"I'm afraid there is nothing I can do for you, Mr. White," boomed Cassius Owens, Henry's personal lawyer. "Maybe you can remember to seek legal counsel before accepting the next orphan that knocks at your door."

"Well," Henry began to say, but couldn't find a sufficiently witty retort, as his mind was still in scrambles, "shit happens."

"You might want to refrain from such vulgarities in front of the child, Mr. White," chimed Ira, passing his finger through the rim of a dirty teacup in front of him.

There they were, two lawyers and a disgraced CEO, sitting in a dirty dining room that once hosted rich entrepreneurs and captains of industry, now hosting a custody negotiation between three parties that clearly didn't want to be there. A sad fall for grace for a man who prided himself as a negotiator before everything else.

"Agreed," said Cassius. "But it's not the matter at hand. This child," he said, pointing at Zacky, who was playing on the floor with the same action figure his father had given him for Christmas, "is now in your care. At least for the time being."

Henry rubbed his temple in hopes of gaining some clarity. "Yes, I am aware of that. I called you here to stop that from happening."

"And I told you, Mr. White, that you signed all the documents, the inspection has been made, and all the papers are in order. Intention and capacity, as required by law, have been more than proved. You can't wiggle out of this one just because you got cold feet," said Ira, tapping the legal binder in front of him with his index finger.

"In my defense, I only consented to it because Zizi made me do it."

"Irrelevant," said Ira. "The fact is, you and your deceased wife both accepted guardianship in case of the untimely demise of the Prendergasts, to put it lightly. You are bound by law, Mr. White."

"Cass, please do something," pleaded Henry, lening back on his seat.

Cassius took off his wire glasses, looking at Henry straight in the eyes. "Look, Henry, you know I love you, but you can't get away from this one. I personally stood as a witness as you signed those papers."

"But-"

"No buts, Mr. White. Let me explain something to you," said Ira, standing up from his seat. "You are the only one who can take care of this boy at this delicate junction in his life. The Prendergasts were smart enough to foresee that a situation like this might happen, so they set their trust on you..."

"And Zizi," added Henry.

"...And Zinet, so that you may take care of their child if and when they cannot."

"I'm afraid he's right," said Cassius. "It's the Christian thing to do."

"Do I look like a Christian to you?!" said Henry, punctuating with a fist smash on the table.

Both men were taken aback by his outbursts. Even Zacky, who was way beyond their hearing reach, cranked up his neck to see what the commotion was about. Henry kept his fist on the table, waiting for the men to move. After neither of them attempted to speak, Henry spoke again.

"Cass, I will not do this. Give me my options."

"Henry, I think-"

"No," interrupted Henry, waving his hand in front of his face as to dismiss his thoughts. "I am not asking you to give me your thoughts. You are an employee of mine, and as your boss, I am ordering you to tell me how I can get rid of this...nuisance."

Cassius put back his glasses, straightening up in his seat. "If you want to get rid of this, there must be a hearing. You will argue your case, on why you don't want to be his guardian, but-"

"No sane judge is ever going to buy your crap," interrupted Ira. "Not as a man of your...caliber."

"I didn't ask for your funcking advice!" yelled Henry, rising up from his seat.

"Whoa, whoa, easy there, tiger," said Cassius, placing himself between Ira and Henry, reaching out to both, "let's not get ahead of ourselves. Henry, stand dow."

Henry kept tense, ready to leap onto Ira like a panther on a prey.

"I said, down!" he repeated, more forcefully than before. This time, Henry complied, albeit his hateful stare kept drilling into Ira's skull.

"Dershowitz, can you give me five minutes with my client? It won't be long. Please."

Ira slowly walked out of the room, not breaking eye contact until he was two rooms away.

"Look, Henry. I love you man, but you can't wiggle out of this one. Hate to say it, but that guy is right. No judge will ever give you a free pass on this, not with your socioeconomic status. They rule what's best for the kid, and like it or not, that best thing is you."

"But, I don't-"

"Do it for Zizi," said Cassius, rubbing Henry's back. "You know she always wanted a kid, and it was her idea to do this in the first place."

At the mere mention of Zizi, shivers covered Henry's entire body. Which Zizi was the real one? The devil who tortured him? The angel who saved him? Neither? Both? Everything was still fresh in his mind. He didn't want to think about it. At that moment, he couldn't speak on what Zizi would've wanted."

"Zizi...she didn't love me. She wanted a divorce."

"What're you saying, Henry? She adored you."

"Nom," Henry said. From the back of his mind, something began pushing out, something he hadn't felt in a while. Tears. "I...hurt her. I kept her locked up, drugged her, kept her mentally fogged. I'm no better than Jabin. I'm a bastard."

"Henry, don't say that," said Cassius, patting him on the back. "You were a good husband. Zizi-"

"She was a bird in a cage!" he said while standing up. "Look around! I live in a clown tent. This was all picked by her, to keep her content and safe. I never let her out in fear of damaging her. I restricted her to only a handful of friends. I used her as a guinea pig, just like her father did, to perfect a drug to make more money! I denied her children, the only reason we were together in the first place!"

Henry became so mad he started to hiccup between yelling. He placed both hands on the table for support, wiping away mucus with his shoulder. "I kept her like another piece of furniture in this house. I cheated on her. I hired a nurse so she wouldn't be alone. She didn't adore me. I was her jailer, and she was my prisoner."

"Jesus, Henry. You can't be thinking like this," said Cassius, rising up to meet him. "Look, I can admit your marriage wasn't the best, but no marriage is without its problems. But is it really the time to be thinking about that?"

"You don't understand," said Henry, walking back and forth in the room, "You don't know what I did to her." That Zizi had made him remember his sins. His brain knew. His consciousness knew. It was screaming from the back of his mind.

"What do you mean? What did you do, Henry?"

"I...I..."

"Henry!" said Cassius, grabbing Henry by the shoulders. "I need you to calm down and talk to me. What did you do to Zizi?"

"I-"

"Five minutes are up, Mr. Owens," said Ira, reentering the room. "I'm afraid I don't have all day."

The pair was holding on to each other, Henry pouring snot and spittle all over. It almost made Ira go out again, but he stayed put.

"Look," said Owens, almost whispering to Henry, "I don't care how you feel or what you did, but as your lawyer, I need you to understand that you have to accept that kid into your care. I promise I will look into a way for you to get rid of him, but in the meantime, you must take care of him. For Zizi. Look at it as a chance for redemption. Do something she wanted to for once. For Zizi."

Redemption. That word resonated in Henry's mind. Would I find forgiveness in this kid, Zizi? Would you forgive me for a life of misery?

But for the first time in weeks, he didn't hear a voice in his head. No Zizi. Nothing.

"Okay," he said, wiping the last of his tears. "I will do it. For Zizi."

"For Zizi," repeated Cassius. "All good, Dershowitz?"

"All good," Ira said, clapping once. "I'll get his stuff from the car."

"You do that," replied Cassius. "I will sort out a few things with my client."

Ira nodded, walking out of the room.

"You, come with me," said Cassius, dragging Henry by the arm to the smoking room.

Everything was in shambles. Ashtrays on the ground, furniture flipped over, drapes askew. The whole room smelled like piss.

"Jesus, Joseph, and Mary. What happened here?"

"It has been a rough week," replied Henry, upturning a furniture to sit on.

"Show me your arms," said Cassius.

"What? I-"

"I said, show me your arms!"

He grabbed Henry by the shoulder, pulling his sleeve back to his forearm. Bulging and infected veins greeted him, showing on full display his track marks.

"Fucking hell, it's true. I couldn't believe it when they told me. You're a junkie."

Henry quickly swatted him off, taking two steps back.

"We need to get you off that stuff. The optics are going to be terrible if someone leaked this to the press. If someone were to find out the CEO..."

"You do not have to worry. I quit. Well, they fired me, but the principle is the same."

"You don't get it do you?" said Cassius, getting close to Henry. He was quite tall and burly, easily getting a head over Henry. "People are calling this whole merger worse than the opiates epidemic. They are comparing Geber and Glocal to Purdue. Boston has been classified as a Pill Mill for Christ's sake. Even the CDC is getting involved."

"So? I got fired. I have nothing to do with that."

"You don't realize, do you? You don't fire a CEO of a controversial company without raising some heads. Don't you watch the news?"

Henry shifted in his seat, getting increasingly uncomfortable by Cassius' intense stare. "No. I don't like TV. Don't even have one."

"I'll get you one because you're gonna need it." Cassius sat on the couch next to Henry's, brushing off some ashes. "You are being used as an escape goat."

"What do you mean?"

"The board is throwing you under the bus. They are saying that you were the one that used company money to lobby for lax regulations, targeting vulnerable patients, the whole thing."

Henry bolted from his seat. What the fuck? He thought.

"That can't be. I-"

"You have been played, Henry. There will be a committee hearing sometime in the future, and you can bet your junkie ass will be subpoenaed in."

Henry's mind went back to the scrambler. Words came in but they made no sense to him. Committees. Hearing. Glocal. Scapegoat. Why me? What did I do to deserve this? Tell me, Zizi!

But yet again, no sound came from his head. He had to face this, alone.

A voice yelled from down the hallway, snapping Henry from his trance.

"Mr. White! We are all done here. Could you please show us to Zackary's room?"

Henry closed his eyes for a second, trying to put the pieces of his mind back together. "Yes! Give me a minute."

"Look," said Cassius, standing up from the couch. "I'll deal with this. All of this. But now, I'll need you to lay low. Lucky for you, I came in prepared." Cassius snapped open his briefcase, taking a document from within. "I have a power of attorney. It will allow me to work on your behalf and unfuck this whole mess. You just sit back, relax, and let me do my job. You trust me, right?"

Henry didn't trust his shadow, let alone a lawyer. But he was in no condition to think about anything at the moment. "Give me some time to think about things, okay?"

Cassius simply smiled, pushing the paper towards him. "Of course. This is a big step. Sleep on it all you want. When you are ready, just sign it, and I'll take care of the rest. In the meantime, you go take a shower, shave that Moses beard, and try to take a nap. I'll make a few calls, give the kid some food, and set everything up. Okay?"

Now that Cassius mentioned it, Henry realized he hadn't eaten or taken a bath in days. He stank of piss and sweat; not to mention his grumbling stomach.

Henry realized many other things as he took his long shower. He noticed how grim his arms were, caked in pus and filth. How there was a sharp pain in his stomach from not relieving himself in weeks. How dirt had crusted on his legs. How his nails were yellow and filled with grime. How his teeth felt pasty and weak. His mind was not the only thing broken, his body too.

He had no energy to fight this. He needed a friend. An ally. Anybody. Maybe it wasn't so bad to have Cassius on his corner. For now, he needed to sleep on it.

For the first time since her death, Henry dared to open the door to Zizi's bedroom. I should have seen this as a sign, He thought, no happy couple ever sleeps in different rooms.

In dire contrast with the atelier, Zizi's room was entirely dressed in black. Black velvet drapes. Black blankets. Black sheets. The only things devoid of darkness were the many pill bottles littering the nightstand.

"Darkness makes me comfortable," she said one day when he asked. "It's everything and nothing."

The room still smelled like her, a hint of mint and peaches. His feet moved automatically, walking towards the bed. There, among sheets of shadows and sweet scents, he had the best night of sleep in weeks.

A dreamless sleep.