Larry Decker
Larry Decker is a figure of profound instability and failure in the life of his son, Theodore Decker. A failed actor who worked in an office, he was a heavy drinker whose behavior oscillated between sullen withdrawal and explosive rage. His abandonment of his wife, Audrey, and their son, Theo, without money or a forwarding address, set the stage for the family's financial ruin and the emotional turmoil that culminated in the museum bombing that killed Audrey. Theo recalls his father as someone who was "unreliable" and whose unhappiness he felt was "our fault." Even when present, Larry was a source of tension, sitting "puffy-eyed and silent" over his coffee, and his drunken returns home were marked by a "jarring and unmistakable cadence" that terrified his son.
Abandonment and Return
Larry's departure was sudden and complete. He left a brief, dismissive note from a Doubletree Inn near Newark Airport, informing his family he was heading off to "start a new life." He provided no child support, leaving Audrey and Theo to struggle financially. For nearly two years, he was absent from Theo's life. He resurfaced in New York shortly after the museum bombing, accompanied by his new girlfriend, Xandra Terrell, whom he had been seeing for over a year before he vanished. He had been flying to Las Vegas secretly, and it was there he had met Xandra. His return was motivated not by concern for his son, but by a need to access the family's apartment and its contents.
Life in Las Vegas and Escalating Addiction
Larry took Theo to live with him and Xandra in a large, empty house in a suburban Las Vegas development. He claimed to have stopped drinking, but in reality, he had merely switched from Scotch to a combination of Vicodin and other pills. This new, drugged-out version of his father was, paradoxically, a more pleasant companion than the old, aggressive drunk. He was more relaxed, napped frequently, and was often absent on unexplained errands. His primary occupation was gambling, particularly on sports and baccarat, which he pursued with a pseudo-scientific fervor, consulting astrology and tracking his bets on elaborate sheets. He was deeply in debt to a loan shark named Naaman "Bobo" Silver, who visited the house to collect on a "five points" debt, threatening Theo when Larry was not home.
Death and Legacy
Larry's death was as chaotic as his life. After a failed attempt to force Theo to help him embezzle money from a trust fund set up by his mother, Larry crashed his Lexus head-on into a tractor-trailer on a highway outside Las Vegas. His blood alcohol level was .39, confirming he had resumed drinking heavily. He died instantly. Xandra, who had to identify his body, was left to deal with his debts and the aftermath. Theo's reaction to his father's death was one of cold detachment, a stark contrast to the profound grief he felt for his mother. He later reflected on the "poison of why did I and if only" that had wrecked his own life, a direct inheritance from his father's legacy of self-destruction. Larry's final act was to drive away from his problems, a pattern that defined his entire life and left his son to grapple with the consequences of his choices.
