“That’s because we know what’s best for you,” Zachary said cutting her short.
“Well, maybe what you thought was best for me wasn’t really the best choice,” Victor said.
“You are a kid. You don’t have any idea what is good for you, Victor,” Zachary said angrily.
“Dad, I’m not a kid anymore. I am twenty-nine years old.”
“Well, you will always be our baby, Victor. You know that,” Annalise said.
“I know, but the fact of the matter is that I do not want to be a lawyer. Being a suit defending murderers and tax evaders is not my cup of tea.”
“Well, you better get used to it because being a suit defending those alleged murderers and tax evaders is the reason you got this privileged life you have been enjoying so much.” Zachary’s voice was sounding angrier by the minute.
“Victor, think about this,” Annalise said in a soft voice. “Your family is all about law. Your grandfather, your father…me.” She took a long deep breath. “Even your brother hopped on the legal bandwagon.” Annalise got up and walked up to where her son was. “Being a lawyer is what you were born to be.”
“A firefighter? That is what you want to do with your life?” Zachary asked. “Becoming a firefighter?”
“And what is so wrong with that?” Victor asked. “It’s a noble profession.”
“So making fifty grand a year is okay with you as compared to the three hundred grand you would be getting at RFH?” his father went on.
“This is not about the money, dad,” Victor said shaking his head. “I genuinely want to make a difference.”
“You can make a difference being a lawyer,” Annalise interjected. “I mean, I did.”
“Yeah, you think it was easy for your mother to be taken seriously as a lawyer when it first started?”
“I know it was hard for her, but what you don’t get is that she wanted to be a lawyer. She fought to become a lawyer, a voice of reason in a chauvinistic world and things are different now because of people like her. But the thing is that I just don’t want to be a lawyer,” Victor explained.
“You are just a kid. How do you even know what you want?” Zachary asked.
Victor took a long deep breath and sighed. He had tried as hard as he could not to be disrespectful or rude as he passed on his information, but the way his father was reacting was getting on his nerves. His mother just wore a look of disappointment. She did not really have to say what she was thinking. Victor could see it all over her face.
“You will go back to Stanford and you will go to law school,” Zachary said. His tone was more commanding and bossy than instructional. There was no surprise there really. He had always been like that. Bullying his way through life, telling everyone what they were ‘supposed’ to do when actually what he wanted people to do only furthered his own agenda in one way or the other. Victor took a brave step forward and looked into his father’s eyes.
“I am not going back to Stanford. Like I said I am graduating from San Francisco State …” Victor went on before his father roughly grabbed his shoulders making his voice trail off.
“Zachary,” Annalise said in a panicked voice.
“What? Dad?” Victor asked. “Are you going to bully me into doing what you want?”
“Victor!” Zachary said again. His voice was getting louder with every word he spoke.
“Victor, is this about that time you volunteered with the fire department during that summer break?” she asked as she looked at her son.
“I knew that was a bad idea then! And I was right, Annalise! We should have never agreed to that ridiculous not to mention dangerous idea!”
“Dangerous?” Victor scoffed. “And defending a mafia boss who puts a bullet in between your eyes just because you disagree with his ideals about his favorite movie isn’t?”
Annalise and Zachary exchanged a knowing look.
“What? You think I don’t know what kind of clients RFH Advocates handles?” Victor asked. “And you think that’s the kind of life I want? Kissing the toes connected to the asses that run the one percent of the country?”
“Watch your mouth, boy!”
“Victor, listen to your father.”
Victor sighed loudly. “I am done with all this,” he said as he gently rubbed his temples. “Like I said, the graduation is in three weeks. I would like to have you there.”
He began walking out, but Zachary was not letting everything go so easily.
“Victor Racine, you walk out that door and…” he started and Victor turned around to look at him.
“What, dad? I walk out of this door and what is going to happen?” he asked.
Zachary slowly walked towards him and sighed. “Where did I go wrong with you?” he asked as he looked into his son’s eyes. Victor forced out a laugh.
“You should be asking where you went right because all I want to do is to help people. Genuinely help people without any ulterior motive…I don’t care about getting a beach house or taking cruises, I just worry about that woman who cannot get her child out of a burning building or the man in a wheelchair who everyone neglected as they made their way down the fire escape.” He pulled away from Zachary and looked at his mother over his shoulder before turning back to look at his father. “If that is not the definition of a son raised right, then I really don’t know what is.”
“I want you to think about this,” Zachary said.
“There is nothing to think about,” Victor pointed out before he began walking towards the door again.
“Victor, if you leave,” Zachary started again. “You walk out of that door and…you’re cut off.”
Victor stopped in his tracks and forced out a laugh. He turned around, looked at Annalise and then at Zachary. “What are you trying to say?” he asked. “Why don’t you just say it straight?”