JК
Bag of Bones :: Кинг Стивен
Страница: 138 из 425And I’m John. People are going to talk about your involvement anyway. You know that, don’t you?”
“Sure. People know I can afford you. They’ll speculate about how she can afford me. Pretty young widow, middle-aged widower. Sex would seem the most likely.”
“You’re a realist.”
“I don’t really think I am, but I know a hawk from a handsaw.”
“I hope you do, because the ride could get rough. This is an extremely rich man we’re going up against.” Yet he didn’t sound scared.
He sounded almost… greedy. He sounded the way part of me had felt when I saw that the magnets on the fridge were back in a circle. “I know he is.”
“In court that won’t matter a whole helluva lot, because there’s a certain amount of money on the other side. Also, the judge is going to be very aware that this one is a powderkeg. That can be useful.”
“What’s the best thing we’ve got going for us?” I asked this thinking of Kyra’s rosy, unmarked face and her complete lack of fear in the presence of her mother. I asked it thinking John would reply that the charges were clearly unfounded. I thought wrong. “The best thing? Devore’s age. He’s got to be older than God.”
“Based on what I’ve heard over the weekend, I think he must be eighty-five. That would make God older.”
“Yeah, but as a potential dad he makes Tony Randall look like a teenager,” John said, and now he sounded positively gloating. “Think of it, Michael—the kid graduates from high school the year Gramps turns one hundred. Also there’s a chance the old man’s overreached himself. Do you know what a guardian ad/item is?”
“No.”
“Essentially it’s a lawyer the court appoints to protect the interests of the child. A fee for the service comes out of court costs, but it’s a pittance. Most people who agree to serve as guardian ad//item have strictly altruistic motives… but not all of them. In any case, the ad/item puts his own spin on the case.
Judges don’t have to take the guy’s advice, but they almost always do.
It makes a judge look stupid to reject the advice of his own appointee, and the thing a judge hates above all others is looking stupid.”
“Devore will have his own lawyer?” John laughed. “How about half a dozen at the actual custody hearing?”
“Are you serious?”
“The guy is eighty-five.
That’s too old for Ferraris, too old for bungee jumping in Tibet, and too old for whores unless he’s a mighty man.
“Sure. People know I can afford you. They’ll speculate about how she can afford me. Pretty young widow, middle-aged widower. Sex would seem the most likely.”
“You’re a realist.”
“I don’t really think I am, but I know a hawk from a handsaw.”
“I hope you do, because the ride could get rough. This is an extremely rich man we’re going up against.” Yet he didn’t sound scared.
He sounded almost… greedy. He sounded the way part of me had felt when I saw that the magnets on the fridge were back in a circle. “I know he is.”
“In court that won’t matter a whole helluva lot, because there’s a certain amount of money on the other side. Also, the judge is going to be very aware that this one is a powderkeg. That can be useful.”
“What’s the best thing we’ve got going for us?” I asked this thinking of Kyra’s rosy, unmarked face and her complete lack of fear in the presence of her mother. I asked it thinking John would reply that the charges were clearly unfounded. I thought wrong. “The best thing? Devore’s age. He’s got to be older than God.”
“Based on what I’ve heard over the weekend, I think he must be eighty-five. That would make God older.”
“Yeah, but as a potential dad he makes Tony Randall look like a teenager,” John said, and now he sounded positively gloating. “Think of it, Michael—the kid graduates from high school the year Gramps turns one hundred. Also there’s a chance the old man’s overreached himself. Do you know what a guardian ad/item is?”
“No.”
“Essentially it’s a lawyer the court appoints to protect the interests of the child. A fee for the service comes out of court costs, but it’s a pittance. Most people who agree to serve as guardian ad//item have strictly altruistic motives… but not all of them. In any case, the ad/item puts his own spin on the case.
Judges don’t have to take the guy’s advice, but they almost always do.
It makes a judge look stupid to reject the advice of his own appointee, and the thing a judge hates above all others is looking stupid.”
“Devore will have his own lawyer?” John laughed. “How about half a dozen at the actual custody hearing?”
“Are you serious?”
“The guy is eighty-five.
That’s too old for Ferraris, too old for bungee jumping in Tibet, and too old for whores unless he’s a mighty man.