He shook his head , looked at a fist of coins he scrounged from his pocket . “ Listen . It spreads to those who think about it . I tried to keep you away from that place for so long . My invitation … it was more a compulsion .”
10
“ Dad , how badly did Mr . Rutherfurd hurt you ?”
“ Stay strong ,” was all he said . He embraced me for the first time in my life . “ You ’ ll retire rich . Or run the hell away .”
I wondered about all the ways Mr . Rutherfurd had abused him . And while I convinced myself that the faces I saw before sleep were purely a trick of the eye , the idea of the curse festered in my mind . It fed into my fears and made me want to flee to the piers , and I would have if I could be certain the debt collectors wouldn ’ t find me and bash my kneecaps .
Mr . Rutherfurd was waiting for me in the foyer when I returned from the bar . “ Saw your old man ?” he said . Shadows exposed his sunken features and the low light caught the copper pincers that held his eyes open .
“ How did you know that ?”
“ Same way that I know he ’ ll break his neck returning to the mountains .”
It was a vile prediction , one that made me want to rip the tongue out of Mr . Rutherfurd ’ s caged head . The scary part was that I could do it ; my inhibitions against violence were slowly eroding , perhaps with my sanity .