Page 200 - A Little Life: A Novel

He smiles back. “Enough.”
“Julia’s getting ready,” says Harold, “but I have something for you.”
“For me?”

“Yes,” says Harold, and picks up a small leather box, about the size of a
baseball, from beside his coffee mug and holds it out to him. He opens it
and inside is Harold’s watch, with its round white face and sober, forthright
numbers. The band has been replaced with a new black crocodile one.
“My father gave this to me when I turned thirty,” says Harold, when he
doesn’t say anything. “It was his. And you are still thirty, so I at least
haven’t messed up the symmetry of this.” He takes the box from him and

removes the watch and reverses it so he can see the initials engraved on the
back of the face: SS/HS/JSF. “Saul Stein,” says Harold. “That was my
father. And then HS for me, and JSF for you.” He returns the watch to him.
He runs his thumbtip lightly over the initials. “I can’t accept this,
Harold,” he says, finally.
“Sure you can,” Harold says. “It’s yours, Jude. I already bought a new

one; you can’t give it back.”
He can feel Harold looking at him. “Thank you,” he says, at last. “Thank
you.” He can’t seem to say anything else.
“It’s my pleasure,” says Harold, and neither of them says anything for a
few seconds, until he comes to himself and unclasps his watch and fastens
Harold’s—his, now—around his wrist, holding his arm up for Harold, who
nods. “Nice,” he says. “It looks good on you.”

He’s about to reply with something (what?), when he hears, and then
sees, JB and Malcolm, both in suits as well.
“The door was unlocked,” JB says, as Malcolm sighs. “Harold!” he hugs
him, “Congratulations! It’s a boy!”
“I’m sure Harold’s never heard that one before,” says Malcolm, waving
hello at Julia, who’s entering the kitchen.

Andy arrives next, and then Gillian; they’ll meet Laurence at the
courthouse.
The doorbell rings again. “Are we expecting someone else?” he asks
Harold, who shrugs: “Can you get it, Jude?”
So he opens the door, and there is Willem. He stares at Willem for a
second, and then, before he can tell himself to be calm, Willem springs at
him like a civet cat and hugs him so hard that for a moment he fears he will

tip over. “Are you surprised?” Willem says into his ear, and he can tell from