Read Online The Rothman Scandal by Stephen Birmingham - Free Book Online

single effing word I’ve said? ”
    She bit her lip. “But I do worry about you,” she said. “You’re the only real family I have left. You’re really the man of the house here. You’re—”
    â€œDammit, Mom, if I’m the man of the house, why do I have to have an effing bodyguard?”
    â€œBut what if something should—?”
    â€œNothing’s going to happen to me, Mom. Look, I’m going to be eighteen years old . I’m old enough to drive. I’m going to be old enough to vote. If there’s a war, and they have an effing draft, I’ll be old enough to be effing drafted, for Chrissakes. What’re you going to do? Send me off to the army with effing Otto on my tail?”
    â€œBut there isn’t any war, and there isn’t any draft.”
    â€œBut what I’m saying is that I’m going to be an effing legal adult! ”
    â€œYou’re right, of course,” she said. “But don’t forget that Otto was your grandfather’s idea, not mine.”
    â€œDammit, Mom, do we have to do every thing Gramps says? Does Gramps own us, or something?”
    â€œOf course not. Nobody owns anybody.”
    â€œBut this much is final. If I have to go to Harvard with effing Otto on my tail, I—just—won’t—go!”
    â€œWhat do you mean you just won’t go? You’ve been accepted and—”
    He tossed his mane of blond hair. “How can I not go? Easy! When I get to Harvard, I won’t do any of the work. I’ll see to it that I flunk every test! By the end of the first semester, I’ll have flunked out of Harvard. What do you think of that?”
    She laughed her throaty laugh. “Buster, you’re turning into a true Rothman,” she said. “You’re as manipulative as the rest of them. Okay, it’s a deal. Otto goes. And I agree with you—this Otto business has gotten ridiculous. I’ll speak to Herb first chance I get.”
    â€œAnd do me another favor,” he said.
    â€œSure. What’s that?”
    â€œQuit calling me Buster.”
    She looked at him. “All right,” she said quietly. “All right, Joel.” And then, “Hey, we’re still pals, aren’t we?”
    He shrugged. “Yeah, I guess so,” he said.
    But of course Alex had not yet had a chance to speak to Herb about the Otto matter, and so, tonight, Otto was still on the job.
    Now Mona Potter had approached Joel on the terrace—the same Mona Potter who had once expected to be named Mode ’s editor, and who now wrote a syndicated column called “The Fashion Scene” for the Daily News . Famously nearsighted, Mona peered closely at Fiona Fenton’s face and, realizing that this was someone she did not recognize, and that this therefore was a person of no consequence whatever, she ignored her and turned to Joel with her steno pad and pencil. “Your mother says you’re a genius,” she said.
    â€œWell, that’s nice,” he said pleasantly.
    â€œOkay, so say something genius for my column. Gimme a genius quote. You’re the heir apparent. Wanna say something heir apparent?”
    â€œHmm—ah—”
    â€œYour mother says you got an original mind. Say something original.”
    â€œI think she means I like word games,” he said.
    â€œYeah? Like what?” Her pencil was poised over her steno pad.
    â€œCan you think of a nine-letter word that has only one vowel?”
    â€œNo. What?”
    â€œStrengths,” Joel said. “I’ve only been able to discover one other word like it in the English language.”
    â€œHuh. What’s that?”
    â€œIt’s a proper name, so maybe it doesn’t count. But it’s still a word.”
    â€œHuh!”
    â€œI’ll give you a hint. It used to be the name of a chain of restaurants in New