As Carter continued to walk back to his table, he heard his name being called. He turned around and saw Anderson.
“Carter,” Anderson said.
“Yes?” Carter asked.
Anderson took a deep breath and spoke.
“I want to apologize for all of the trouble that I’ve given you as a landlord.” 568Please respect copyright.PENANAArgbnqRcgS
Several weeks earlier, Carter would have needed more than a simple apology to forgive Anderson for all that he had done to him. But right then, Carter was willing to accept the apology.
“It’s okay,” Carter said.
“I have been a real jackass,” Anderson said. “Not just to you, but to so many people. When you’re so rich, you start to feel like you have all of this power. All that so-called power was starting to go my head. I’ve hurt so many people because of it. And I regret it all.”
“I understand.”
“In a way, all of the wrong that I’ve done is actually worse than the wrong that Freeman did. All of the things that Freeman did were induced by his drug addiction. Everything I have done was induced by my very own choices.”
Carter nodded
“If my mother and father were still alive, they would not appreciate all of the wrong that I’ve done,” Anderson said.
“You’re mother and father are dead?” Carter asked.
Anderson nodded. “When I was eighteen, my father died of severe kidney failure. That may have been thirty years ago, but even today I still remember how I felt the instant I heard the news.” He wiped his eye. “Before then, I had not cried in so long.”
Carter could not help but feel very bad for him.
“My mother died the very next year,” Anderson said. “I still remember it very well. I was studying for one of my college exams, and my younger brother called me on the phone and told me the news that she had died from breast cancer, which she had been battling with for years. The notes I was studying were drenched by my tears.”
Carter realized something. Freeman’s father had also died when he was eighteen. And his mother had also died the very next year. Because of this, Freeman became so depressed that he began his drug addiction.
Anderson’s face was slightly red by this point. He was wiping both of his eyes.
“It’s very painful to think about,” he said. “What makes it even more painful is how I haven’t shown any respect for my parents by creating a good name for our family. Look at what I’ve become.”
A tear ran down his face.
Carter put his arm on Anderson’s shoulder.
“You shouldn’t worry about anything,” he said. “I’m sure that out there, there are many people who honor your family.”
Anderson wiped his face. “I hope so.”
Carter had never thought that he’d feel bad for Anderson. He had always figured that Anderson was a typical rich person who was filled with greed. Carter’s thoughts were now a major difference from what he had thought before.
“I tried to get Nadia to come,” Anderson said. “I actually tried very hard. But her opinions on Freeman have not changed and will never change.”
“It’s okay,” Carter said. “I understand.”
“There’s something else I want to tell you,” Anderson said. “This is the very first time I’ve told anybody this.” 568Please respect copyright.PENANATObE7ChTvk
“Go ahead.” 568Please respect copyright.PENANAjaV9xBwd5P
Anderson paused for a second before he spoke. 568Please respect copyright.PENANARMZk8OOUjS
“I know very well that Nadia was not on drugs the night I found her sleeping with Freeman.” 568Please respect copyright.PENANA8IpMA1pZAd
“Really?” Carter was very surprised. 568Please respect copyright.PENANAP5bpyuCZ3V
Anderson nodded. “She’s never going to admit the truth. I know that she intentionally invited Freeman inside the house when he came to the door. I’ve known it ever since that very night. At first, I didn’t want to believe it, so I convinced myself to believe that it was all Freeman’s doing. But over the years, I’ve realized that all of that was a load of crap. I realized that Nadia’s so-called love was a bunch of crap as well. I’m pretty sure that Nadia has never loved me from the beginning and just enjoys being married to a rich man.”
“How come you haven’t left her?”
“That’s what I had planned to do at first. But then I realized what would happen if I did so. I was sure that the instant that the word had gotten around that I had divorced my wife, it wouldn’t be long before several other women would try and be with me just because they wanted my money. I wouldn’t be able to live with that.
“Other than my money, there is no reason that a woman would love me. Before Nadia, I had never dated anyone before. If I were not rich, a woman would not ever want to be with me. There’s nothing that a woman would find in me. There’s no reason to divorce my wife if I can’t find another one that doesn’t just want me because of my money.
“I also do not want to tell Nadia that I want to leave her because I just don’t want to hurt her. I’ve already hurt enough people as it is. I’m pretty sure that if I told her that I wanted to divorce her, she’d be upset because she would not be married to a rich man afterwards. Even more, Nadia is not that bad a woman. I don’t mind spending the rest of my life with her. She may not love me, but at least she’s somebody. And that is all I really need in my life.”
Carter nodded. “I understand.”
“You should be glad that you have a wife that loves you,” Anderson said. “I would give anything to have what you have.”
Carter decided he would never tell Kathleen what Anderson had just told him. She always said that she believed that Nadia didn’t love her husband and only married him because of how rich she was. Just what he needed was to tell Kathleen that Anderson believed that as well and cause her to go out of her way to spit the truth in Nadia’s face.
“And there’s one last thing I want to tell you,” Anderson said. “I’ve never had anything against people who are not wealthy. I haven’t from the very start. It only seems that way because of my selfish attitude. And I am deeply sorry if my attitude has shown that I don’t care at all for the poor.”
“It’s perfectly fine,” Carter said.
“Elliott has told me about how much you were bullied as a child just because you were from a poor family. That’s beyond awful. I really wish I had been there to back you up. It’s too bad that I grew up in Corpus Christi.”
“It’s okay. Freeman was able to stand up for me.”
“I know, but had I known you then, I would have stood up for you with him.” 568Please respect copyright.PENANAd12tdYO2s1
“Freeman’s size is what stopped the kids from bullying me. It wasn’t his words.”
“I was pretty large for my age when I was ten. When I was in third grade, I used to scare fifth graders away.”
Carter chuckled.
“I’m glad that Freeman was there to stand up for you,” Anderson said. “It shows what an amazing person he had been.”
“And he truly was,” Carter said.
“I couldn’t agree more.”
Anderson held out his hand and Carter shook it. It had been the very first time the two had ever shaken hands.
“You’re a good man,” Carter said.
Anderson smiled.
“I’d better get back to Kathleen,” Carter said. “She’s probably wondering why it’s taking me so long just to get myself a drink.”
Anderson laughed and said: “Sure, of course. I’ll go ahead and get back to my table as well. I'll see you some other time.”
Carter nodded and walked back to his table. And as he sat down, he continued to think about what Elliott had told him.
Freeman may have been dead, but his soul was not. And even if Carter had not spoken any words for him, at least his soul knew how much he honored him.
Sullivan may have not been given his proper punishment, but at least he was no longer on the earth. He was no longer around and able to steal any more lives.
The purpose of a funeral was to honor the life of a person who has passed on. Freeman’s funeral might only last one day, but Carter felt that it would actually last forever. Carter would honor the life of his best friend forever.568Please respect copyright.PENANAdfOhPlxJ0h