Chapter 11 - EWALD WANTED AN ANSWER.
Alexander met Ewald at a diner off Route 9 because Helga refused to let him turn her apartment into headquarters for a family war.
The diner smelled like coffee, bacon, and disinfectant.
Helga would have appreciated the irony.
Ewald was already in a booth when Alexander arrived.
He had removed his suit jacket.
Without it, he looked less imposing.
More like an older man who had slept badly.
Alexander sat across from him.
A waitress poured coffee.
Neither touched it.
Ewald spoke first.
"I don't want this becoming something it isn't."
Alexander looked at him.
"What is it?"
"A family disagreement."
"About my money."
"Partly."
"And my mother."
Ewald sighed.
"Alexander."
"No."
He shook his head.
"Be specific."
Ewald looked irritated.
"You've become very formal overnight."
"I've been vague for years. Apparently it causes problems."
That silenced him.
Alexander folded his hands.
"What didn't Bianca tell us?"
Ewald looked toward the window.
"She told me you had agreed to help months ago."
"I know."
"No."
Ewald looked back.
"Not with the envelope."
Alexander waited.
"With my situation."
"What situation?"
Ewald's jaw tightened.
"I've had some cash-flow problems."
"How bad?"
"Manageable."
"Then why do you need my money?"
Ewald's eyes sharpened.
"I didn't say need."
Alexander almost smiled.
"You accepted an envelope off my mother like a linebacker."
Ewald looked embarrassed.
"That was a bad moment."
"It was."
"I'm not proud of it."
"Good."
Ewald looked down at his coffee.
"I'm not asking you to rescue me."
"Then what are you asking?"
"Time."
"For what?"
"To get some things reorganized."
Alexander waited.
Ewald became annoyed.
"What?"
"You keep describing the shape of a problem without telling me what it is."
"It's personal."
"Then keep it personal."
Alexander leaned back.
"But don't finance it with me."
Ewald's expression tightened.
"Bianca said you'd already decided."
"She lied."
Ewald looked out the window again.
Alexander studied him.
"Did you believe her?"
"Why wouldn't I?"
"Because I never told you."
"You're with my daughter."
"That does not make her my financial power of attorney."
Ewald frowned.
"You know what I mean."
"I don't anymore."
The waitress returned.
"Food?"
Both men said no.
She topped off cups neither had touched and walked away.
Ewald gave a tired laugh.
"Your mother would order something."
Alexander smiled faintly.
"She hates diner coffee."
"So does everybody."
"She drinks it anyway."
Ewald's smile disappeared.
"Helga always could tolerate unpleasant things."
Alexander looked at him.
The sentence sounded harmless.
It wasn't.
"Like you?"
Ewald sighed.
"Don't."
"You knew her when she cleaned your house."
"Years ago."
"How did you treat her?"
Ewald stared.
"Fine."
"That's not an answer."
"I paid her."
Alexander's jaw tightened.
Ewald saw it.
"Oh, for God's sake. That isn't what I meant."
"Then what did you mean?"
"I meant I wasn't cruel to her."
"You paid her."
"Yes."
"On time?"
Ewald hesitated.
Alexander noticed.
"Usually."
Alexander laughed once.
"Usually."
"It was twenty years ago."
"Did you know Bianca sent her through the service entrance at your birthday dinner?"
"No."
"Would it have bothered you?"
Ewald considered too long.
Alexander saw the answer.
"I don't know."
"That's honest."
Ewald looked uncomfortable.
Alexander leaned forward.
"Here's what I'm beginning to understand."
Ewald said nothing.
"My mother walks into rooms you and Bianca have always belonged in. You see furniture. She sees work."
Ewald's face hardened.
"Don't make me into some villain because I had a housekeeper."
"I didn't."
Alexander shook his head.
"I'm making myself into the son who didn't notice that distinction mattered."
Ewald stared.
For a moment, he looked almost respectful.
Then he said, "Bianca thinks Helga controls you."
Alexander's expression changed.
"Does she?"
"Sometimes."
"Do you?"
Ewald gave a small shrug.
"I think guilt controls you."
There it was again.
The same word.
Alexander sat back.
"Did Bianca tell you to say that?"
"No."
"Good."
Ewald frowned.
"Why good?"
"Because I needed to know whether anybody in this family had an original thought."
Ewald laughed despite himself.
Then Alexander asked, "What did Bianca not tell either of us?"
The humor vanished.
Ewald looked at his hands.
"She told me the money was coming from funds you had already set aside for family."
Alexander waited.
"I assumed she meant for us."
"Why?"
"Because that's how she described it."
Alexander's brow furrowed.
"What funds?"
"I don't know."
"Did she name an account?"
"No."
"Did she give a number?"
"No."
"Then what exactly?"
Ewald rubbed his forehead.
"She said you were moving money around because you wanted everybody settled."
Alexander stared.
That sounded like something he might say.
He often talked about getting things settled.
Helga's repairs.
His own investments.
Long-term plans.
Bianca could have built a promise from ordinary sentences.
Again.
No conspiracy required.
Just entitlement plus ambiguity.
Ewald continued.
"Then last week she said you had decided."
"Last week?"
"Yes."
Alexander's face tightened.
"What day?"
"Thursday, I think."
That was before Helga's Tuesday coffee.
Before the recorder went under the flowerpot.
Before the confrontation.
Alexander took out his phone.
"Did she text you?"
Ewald hesitated.
"Yes."
"Show me."
"No."
Alexander looked at him.
"Why?"
"Because she's my daughter."
"And I'm the person she quoted."
Ewald's jaw tightened.
Alexander waited.
Eventually Ewald pulled out his phone.
He scrolled.
Then turned it around.
The text was simple.
BIANCA: Alex said it's fine. The cash will be there this weekend. Please don't ask him again because he'll feel awkward.
Alexander read it twice.
The timestamp was Thursday afternoon.
He had never agreed.
Ewald watched his face.
"I thought you knew."
Alexander handed the phone back.
"No."
Ewald looked genuinely uneasy now.
"Then she put me in a terrible position."
Alexander's eyes lifted.
"She put my mother on the floor."
Ewald looked away.
"Yes."
For once, he did not defend himself.
Alexander stood.
Ewald frowned.
"Where are you going?"
"Home."
"To Bianca?"
"Yes."
"What are you going to do?"
Alexander put cash beneath the coffee cup.
"Something I should have done months ago."
"What?"
"Give her a clear answer."
Ewald watched him leave.
Then, just before Alexander reached the door, Ewald called after him.
"Alexander."
He turned.
Ewald held up his phone.
"There's another message."
Alexander stopped.
Ewald looked at the screen.
"This one was sent Tuesday."
The same day Bianca had questioned Helga about money.
May you like
Ewald read it aloud.
"She wrote, 'Helga is becoming a problem. I’m handling it.'"
