One day, his father had caught him fondling and kissing a boy from his school, and Tyler had borne the full brunt of his father's fury. ' can't believe I have a son, who's a faggot! Now that I know your dirty little secret, I'm going to keep a close eye on you, sister.' Tylet's marriage was a cosmic joke, perpetrated by a god with a macabre sense of humor. ''s someone I want you, to meet,' Harry Stanford said. It was Christmas and Tyler was at Rose Hill for the holidays. Kendall and Woody had already made their departures and Tyler was planning his when the bombshell dropped. ''re going to get married."? That's out of the question! I don't .. 183 ' to me, sister. People are beginning to talk about you, and I can't have that. It's bad for my reputation. If you get married, that will shut them UP-0 Tyler was defiant. ' don't care what people say. This is my life." I want it to be a rich life for you, Tyler. I'm getting older. Pretty soon ...'- He shrugged. The carrot and the stick. Naomi Schuyler was a plain-looking woman, from a middle-class family, whose flaming desire in life was to'better'herself. She was so impressed by Harry Stanford's name that she would probably have married his son if he were pumping gas instead of being a judge. Harry Stanford had taken Naomi to bed once.
When someone asked him why, Stanford replied, ' she was there." She quickly bored him, and he decided she would be perfect for Tyler.
What Harry Stanford wanted, Harry Stanford got. The wedding took place two months later. It was a small wedding - one hundred and fifty people - and the bride and groom went to Jamaica for their honeymoon. It was a fiasco. On their wedding night Naomi said, ' kind of man have I married, for God's sake? What have you got a dick fort 184 Tyler tried to reason with her. ' don't need sox. We can live separate lives.
We'll stay together, but we'll each have our own ... friends."'re damned right, we will!' Naomi took out her vengeance on him by becoming a black-belt shopper. She bought everything at the most expensive stores in the city, and took shopping trips to New York. 11 can't afford your extravagances on my income,5 Tyler protested. ' get a raise.
I'm your wife. I'm entitled to be 5 supported. Tyler went to his father and explained the situation. Harry Stanford grinned. ' can be damned expensive, can't they9 You'll just have to handle it.", Father, I need some - 5 ' you'll have all the money in the world.' Tyler tried to explain it to Naomi, but she had no intentions of waiting until ''. She sensed that that '' might never come. When Naomi had squeezed what she could out of Tyler, she sued for divorce, settled for what was left of his bank account, and disappeared.
, When Harry Stanford heard the news, he said,'Once a faggot, always a faggot.' And that was the end of that. His father went out of his way to demean Tyler. One day, when Tyler was on the bench, in the middle of a 185 trial, his bailiff came up to him and whispered, ' me, Your Honor ...' Tyler had turned to him, impatiently. "'s a telephone call for you."? What's the matter with you? I'm in the middle of -"'s your father, Your, Honor. He says it's very urgent and he must talk to you immediately.' Tyler was furious. His father had no right to interrupt him. He was tempted to ignore the call. But on the other hand, if it was that urgent..'. Tyler stood up. ' is recessed for fifteen minutes.' Tyler hurried into his chambers and picked up the telephone. " hope I'm not disturbing you, Tyler.' There was malice in his voice. ' a matter of fact, you are.
I'm in the middle of a trial and -", give him a traffic ticket and forget it." .. ' need your help with a serious problem." kind of problemt ' chef is stealing from me.' Tyler could not believe what he was hearing. He was so angry he could hardly speak. ' called me off the bench because ... T ''re the law, aren't you? Well, he's breaking the law. I want you to come back to Boston and 186 check out my whole staff. They're robbing me blind!' It was all Tyler could do to keep from exploding. ' ..." just can't trust those damn employment agencies."'m in the middle of a trial. I cantpossibly go to Boston now.$ There was a moment of ominous silence. ' did YOU' sayt ' said ..." aren't to disappoint me again, are you, 90mg Tyler? Maybe I should talk to Fitzgerald abodt some changes in my will.' And there was the carrot again. The money. His share of the billions of dollars waiting for him when his father died. Tyler cleared his throat. ' you could send your plane for me ...", no! If you play your cards right, judge, that plane will belong to you one day.
Just think about that. Meanwhile, fly commercial like everyone else. But I want you to get your ass back here!' The Fine went dead. Tyler sat there, filled with humiliation. My father has done this to me all my life. To hell with him! I won't go. I won't go.. Tyler flew to Boston that evening. 187 Harry Stanford employed a staff of twenty-two. There was a phalanx of secretaries, butlers, housekeepers, maids, chefs, chauffeurs, gardeners, and a bodyguard. ', every damned one of them,' Harry Stanford complained to Tyler. ' you're so worried, why don't you hire a private detective or go to the policet ' I have you,' Harry Stanford said. ''re a judge, right? Well, you judge them for me.' It was pure malevolence. Tyler looked around the huge house with its exquisite furniture and paintings, and he thought of the dreary little house he lived in. This is what I deserve to have, he thought.
And one day, r1l have it. Tyler talked to the butler, Clark, and other senior members of the staff. He interviewed the servants, one by one, and checked their resumes. Most of the employees were fairly new because Harry Stanford was an impossible man to work for. The staff turnover at the house was extraordinary. Some of them lasted only a day or two. A few new employees were guilty of petty pilfering, and one was an alcoholic, but other than that, Tyler could see no problem. Except for Dmitri Kaminsky. Dmitri Kaminsky had been hired by his father as a bodyguard and masseur. -Sitting on the bench ' had made Tyler a good judge of character, and there was 188 something about Dmitri that Tyler instantly mistrusted - He was the most recent employee. Harry Stanford's former bodyguard had quit -, Tyler could imagine why - and he had recommended Kaminsky. The man was huge, with a barrel chest and large, muscular arms. He spoke English with a thick Russian accent. ' want to see met '.' Tyler gestured to a chair. ', down.' He had looked at the man's employment record, and it had told him very little, except that Dmitri had come from Russia recently. ' were born in Russiat '.' He was watching Tyler warily. ' part?"."