“I wouldn’t be so worried about the writing part,” Lisa said. “Before you face the world, you have to face your roommates.”

At seven-thirty that evening, Ben braved the late January chill and sat on one of the few concrete visitor benches surrounding the Jefferson Memorial. Unable to sit still, he repeatedly shifted his weight, searching for a comfortable position. As he stared blankly at the waterfront walkway leading to the Memorial, his eyes danced across the landscape-focusing on nothing in particular while looking at everything. Fifteen minutes later, he was checking his watch at thirty-second intervals, impatiently waiting for the arrival of his roommates. Slowly becoming convinced that they wouldn’t show, he looked up at Jefferson’s ebony silhouette and wondered why he’d let Lisa talk him into this.

“Why the hell did we have to come out here?” he suddenly heard from the western side of the monument. “It’s freezing.” As Eric and Nathan approached Ben, Eric stared at the giant bronze rendering of the country’s third president. “Let me say, meeting like this-late at night at one of the world’s most famous monuments-I feel like I’m in an overblown spy movie.”

“I’m so glad you’re amused,” Nathan said indignantly.

“Listen, I know you’re upset,” Ben said. “We’re all upset. It’s been a bad week. So let’s start over and-”

“No offense, but I’m not in the mood for touchy-feely right now,” Nathan said.

“Give him a chance, tight-ass,” Eric interrupted. “He called you down here to talk-the least you can do is listen.”

“I came here to find out one thing,” Nathan said, crossing his arms. “Are you going to turn yourself in?”

Ben ignored the question. “Where’s Ober?”

“He said he’d be late,” Eric explained. “He was on the phone with his mother when we were leaving.”

“I don’t know what you want me to do,” Ober said, struggling to fight back his tears.

“What kind of question is that?” Barbara Oberman asked. “I want you to get that job back.”

“Mom, I can’t get it back. They fired me. They didn’t like my work, and they fired me.”

“Don’t give me that. Go back and tell them you’ll change your ways. Tell them you’ll work for less money, and that you’ll double your hours. It doesn’t matter how you do it, but get that job back.”

“What’s so important about my old job?”

“What’s so important? Get this through your head, William: You need that job. It was the only place that ever promoted you. The only place that ever respected you. The only place that didn’t fire you within the first six months. You’ve spent over four years failing at everything else you’ve tried, and now you’ve turned this into a disaster as well.”

“I’ll find a new job,” Ober said. “Ben and Nathan said they’d help me look for one.”

“Forget Ben and Nathan. You’re always obsessed with Ben and Nathan. I don’t want to hear about them. For Ben and Nathan, finding a job is simple. Employers love them, their college professors loved them, the high school principal loved them, their kindergarten teachers loved them. For them, finding a job is simple. But you-you’re going to have a harder time.”

“But they said-”

“I don’t care what they said,” she interrupted. “They’re not you. What makes you think they’ll be so eager for a job search?”

“They’re my friends.”

“Big deal, they’re your friends. They don’t know what a job search entails. They’ve never lived in the real world. Looking for a job requires hours and hours of legwork. You remember how hard it was to find the position with Senator Stevens.”

“Yeah, but-”

“But nothing. You said it yourself a few months ago: The three of them are always at work-they don’t have the time to find you a job.”

“Yeah, but Ben helped me find this job. Maybe he can-”

“He can’t do anything for you,” she said. “You have to learn to do things for yourself. They may be your friends, but they’re certainly not your equals. When it comes to finding a job, like everything else in this world, you have to suck it up and do it yourself. Now hang up this phone and think about what I’ve said. I don’t want to hear from you again until you have that job back.”

“I asked you a question,” Nathan said, his breath lingering in the cold air. “Are you going to turn yourself in or not?”

“I’ll get to that,” Ben said. He pointed to the empty spaces on his bench. “How about taking a seat first?”

“I’m fine standing,” Nathan said as Eric sat down.

“Fine. Stand,” Ben said as he glanced over his shoulder.

“What’re you so nervous about?” Nathan asked.

“What do you think?”

“Can you both shut up?” Eric asked. “Stop fighting and relax for a second.” Pointing at Ben, he added, “Talk.”

“Thank you,” Ben said, lowering his voice. “I didn’t want to say this on the phone, but tomorrow morning, I’m turning myself in. Since the decision affects all of us, I wanted to discuss it with you first.”

“I don’t need to discuss it,” Nathan said. “I made my decision the moment I heard about Ober.”

“Good for you,” Ben said. “Eric, any thoughts?”

“It’s your call. I just hope you can handle the consequences.”

“I don’t see what choice I have,” Ben said. “What happened to Ober ripped my heart out. I got him fired; I put the rest of you in jeopardy. I have to end it.”

“That’s real noble of you,” Nathan said. “But I’m warning you, you better end it tomorrow.”

“Or what?” Ben asked defensively. “You’ll do it for me?”

“You’re damn right I will,” Nathan shot back. “And I won’t feel a single bit of guilt doing it. In fact, you’re lucky my boss doesn’t work weekends, or I’d have turned you in today.”

“Why don’t you relax a second?” Eric said.

“Why don’t you shut up?” Nathan said. “No matter how hard you stick up for Ben, he still isn’t going to forgive you completely.”

“What’s wrong with you?” Ben asked.

“What’s wrong with me?” Nathan replied, forcing a laugh. “Let’s see: My friend got fired yesterday; it was all your fault; my job’s on the line; and I don’t trust you or Eric. Other than that, I’m peachy.”

“Listen, you can-”

“No, you listen for once!” Nathan yelled as the wind whistled through the monument. “You have to get over this golden-boy complex. For once in your perfect life, you screwed up. You blew it. You choked. You made a big mistake, and now you have to take responsibility for it. If you were the only one at risk, I’d say do whatever you want. But if you think I’m going to stand around, with my career on the line while you continue your futile hunt for Rick, you’re out of your head. Face facts, Ben-you’re outsmarted. You lost. Give up.”

“Shut the hell up!” Ben flew from the bench and grabbed Nathan by the front of his jacket.

Immediately, Eric pulled the two roommates apart. “Ben, relax a second. Calm down.”

As Eric attempted to keep Ben at bay, Ben yelled at Nathan, “If you’d shut your damn mouth for a second, you’d realize that I didn’t come here to plot against Rick. I came here to talk to my friends.”

Ober walked into the living room and placed a pile of books on the coffee table: four high school yearbooks and one overstuffed scrapbook. Picking up the ninth-grade yearbook first, Ober flipped to his roommates’ class portraits and smiled at the furry block that was Nathan’s hair. When he reached Ben’s picture, he laughed out loud. It had been at least four years since he’d last opened his yearbook and looked at the messy-haired, brace-faced, gawky nerd named Ben Addison. Turning to Eric’s picture, Ober remembered his desire to sleep over at Eric’s house, inspired primarily by the fact that Eric’s brother had the largest collection of pornographic playing cards in the neighborhood.