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feeling,” I told him, wishing he would stop squeezing my upper arm to emphasize every item of furniture. “I started out in a studio on East Sixteenth. It was so small I had to climb out on the fire escape to get dressed.”
    Victor at last let me go. He walked over to the bedroom window and looked out into the gray, rainy yard. There were sunflowers planted in the window box outside, bright yellow and blurry, and the rain was making them nod their heads. I wondered if Kate had planted them.
    â€œI made myself a vow,” said Victor. “I swore to myself that
I
was going to live like that. I was going to have all of that antique stuff, and my address was going to be so goddamned prestigious that I would never have to explain to nobody that I had class, and substance. Know what I mean by
substance
, Gideon? Substance, that’s not just money, that’s like
depth
. Money gets you envy. But substance gets you respect.”
    He paused for a moment, still staring out of the window. “There’s only one thing that’s lacking in my life. Can you guess what that is?”
    â€œA boat? Your own private jet?”
    He turned away from the window. He didn’t look at all amused. “Family,” he said, prodding my chest with his forefinger. “Family—that’s what’s lacking. A Solway dynasty. Like, what is the point of having all of this fucking substance, if you don’t have nobody to pass it on to? A son to send to Princeton, and be a lawyer maybe, or the CEO of some investment bank, and give me about a dozen grandchildren. First-generation substance, that’s okay. But second- and third-generation substance, now you’re not just talking respect, you’re talking
reverence
.”
    â€œSurely it’s not too late for you to have kids.”
    â€œNah,” he said, shaking his head, as if it was out of the question. He didn’t explain why, but I strongly felt that this was not the moment to bring up the subject of the baby boy that he and Kate had lost.
    â€œHow about you?” he asked me. “You going steady, or anything like that?”
    â€œNot right now. Too busy to have a woman in my life.”
    â€œYou must be pretty damned successful, buying one of these apartments, at your age. How old are you?”
    â€œThirty-one. It’s the hair that makes me look older.”
    â€œNo, I would have guessed thirty-one. I’m good at telling people’s ages. It’s not the color of their hair, it’s their confidence. Older people don’t scare so easy. You—you’re still a little wary. Know what I mean by wary? But you’re not scared of me, are you, Gideon?”
    â€œShould I be?”
    He gave me a carnivorous grin. “Depends if you’re straight with me. If you’re straight with me, you don’t have nothing to worry about.”
    â€œWhy wouldn’t I be straight with you?”
    â€œExactly. Successful young man like you. Thirty-one, and bought your own apartment on St. Luke’s Place. That’s something.”
    â€œWell . . . I still have a long way to go,” I admitted. “I just hit pay dirt with a couple of songs, and I was looking to move to someplace quiet, with a whole lot more space. A friend of mine at CBS told me this place was coming up. I liked it—who wouldn’t?—and that was it.”
    Victor slapped me on the shoulder. “You’re a pretty spontaneous guy, Gideon. You don’t take life too serious. I like that. Me—I like to have my fun, don’t make any mistake. But underneath, you take my word for it, I’m totally focused. Totally,
totally
focused. You—what did you have to do to get rich?—
blinkle, blinkle, blinkle
on the ivories, that’s all. Don’t get me wrong, you got natural talent.But me, I had to fight for what I got, inch by bloody inch. Iwo Jima wasn’t in it. But I raised the flag in the end,