch and blew out a lazy smoke ring.

"Earl, don't be too greedy."

"If I hadn't taken you in back then, you'd still be hauling bricks on some construction site, wouldn't you?"

"Eight grand is what I'm giving you out of years of brotherhood."

"Brotherhood?"

Rage twisted into a laugh.

"What kind of brother schemes against his own buddy?"

"And what kind of brother steals his own buddy's wife?"

Saul's face darkened. He snatched up the cash off the table and flung it in my face, the way you'd wave off a beggar.

"Earl Fox, don't push your luck!"

"Sarah chose to be with me. Blame your own uselessness for that."

"Eight grand. That's it. Take it or leave it!"

The sharp edge of a bill sliced my cheek and left a line of blood.

Red bills scattered everywhere, drifting down across the floor.

Sarah watched me coldly.

"Earl, if I were you, I'd take the money and get out fast."

"You really tick Saul off, and you might lose even that eight grand."

I looked at this woman I'd once loved down to my bones.

The same familiar face, and yet in that moment she felt frighteningly like a stranger.

Slowly I bent down and picked the bills up off the floor, one by one.

"Fine, I'll divorce you. But I get custody of our daughter."

I forced down everything churning inside me.

When I looked up again, there wasn't a trace of the old feeling left in my eyes.

Sarah froze, then burst out laughing, as if she'd heard the biggest joke in the world.

"Earl, are you kidding me?"

"You can barely feed yourself. What are you going to raise a daughter on?"

I kept my face calm and looked at her.

"That's my problem. No need for Ms. Pruitt to trouble herself over it."

Maybe it was those two words, "Ms. Pruitt," that hit some raw, fragile nerve in Sarah.

The smile snapped off her face, and she glared at me, vicious.

"And if I say no?"

"Then I don't sign."

Sarah gritted her teeth.

"You wouldn't dare."

The corner of my mouth lifted.

"We can find out. See whether I dare or not."

"I'd like to know too. If this goes to court, whose side does the judge take?"

"Are you insane? You'd actually take this to court?"

Sarah stared at me, unable to believe it.

"Maybe."

I said, "But if I've gone insane, the two of you drove me there."

Sarah and Saul exchanged a glance, and both their faces turned ugly.

"What makes you think I'll agree to that?"

Sarah's voice came out forced through clenched teeth.

I smiled.

"You tell me. I don't imagine either of you wants me spreading your little affair around for everyone to hear about, do you?"