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years old and had never yet been
able to stick with one thing for more than a couple of months.
Toward me he was either abrasive or silent. I suspected there was
drug use. Martie did not speak of him often, but when she did there
was this gleam in her eye. He was her first born and he could do no
wrong.
    “He doesn’t like you,” Livvie told me.
    “I know,” I said without knowing why I said
it.
    “Oh. Well I never knew. But I think he’s a
lot like you.”
    That came as a surprise, but I was too tired
to show it.
    “Anyway,” she continued. “The reason I’m
calling is because I think Mom has Dad on the ropes, you know?”
    “I don’t.”
    “Well, she’s almost got Dad convinced that
you’re nuts. She’s talking about forcing you to get ‘help’.”
    That last bit made me angry, very angry. Even
though she had very little chance of being able to accomplish
something like that, I was overwhelmed by just how much animosity
she had toward me. What I wouldn’t tell Livvie was that Martie had
absolutely no concern for my well being. She simply hated me and
wanted to make me pay for saddling them with the responsibility of
my mother. Livvie probably knew it anyway.
    What I said was, “Don’t worry, Livvie. It
takes a lot to have someone committed.”
    “Oh,” she answered, a bit bewildered, as if
the comment was a non-sequitor. “Well, I just felt you should know
where they stand.”
    The conversation hung silent for a few
moments.
    “I know you didn’t mean to hurt me, Uncle
Mathew,” she said at last.
    “Thank you,” I choked.
    “Okay then. Well… bye.”
    “Bye, Livvie,” I whispered, and waited for
the click to sound before I hung up the phone.
    “You okay, Mathew?” Morty asked after a few
seconds.
    “Yeah,” I said, but it was a lie. In me there
was anger and sadness and a little bit of joy at a reconciliation
with my niece. The conflicting emotions were dragging on me, making
it impossible for me to think about anything else.
    I stood.
    “Mathew? Where are you going?”
    “What?” Going? I hadn’t thought about going
anywhere. “The bathroom, I guess.”
    And to the bathroom I went.
    My office shared a bathroom with three other
offices on that floor. In order to get there, I had to make my way
out of the cubicle area into the outer reception area. Estelle
glared at me as I emerged. She always did that lately, as if she
expected me to disappear before her very eyes. I suppose that could
have happened, but it didn’t and that was the very last time I saw
Estelle anyway, so what does it all matter? There was a short
corridor that housed a corner office to my left and the other
office to my right. The bathroom was at the far end of the hall,
just opposite the staircase. I went in to find it deserted, which
was a pleasant surprise.
    I wasn’t inside long. I let myself into a
stall only to realize that going there was just an excuse for not
working. What I really needed was some time and some air. I had
about an hour until the end of the work week and most of everything
was pretty wrapped up. Maybe I could get Morty to go out again.
Even though I didn’t even unzip my trousers, I washed my hands and
stepped out into the corridor. A police officer just entering the
staircase turned at the sound of my exit and looked startled upon
seeing me.
    “What are you still doing up here?” he cried
out.
    “What?” I asked. “What do you mean?”
    “Is there anyone else in there?”
    “No. I don’t think so.”
    He didn’t take my word for it, opening the
door and yelling into the room. He then turned back to me. “Didn’t
you hear the alarm? Dammit I checked that bathroom!”
    “I’m sorry, but I don’t understand.”
    “There’s a bomb in the building,” he
explained. “We’ve been clearing it for the past half hour.”
    “But I was only in there for a minute,” I
told him. “Just…” I checked my watch in terror, but it read Friday,
November 23 rd , 3:58pm. It was quite