Emma, a well-versed librarian, gripped Apollo’s leg so tight it hurt. “Truman Capote,” she whispered. She looked at the book with a new reverence, grasping the kind of difference this one little item might make in their lives.
“You know they put out that second novel of hers this summer? The one where Atticus Finch is all racist and crabby? Seems like nobody liked it. They didn’t want to see Atticus in that light. It was too honest. I think Ms. Lee knew the deal even back when she signed this book decades ago. Check out what she wrote to Truman,” Apollo said. “That’s the cherry on the cherry on the banana split.”
Emma leaned closer so she could read it, and Brian twisted in her grip. Milk dribbled from his lips, and her breast released a faint spray that dappled his cheek.
“‘Here’s to the Daddy of our dreams.’”
Apollo closed the book. This would outdo the D’Agostino haul by a factor of ten, maybe more. With that signature and dedication, this find could end up being national news. They could buy an apartment with the loot it would bring. Or at least put a nice down payment. Not a huge place—this was still New York City—but it would be theirs.
Apollo had understood exactly how fortunate he’d been when he brought this book out of the basement in Riverdale. When he knocked on the side door and called out for the old woman’s son, he’d tried hard to sound calm. The man didn’t even let Apollo into the house. Suggested they finish the transaction out there in the driveway. Apollo offered fifty dollars, trying not to choke on the lowball offer. He let the guy talk him up to one hundred so he would feel like he got one over on Apollo. The whole time the man kept checking his phone. He even stopped talking midsentence to return a text. Apollo paid cash and practically levitated back to the minivan.
Apollo left Emma and Brian on the couch. Home improvement shows were in heavy rotation, and Emma enjoyed vegging out to the next one with her son clutched tight. Apollo went into the back room, the former den and Brian’s future bedroom. There he found a footstool and pawed at the highest shelf in the closet. He found the box and set it on the floor.
Improbabilia.
How long had it been since he’d opened this lid, pawed through the contents? Years. But tonight he felt ready to add to the time capsule. He opened the lid. The only thing he removed was the children’s book. He thought he might start reading it to his son just as his father had once done to him. From his wallet he fished out Emma’s red string. It had gone bunchy and tight so he pulled it straight. Four or five inches of frayed red thread, and yet, he had to admit, the fabric seemed to warm to his touch, as if it still burned with sentimental magic. He set it down inside the box.
He went to the bookshelf in the room and found the second book he’d bought at Mrs. Grabowski’s, the one he’d used as camouflage for Fields of Fire. He scanned the cover. Once Upon a Die. That didn’t even make sense. He leafed through the worn-down thriller. A few pages were falling out. He couldn’t sell this piece of hot garbage if he tried. But every time he looked at it, the book would remind him of the night his son had been born. He laid it in the box.
Stuffed in his front pocket, he even found the ticket he’d been given on the drive home this evening. That too? Why not? When Brian grew old enough, he’d sit with him and tell him the story behind it. He planned to be here to explain everything.
Last Apollo placed the copy of To Kill a Mockingbird inside. What better place for a find like that than in a magic box? Apollo closed the lid, climbed back up on the footstool, and hid Improbabilia in the dark.
BRIAN LET THEM sleep in the next morning, didn’t wake until five A.M. A new record. Apollo had been awake since three. The old record. His body anticipated Brian’s wake-up, and he couldn’t convince his nervous system to rest again. Anyway, he had all the book excitement brewing, too.
Though it should be a wholly unnecessary step, he decided to hire an appraiser through the American Society of Appraisers so he’d have outside certification of the book’s authenticity. Big outfits like Bauman’s had their reputations for quality and rare books, but a guy like Apollo might need some outside body to assure potential buyers.
By five, Emma’s breasts were so full, they hurt her. They’d become used to the three o’clock wake-up, too. Apollo brought Brian to her. She fed him lying on her side, feeding and cuddling him while still largely asleep. When she finished, she forced herself up to change his diaper.
“I’ll take him to the park,” Apollo whispered.
Emma nodded and grinned appreciatively and tried to kiss her husband but didn’t have the energy to stay upright, so she fell back into bed and rolled the blankets around her until she looked like an enormous enchilada. Today would be Emma’s second day back to work, and another two hours of sleep might mean the difference between showing up incredibly tired instead of utterly drained. Apollo kitted up, dressed the baby and himself warmly, slipped Brian into the Björn, and they were out by five-thirty.
Apollo had become one of those men. The New Dads. So much better than the Old Dads of the past. New Dads wear their children. New Dads change the baby’s diaper three times a night. New Dads do the dishes and the laundry. New Dads cook the meals. New Dads read the infant development books and do more research online. New Dads apply coconut oil to the baby’s crotch to avoid diaper rash. New Dads bake sweet potatoes, then grind them in the blender once the baby is old enough for solid foods. New Dads carry the diaper bag—really a big old purse—without awareness of shame. New Dads are emotionally available. New Dads do half the housework (really more like 35 percent, but that’s still so much better than zero). New Dads fix all the mistakes the Old Dads made. New Dads are the future, or at least they plan to be, but since they’re making all this shit up as they go along, New Dads are also scared as hell.
Five-thirty in the morning, and the parents were already out at Bennett Park. There were moms in a huddle at one end of the playground, over by the swings. Apollo sought out the other New Dads. Four of them already there, by the padded play squares. Apollo made five. Most of them in their thirties or early forties. One guy might be fifty, or just in terrible shape.
Apollo greeted the other fathers, and they greeted him. He didn’t remember their names. They didn’t remember his. They knew the names of each other’s children, and that mattered more.
“Brian!” the men called, one by one, as Apollo unhooked the Björn.
Apollo greeted the other kids, Meaghan and Imogen, Isaac and Shoji. The children weren’t required to respond. The greetings had been for each parent to hear.
Apollo set Brian on his belly on the black rubber padding while the other kids tore around the play equipment. At two months old, Brian remained, by far, the youngest. Meaghan and Imogen flickered with interest at the sight of the baby. Isaac and Shoji completely ignored him. While on his belly, Brian puckered his lips and basically kissed the ground a few times before Apollo rolled him onto his back. Brian reached out, and Apollo slipped a set of large, plastic toy keys into the baby’s hand. Brian gripped and yanked and stared at the keys. He shook them wildly. His face practiced expressions, squinting at the keys, pursing his lips as if he were suspicious of them.
The other dads crowded closer and asked after Brian’s development like coaches eyeballing a rival player. Had Brian rolled over on his own yet? Transferred objects from one hand to the other? Raked up Cheerios by himself? The fathers bandied these questions about, half curious and half competitive, but Apollo didn’t mind. In fact, he enjoyed it just as much as them. He said nothing of the tremendous book he’d found the day before. Why would he? None of these men talked about their jobs, or their hopes and dreams, not when there were children to discuss. Apollo took out his phone and snapped a dozen pictures of Brian there on the rubber matting. The post from yesterday—the pictures of Brian in the Riverdale basement—had been a hit, at least the first few. Apollo logged onto Facebook and,