White Man's Problems by Kevin Morris Read Free Book Online

looks as though he were expecting the cop.
    â€œYou found me,” Klezak says.
    â€œYes, I did,” says Torres, slowly crossing the threshold. They look at each other in silence. Torres can see no trace of Klezak’s dirty skin and clothes. His hair is slicked back and conforms with the office environment—long but not too long. With a shirt and tie, he looks normal.
    â€œWhat now?” says Klezak.
    â€œI don’t know. Can I sit down?”
    â€œPlease.” Klezak gestures at the chair in front of his desk. A few bad pictures hang on the walls, a lamp sits on the corner of the lawyer’s desk, and stacks of paper crowd the corners.
    Torres sits and stares at Klezak, whose face, shirt, and blue-and-white-striped tie explode at him in their nattiness, their Pentecostalness—none of it has a speck of dirt.
    â€œYou followed me,” says Klezak.
    â€œYes, I did.”
    â€œWell, what can I do for you? Should we discuss this morning?”
    Torres studies his eyes, looking for signs of mania, paranoia, or danger. There are none. He does not know what to make of this strange, sad man. “Well, first, just tell me…man, are you…like, ok? It’s a little scary.”
    â€œI’m fine, Officer Torres. I’m not homeless. I work in this office. I have my own practice. I’m just a lawyer.” He smiles. “And I did nothing illegal. You and I both know that.”
    Torres takes this in. “You were close.” He waits for a reaction. “I could have written you up easy. Sent you away for the seventy-two-hour dry out.”
    Klezak is unfazed.
    â€œIt’s really weird,” Torres says finally. “You have to admit that.”
    â€œMaybe so,” says Klezak. Then, in an instant, he seems to lose his confidence, as though revealing a bluff. “I can’t keep paying you guys. My deal was that I’d only have to pay once for the whole force.”
    Torres thinks for a second and then nods. “Noah.”
    Klezak doesn’t respond.
    â€œThis is how Noah got the boat, right?” Torres says. “The one in Long Beach. We could never figure that out.”
    Klezak offers a small, nervous smile. “A boat is what he wanted.”
    Torres stares more. Klezak is serene again, caught but not guilty.
    Suddenly Torres has a feeling he does not recognize. A powerful sense of being swept away. He blinks his eyes, but nothing changes. Now there is a buttery yellow light behind Klezak’s head. Torres stands and moves a few steps to see if it is an illusion.
    â€œBut you’re not Noah,” says Klezak as Torres moves. “We both know that.”
    Torres continues walking, circling Klezak at his desk. The light stays above the lawyer’s head. Torres goes back to his seat.
    â€œI’m really starting to lose it,” Torres says.
    â€œNo, you’re not,” says Klezak. His voice is soothing. “You’re waking up.”
    â€œBut Noah…Noah’s fine. He just took the money and went back to work?”
    Klezak says, “Noah could not see it.”
    Torres considers this, and in doing so he feels hopeful and then excited. Then he starts to relax, like a patient who has just taken a needle. “Maybe so.”
    Klezak gets up from behind the desk and walks to Torres at his seat. The light remains. He extends his hand to Torres, who takes it and rises. Klezak’s secretary, well trained, comes to the threshold and closes the door.
    â€œWill you pray with me, Eddie?” says Klezak.
    â€œHow’d you know my name?”
    â€œI know a lot more than that.”
    The light is fuller now. Klezak’s eyes are a deep blue. The two bow their heads against their interlocked fingers. Torres closes his eyes, and in his earthly eyelids he sees light, followed by an open field. He knows he is in the presence of angels. “It is here for me,” he thinks. It is a transcendent,