The Rockford Files - Ginger Townsend & Lou Trevino - #93 - More to Life
Title: What's Important
Fandom: The Rockford Files (specifically, The Queen of Peru episode)
Characters: Ginger Townsend, Lou Trevino
Prompt: Table 3, Prompt #93 - More to Life
Word Count: 4,658
Rating: K+/PG
Warnings/Spoilers: Heavy references to the Rockford episode The Man Who Saw the Alligators.
Summary: In flashback, Ginger and Lou are in prison when Lou receives the news that his cousin Syl was badly shot.
By Lucky_Ladybug
In general, it was regarded as a bad thing when the warden called a prisoner into his office. Sometimes it was to reprimand them for some real or imagined misdeed. Sometimes it was to bring bad news. There were rumors that the warden occasionally asked a prisoner to report on other prisoners acting out or planning to escape, in exchange for making life a little easier for them behind bars. Only occasionally were they called in to be given good news.
Hence, Lou was dreading the meeting the moment the guard came to collect him. Ginger watched in concern but said nothing, knowing that the guard would not give him any information. Indeed, the man only gave Ginger the evil eye as he led Lou away.
Lou was badly shaken when he returned several moments later. Ginger, who had been waiting on Lou’s bunk, got up and came over to him. “What is it?” he frowned.
Lou shook his head. “It’s Syl,” he said. “He’s been shot. It’s real bad.”
Ginger stepped out of the way, allowing the dazed man to walk past him to the bunk. “How would Sylvester get shot?” he said in disbelief. “He was supposed to have settled into a peaceful life with that woman and her two children.”
“He did.” Lou’s voice was tinged with anger as he sank into the thin mattress. “Then Tony got out of stir and went to him with some crummy plan for going after Rockford. He threatened the kids to make Syl go with him!” He clenched a fist.
Ginger sat down next to Lou. “I always knew Anthony was more of a loose cannon than me. What are they going to do to Sylvester?”
“I don’t know.” Lou sounded and looked helpless. “Rockford dropped the charges on him because of the kid angle, and because Syl actually stopped Tony from killing some idiot friend of Rockford’s, but I guess the D.A. could always prosecute on him carrying a deadly weapon and being an accessory to an attempted murder or something.” He ran a hand over his face. “It’s a nightmare! I just thought my cousin was on the strait and narrow again. My poor aunt and uncle. And heck, my parents are gonna be really upset about this too!”
Ginger hesitated. “How badly is he hurt?”
“I don’t know that, either.” Lou’s hand muffled his voice as he leaned forward, but Ginger didn’t have to hear it clearly to know that it was morose. “He was shot kind of halfway between his left shoulder and his heart. If it’d been just a little lower, we’d be planning a funeral right now. And that could still happen!”
“How did he even get shot in the first place?” Ginger frowned. “Was it by Anthony or the police?”
“Neither.” Lou straightened and looked to Ginger. “Tony’s old boss decided that he was a liability when he’d gone off the deep end like this, so he sent some hitmen to kill him. And they shot Syl instead.”
Ginger swore under his breath. “Well, I hope Anthony is bloody well happy with his day’s work.”
Lou shook his head. “Oh, I don’t know what to make of that guy. He really is crazy. They said he was talking about seeing real alligators under the bed as a kid. And he just completely fell apart when he thought his family had condoned him being gunned down. Then Syl was shot on top of all that and Tony didn’t have anyone left. I think he finally realized how stupid and pointless it all was. He was just a little too late!” He got up and started to pace.
Ginger watched him for a long moment before speaking again. “I’m sorry about Sylvester. I know you were close as children.”
“Yeah, we were close then. Why’d he have to grow up and decide to get into the Mob?” Lou slammed his palm against the bars. “What you and I did was awful, but what he did was probably a thousand times worse. He got in with Tony and was his wheelman and assistant for years. Then he finally gets out of the rackets and is trying to live right and that creep pulls the loyalty card on him. So he feels like he has to go with him to off Rockford because he can’t let Tony hurt the kids and he doesn’t see how he can turn against Tony, either. Well, bully for him; Tony already turned against him or he wouldn’t have threatened the kids to begin with!” Lou shot out with his foot and gave the bars a resounding kick.
Ginger jumped. In the next cell, one of the occupants yelled and swore at Lou to be quiet.
Lou’s lip curled. “Oh, be quiet yourself,” he muttered.
Ginger got up and went over to him. “He’s right, you know,” he said sternly. “Lou, you have to calm down. This was exactly why I closed myself off after I got the word about Mum dying. I was afraid I would let loose like you’re doing and they’d drag me off to solitary. And being alone was what I felt I absolutely could not bear in my state.”
Lou whipped around, glowering at the smaller and defenseless man. Then his shoulders slumped and he turned away, the fire draining out of him. “You’re right, Buddy,” he said quietly. “I just feel so helpless trapped in here while my family’s falling apart out there. Mike’s still not completely better and I’m still in here and now there’s this on top of all of it!”
Across the corridor, one of the prisoners sneered and rested his hands on the horizontal bars of his cell. “For a minute there I thought you were actually going to belt him one, Trevino,” he taunted.
Lou’s eyes burned again as he looked up with a start. “I’d never hurt him,” he spat defensively.
“Lou, just ignore him,” Ginger commanded. “He’s deliberately trying to make it worse for you. Perhaps for both of us.”
“Yeah, I’ve watched you two getting cozy the last few months,” their nemesis continued. “It’s really touching. And now all us guys know that it’s really true that there’s at least one person Townsend won’t try to kill in his sleep, even when sharing a tiny space like this.”
Lou flung himself at the bars, clutching them so tightly his knuckles went white. “Ginger never tried to kill anybody the warden put with him!” he screamed. “Yeah, you all hate him. But you all base your opinions on how you don’t even know him and you’re too chicken to even try to get to know him! You’re all narrow-minded, disgusting insects!”
“Lou!” Ginger ran over, grabbing Lou’s arm. “Stop it! It doesn’t matter what they think of me. I’ve built my reputation and it’s at least halfway deserved. I shot Michael. No one here is going to forget about that. But they also won’t forget about this outburst of yours. What are you going to do if you’re taken away from here and locked up all by yourself?!”
By now the entire cellblock was alive with yelling, swearing, and banging, all directed against Lou. The noise was deafening and there was little doubt that the guard could hear them and would be coming in any moment. Ginger clenched his teeth, very tempted to snarl at them himself.
“SHUDDAP!”
Everyone jumped a mile at the new voice. Ginger, recognizing one of the few prisoners who didn’t ever try to antagonize them, started to relax.
“What’s the matter with you clods?” the Jersey-accented voice demanded. “You act like we’re all in kindergarten on the playground. Trevino’s cousin was shot and might die. Give him a little space and respect. He don’t deserve all this hate you’re pilin’ on the one person he has with him to give him some comfort.
“You’re all jealous. Yeah, that’s right, the whole lot of you are just plain jealous! Who here wouldn’t give one or maybe even two limbs to be with someone you trust and care about? Most of us are with people we don’t know from Adam and trust even less. Trevino’s with his best friend. No matter how many cracks you make about that, you know you envy him. I do and I’m not ashamed to admit it. But I don’t envy him getting bad news and having to deal with it behind bars. Who here likes it when that’s happened? Just shut up and leave him alone.”
The cellblock fell completely silent. After a moment some low murmurs started up, but no one made any smart-aleck remarks to Lou and he soon breathed a sigh of relief as he slumped against the bars. “Oh man. . . . I’m sure glad everybody here respects him, even though they don’t respect us.”
“And I’m glad he’s more mature and intelligent than the bloody lot of them,” Ginger growled, folding his arms.
Lou pushed away from the bars and crossed back to the bunks. “I’m sorry I blew my stack. Everything’s just getting to me, but I shouldn’t have let it happen. You’re right that I could get taken away and stuck in solitary to cool down there, and I can’t let that happen.” He turned back to Ginger. “I need you with me, Ginger. I could probably struggle through being in solitary if I had to, but I don’t want to have to. I’m freer here than I’d be in there.”
Ginger nodded. “Of course everything’s getting to you,” he said, “and I hate myself for the part I had in getting you to that point. I never wanted to hurt you.”
Lou sighed and laid a hand on Ginger’s shoulder. “You’re only trying to help me now. And I’ll always appreciate it, no matter what happens in the future to us or to Syl.”
Ginger looked firmly into Lou’s eyes. “And I will try to always live up to that. You forgave me when I didn’t deserve it and didn’t kick me out when you should have.”
Lou gave a weak smile. “That’s a matter of opinion.” He looked weary as he mused, “But I wonder if Syl will forgive Tony.”
“If the man is insane, I would imagine Sylvester would have compassion on him,” Ginger said.
“Yeah.” Lou propped himself up with an elbow against Ginger’s bunk. “Rockford said the guy can’t even function on his own, really. He can’t stand being alone; he needs someone to lean on. I guess that’s why he got so desperate to get Syl to come that he threatened the kids when Syl didn’t wanna go. That’s kind of sad. Pathetic, but sad.”
Ginger grunted. “I am not as compassionate as you and Sylvester. To me, threatening Sylvester’s loved ones is unforgivable.”
“And that’s why you’ll probably never forgive yourself for shooting Mike,” Lou remarked.
“The circumstances were different, but yes. Even though I was furious at him for betraying you, I still shot your loved one. He could have died.” Ginger suddenly looked tired. “But I have to be grateful that you are more compassionate than I am.”
Lou gave a sad smile. “And I have to be grateful that you would never threaten or hurt my loved ones to make me do something. You’re right-the circumstances were definitely different.” He walked past Ginger and sat on the bunk again.
Ginger stood and watched him for a moment. “Will you be alright?”
“Yeah,” Lou assured him. “I’m still shook, but I’ll be okay.”
Ginger slowly nodded. He would believe that.
****
Lou remained quiet and sobered for the rest of the day. It was after dinner when he finally felt like sharing more than a few words of conversation. Ginger sat and quietly listened, watching his best friend.
“I remember growing up in New York,” Lou mused, pushing the empty tray aside. “Syl was there so much, he was like a second brother. Him, me, and Mike. Oh boy, we had some fun times. Some crazy times too. We’d explore all over. Once we had a run-in with a local gang and ended up in a big fight with them.” He chuckled and shook his head. “We figured we’d get punished for that for sure, even though we really didn’t have a choice. But our parents got it in their heads that we were protecting Mike, which was true, and they were grateful.
“And then sometimes we’d sit around and talk about what we wanted to do when we grew up.” Sadness flickered in Lou’s eyes. “That was when I first saw the warning signs. Syl talked about the guys in the neighborhood who always seemed to have enough money. He said that when he was old enough, he wanted to find out how they did it and get in with them. Of course, they were working for the local mobsters.”
“But he wasn’t one of those twits who outright wanted to be a mobster,” Ginger prompted.
“Nah. But even when he found out how the guys made their money, he still wanted in.” Lou sighed sadly. “He just couldn’t stand to be poor. None of us liked it, but I never thought of going into the rackets. I didn’t want to be chained to some Mob guy all my life. I tried to tell that to Syl, and how there’s more to life than making money any way you can, but he was just determined to do it. I think he fell in with Tony around that time.”
“They knew each other the entire time they were in the Mob?” Ginger said in some surprise.
“Yeah. Tony wanted in so he could make a good life for his family with the money-send his brother to college, get his mother a better house-and I think he probably influenced Syl pretty heavily to go in it with him.”
Ginger looked displeased. “Peer pressure can be very powerful.”
Knowing Ginger was really thinking of how he had convinced Lou to steal jewels with him, Lou briefly rested a hand on Ginger’s knee.
Ginger let him. “. . . What did you say you wanted to do?” he asked, honestly curious.
Lou smiled. “I wanted to be a big businessman and travel the world. Heh, I guess Syl and I both got what we wished for. I’m the only one of us who went to college, though. Syl was too busy making Mob money.”
“You only went for a year or two,” Ginger remembered.
“That was all we could afford,” Lou said. “But that was okay; I got in the company after that.”
“And you were able to put Michael through uni at least partway.”
“Yeah.” Lou smiled. “He didn’t like going back to New York when I was still living in London, though. But I finally convinced him that it was for the best and Mom and Dad would be thrilled to have him living there again for a while. He took classes and came home each day, like I did.”
“I would have thought Michael might be interested in trying living on campus.”
“Maybe a little bit,” Lou conceded. “But not enough to want to shell out extra money to move there. He went to some parties and stuff anyway and said it was wild.”
“Did he try joining a fraternity?” Ginger wondered.
“He considered that too, but he wasn’t sure if the initiation stuff was normal or if it would get crazy and haze-like. And then Mom and Dad were kind of leery of fraternities in general. They realized there’s some good ones out there, and that Catholics don’t actively discourage college fraternities, but they were still worried about all the wild stories that go around. Mom and Dad also kind of saw fraternities as secret societies and you know how Catholics feel about things like Freemasonry.” Lou leaned back. “Me, I wasn’t so concerned about the secret society issue. I just thought it was kind of stupid to have to jump through hoops just to get guys to be your friends.”
“It is,” Ginger said flatly. “It’s basically basing your friendships around dares. What the bloody devil is sincere about that?”
A faint smile played on Lou’s lips. “Of course, I think most fraternities are against crazy and hurtful initiations now. I hear about a lot of fraternities and sororities that do things to help people instead.”
Ginger nodded. “I suppose. But I’d rather be a Freemason than join a fraternity.” He smirked slightly. “Although I doubt I’d ever do either one.”
Lou chuckled but then sobered. “Yeah, you never even went to college at all, did you?”
“No. I didn’t have the money. And in any case, I didn’t think my success in life should have to be based around even more official schooling. After secondary school, I wanted to get to work.”
Lou smiled more. “You sure did, too.”
“Of course, I could only get a job as a mail boy at first, but I worked my way up the corporate ladder.”
Lou sighed, gazing up at the ceiling. “I wonder what we’re gonna be able to do when we get out of here. It’s always so hard for ex-cons to find anything decent.”
“Sylvester managed alright with that Work Furlough program,” Ginger reminded him. “Although it’s odd to think of him working with art and enjoying it. He doesn’t seem the type who would like that sort of culture.”
“I know,” Lou admitted. “But I guess he’s deeper than even maybe I gave him credit for. And then Jeanie probably had a lot to do with it.”
“Point.” Ginger looked to him. “Will they let you know if there is any positive change in Sylvester’s condition?”
“Yeah,” Lou nodded. “At any time of the day or night.” With a weak smile he added, “Sorry in advance if you get woke up.”
“Under the circumstances, I won’t mind,” Ginger assured him.
****
It was several days before Lou really heard any definite news. When at last he was called into the warden’s office again, Ginger knew the news was good when Lou returned happy and with a light in his eyes that had been dim the last few days and now was bright once more.
“Syl’s gonna be okay,” he reported. “We’re still not sure what the D.A.’s gonna do, but Jeanie’s really going to bat for Syl. She loves him and was glad that he wanted to protect the kids from being hurt. She’s trying to get Perry Mason to take his case.”
“Really?” Ginger raised an eyebrow. “It doesn’t exactly seem like his type of case. He usually prefers that his clients not have ever been actual criminals.”
“He’s had a few,” Lou said. “I think he really figures it depends on a lot of individual factors, like what their motives were and what they’re like now, and Jeanie’s insisting how Syl is different than he was when he was in the rackets.”
Ginger nodded in approval. “Then I hope she will succeed in convincing him. Sylvester might have a second chance with Perry Mason as his solicitor.” He looked into Lou’s eyes. “And I’m glad that he’s going to recover in any case. Your burden has finally been lifted.”
Lou smiled. “It really has. They said I might be able to talk to Syl in a few days. I hope so.”
Ginger laid a hand on Lou’s shoulder. “As do I.” Phone calls were one of the few nice things to look forward to in prison. There was no one for Ginger to talk to on the phone now that his mother was dead, but he didn’t feel he needed anyone else. He was instead just happy that Lou still had family.
Lou looked to Ginger in surprise. The few times there had been physical contact between them, Lou had instigated it. For Ginger to do so was something new. Prison really was bringing them closer, just as that other convict had facetiously observed.
He smiled more. “Thanks, Buddy.”
Ginger nodded and stepped back. He would not explain his actions, but he did not need to. He saw from Lou’s eyes that it was already understood.
****
Ginger wandered into the living room one evening as Lou hung up the phone and pushed away from the telephone table. “What did Sylvester have to say?” He had recognized that Lou was speaking with his cousin due to conversation snippets he had caught.
Lou looked to Ginger with a smile. “He’s doing good. So are Jeanie and the kids. He said maybe they’d be coming down to L.A. on a trip soon and we could get together and do something.”
Ginger was pleased. “You would enjoy that.”
“Yeah, I would.” Lou stood, heading over to the couch. “Mike too. And you’d be there, I hope.” He turned back to face his friend.
“Yes,” Ginger agreed. “I would come. I doubt Sylvester’s wife is terribly fond of me, however.”
“Well, she likes you better than Tony,” Lou quipped.
“Which isn’t saying much,” Ginger grunted. “She likes everyone better than Anthony.”
“That’s true,” Lou had to admit. He sat down and leaned back, relaxing into the softness of the furniture. “It’s sure good that they let Syl have a second chance. Everything could have so easily gone down the tubes for him.”
“And for all of his talk of loyalty, I doubt Anthony had anything to do with that second chance,” Ginger remarked, sitting near Lou.
“Actually, Tony admitted he threatened the kids and all that,” Lou said. “That’s probably part of what helped Syl.”
“Amazing,” said Ginger, quirking an eyebrow.
“Tony really did realize he made a big, pointless mess of everything,” Lou said. “Then he wanted to fix what he could, especially for Syl.”
Ginger slowly nodded. “They released him from the insane asylum, but do you think he can function in society?”
“I’m not sure,” Lou said honestly. “You have to wonder if they can really cure somebody who’s been unstable all of his life. He seems to be doing okay so far, though.”
“It’s been several years, so one would hope,” Ginger growled. Suddenly tensing, he asked, “He isn’t coming down with them, is he?”
“Nah.” Lou shook his head. “He still doesn’t like California or road trips. But he likes and trusts Syl, so that’s probably what keeps him here at all. He still hasn’t forgiven his family for giving in to his former boss and agreeing to let him handle the situation. They insist that they didn’t realize the guy meant to have Tony killed, but Tony’s having a hard time believing it. Syl hopes that maybe there can still be a reconciliation in the future, though.”
“I suppose it would be difficult to believe, especially if they were aware of what the man was,” Ginger said.
“The brother was, but I don’t think the mother really got it,” Lou said. “And yet she was at Tony and Syl’s first trial and all that, so I don’t know how she could help but know. Maybe she just kind of turned a blind eye to it or something because the guy acted so nice and helped them through the years.”
“And what does she think of him now?” Ginger couldn’t help but wonder.
“I’m not sure,” Lou said. “There’s still all the help he’s given them, but now there’s also knowing he manipulated them when he wanted to kill her oldest son. And the brother admitted that it was so hard having a loose cannon like Tony for a son that the mother confessed she sometimes wished her son was like other people’s sons.”
Ginger shrugged. “I’m sure my parents wished that about me more than once. Even so, they would be sick if they realized they’d been manipulated into a position where it looked like they had given their blessing for me to be killed.”
Lou nodded. “That’s what I like to think about Tony’s family too. I can’t stand to think they just wouldn’t care.” He shuddered. “Even with all the awful things he did in the Mob, I guess I can’t help kind of feeling for the guy when the only thing he wanted was to provide for his family.”
“I can understand that,” Ginger said. “But I still find his actions regarding those children deplorable.” He sighed. “I suppose I should be more forgiving of that, considering how I fired on the camper.”
“But you didn’t know there were kids in there,” Lou said passionately. “Tony knew all about the kids; he’d just had dinner with them! He knew how young and defenseless they were and he still used their safety to force Syl to go with him to knock off Rockford. The circumstances are still different.”
Ginger leaned back, touched and pleased. “How I was ever allowed to have a loyal friend such as you is beyond my understanding.”
“We were both lucky,” Lou declared. “Luck probably didn’t have anything to do with it, though.”
“Naturally you would say that,” Ginger remarked. “And I suppose I will have to agree.” He paused. “Did you ever meet Anthony’s family? I know I didn’t.”
“I think I did maybe once,” Lou mused. “Yeah . . . I was with Syl and he was taking me to meet Tony. The mother saw us off at the door and the brother tagged along and asked about Mike. I think he was close to Mike’s age. But I was worried about the whole set-up and I tried to discourage the idea of him and Mike meeting up. With Tony getting into the rackets, I wasn’t sure what his family was like. I guess that wasn’t fair to them,” he said with a weak smile, “but I felt pretty protective of Mike. And then I was the one that actually got Mike into crime. Oh brother.” He shook his head miserably.
Ginger sighed. “Since we both claim responsibility for that, let’s leave it at that and be grateful we’ve moved past it now.”
“I sure am grateful,” Lou said. “But I’ll never forget that it wouldn’t have had to be that way.”
Ginger nodded, a troubled look crossing his features.
“At least, though, we always knew our friendship was the most important thing,” Lou continued. “We gave up more than one jewel when there was more at stake.”
“But not the one that finally got us doing porridge.”
“Yeah.” Lou sighed. “I was really uneasy through most of that mess. I wanted the diamond back too, but I think I was finally starting to wake up to what had become of us and Mike through the years and I didn’t like it. And of course I was worried about Mike, even though I kept trying to convince myself that he wasn’t badly hurt.” He leaned back, looking up at the ceiling.
“And I knew you were unhappy but I closed my mind to it. I thought that if we could get the diamond back, everything would go back the way it was and we would be happy again.” Ginger folded his arms, looking still more displeased. “Bloody idiot.”
“Hey.” Lou looked to him. “We were both pretty stupid back then, so like you said, let’s leave it there and just be grateful for the present.”
Ginger nodded. “Yes. Let’s.”
“I’m looking forward to see Syl again,” Lou said, the sparkle coming back to his eyes. “I guess we’ll never be as close as we were when we were kids, but I’m gonna appreciate what we can have.”
“That’s the best approach,” Ginger agreed. “But meanwhile, I appreciate that you and I have grown closer instead of further apart.”
Lou smiled. “And there’s nothing better than that.”
And despite whatever regrets they still carried, that was always something comforting they could turn to.
Fandom: The Rockford Files (specifically, The Queen of Peru episode)
Characters: Ginger Townsend, Lou Trevino
Prompt: Table 3, Prompt #93 - More to Life
Word Count: 4,658
Rating: K+/PG
Warnings/Spoilers: Heavy references to the Rockford episode The Man Who Saw the Alligators.
Summary: In flashback, Ginger and Lou are in prison when Lou receives the news that his cousin Syl was badly shot.
By Lucky_Ladybug
In general, it was regarded as a bad thing when the warden called a prisoner into his office. Sometimes it was to reprimand them for some real or imagined misdeed. Sometimes it was to bring bad news. There were rumors that the warden occasionally asked a prisoner to report on other prisoners acting out or planning to escape, in exchange for making life a little easier for them behind bars. Only occasionally were they called in to be given good news.
Hence, Lou was dreading the meeting the moment the guard came to collect him. Ginger watched in concern but said nothing, knowing that the guard would not give him any information. Indeed, the man only gave Ginger the evil eye as he led Lou away.
Lou was badly shaken when he returned several moments later. Ginger, who had been waiting on Lou’s bunk, got up and came over to him. “What is it?” he frowned.
Lou shook his head. “It’s Syl,” he said. “He’s been shot. It’s real bad.”
Ginger stepped out of the way, allowing the dazed man to walk past him to the bunk. “How would Sylvester get shot?” he said in disbelief. “He was supposed to have settled into a peaceful life with that woman and her two children.”
“He did.” Lou’s voice was tinged with anger as he sank into the thin mattress. “Then Tony got out of stir and went to him with some crummy plan for going after Rockford. He threatened the kids to make Syl go with him!” He clenched a fist.
Ginger sat down next to Lou. “I always knew Anthony was more of a loose cannon than me. What are they going to do to Sylvester?”
“I don’t know.” Lou sounded and looked helpless. “Rockford dropped the charges on him because of the kid angle, and because Syl actually stopped Tony from killing some idiot friend of Rockford’s, but I guess the D.A. could always prosecute on him carrying a deadly weapon and being an accessory to an attempted murder or something.” He ran a hand over his face. “It’s a nightmare! I just thought my cousin was on the strait and narrow again. My poor aunt and uncle. And heck, my parents are gonna be really upset about this too!”
Ginger hesitated. “How badly is he hurt?”
“I don’t know that, either.” Lou’s hand muffled his voice as he leaned forward, but Ginger didn’t have to hear it clearly to know that it was morose. “He was shot kind of halfway between his left shoulder and his heart. If it’d been just a little lower, we’d be planning a funeral right now. And that could still happen!”
“How did he even get shot in the first place?” Ginger frowned. “Was it by Anthony or the police?”
“Neither.” Lou straightened and looked to Ginger. “Tony’s old boss decided that he was a liability when he’d gone off the deep end like this, so he sent some hitmen to kill him. And they shot Syl instead.”
Ginger swore under his breath. “Well, I hope Anthony is bloody well happy with his day’s work.”
Lou shook his head. “Oh, I don’t know what to make of that guy. He really is crazy. They said he was talking about seeing real alligators under the bed as a kid. And he just completely fell apart when he thought his family had condoned him being gunned down. Then Syl was shot on top of all that and Tony didn’t have anyone left. I think he finally realized how stupid and pointless it all was. He was just a little too late!” He got up and started to pace.
Ginger watched him for a long moment before speaking again. “I’m sorry about Sylvester. I know you were close as children.”
“Yeah, we were close then. Why’d he have to grow up and decide to get into the Mob?” Lou slammed his palm against the bars. “What you and I did was awful, but what he did was probably a thousand times worse. He got in with Tony and was his wheelman and assistant for years. Then he finally gets out of the rackets and is trying to live right and that creep pulls the loyalty card on him. So he feels like he has to go with him to off Rockford because he can’t let Tony hurt the kids and he doesn’t see how he can turn against Tony, either. Well, bully for him; Tony already turned against him or he wouldn’t have threatened the kids to begin with!” Lou shot out with his foot and gave the bars a resounding kick.
Ginger jumped. In the next cell, one of the occupants yelled and swore at Lou to be quiet.
Lou’s lip curled. “Oh, be quiet yourself,” he muttered.
Ginger got up and went over to him. “He’s right, you know,” he said sternly. “Lou, you have to calm down. This was exactly why I closed myself off after I got the word about Mum dying. I was afraid I would let loose like you’re doing and they’d drag me off to solitary. And being alone was what I felt I absolutely could not bear in my state.”
Lou whipped around, glowering at the smaller and defenseless man. Then his shoulders slumped and he turned away, the fire draining out of him. “You’re right, Buddy,” he said quietly. “I just feel so helpless trapped in here while my family’s falling apart out there. Mike’s still not completely better and I’m still in here and now there’s this on top of all of it!”
Across the corridor, one of the prisoners sneered and rested his hands on the horizontal bars of his cell. “For a minute there I thought you were actually going to belt him one, Trevino,” he taunted.
Lou’s eyes burned again as he looked up with a start. “I’d never hurt him,” he spat defensively.
“Lou, just ignore him,” Ginger commanded. “He’s deliberately trying to make it worse for you. Perhaps for both of us.”
“Yeah, I’ve watched you two getting cozy the last few months,” their nemesis continued. “It’s really touching. And now all us guys know that it’s really true that there’s at least one person Townsend won’t try to kill in his sleep, even when sharing a tiny space like this.”
Lou flung himself at the bars, clutching them so tightly his knuckles went white. “Ginger never tried to kill anybody the warden put with him!” he screamed. “Yeah, you all hate him. But you all base your opinions on how you don’t even know him and you’re too chicken to even try to get to know him! You’re all narrow-minded, disgusting insects!”
“Lou!” Ginger ran over, grabbing Lou’s arm. “Stop it! It doesn’t matter what they think of me. I’ve built my reputation and it’s at least halfway deserved. I shot Michael. No one here is going to forget about that. But they also won’t forget about this outburst of yours. What are you going to do if you’re taken away from here and locked up all by yourself?!”
By now the entire cellblock was alive with yelling, swearing, and banging, all directed against Lou. The noise was deafening and there was little doubt that the guard could hear them and would be coming in any moment. Ginger clenched his teeth, very tempted to snarl at them himself.
“SHUDDAP!”
Everyone jumped a mile at the new voice. Ginger, recognizing one of the few prisoners who didn’t ever try to antagonize them, started to relax.
“What’s the matter with you clods?” the Jersey-accented voice demanded. “You act like we’re all in kindergarten on the playground. Trevino’s cousin was shot and might die. Give him a little space and respect. He don’t deserve all this hate you’re pilin’ on the one person he has with him to give him some comfort.
“You’re all jealous. Yeah, that’s right, the whole lot of you are just plain jealous! Who here wouldn’t give one or maybe even two limbs to be with someone you trust and care about? Most of us are with people we don’t know from Adam and trust even less. Trevino’s with his best friend. No matter how many cracks you make about that, you know you envy him. I do and I’m not ashamed to admit it. But I don’t envy him getting bad news and having to deal with it behind bars. Who here likes it when that’s happened? Just shut up and leave him alone.”
The cellblock fell completely silent. After a moment some low murmurs started up, but no one made any smart-aleck remarks to Lou and he soon breathed a sigh of relief as he slumped against the bars. “Oh man. . . . I’m sure glad everybody here respects him, even though they don’t respect us.”
“And I’m glad he’s more mature and intelligent than the bloody lot of them,” Ginger growled, folding his arms.
Lou pushed away from the bars and crossed back to the bunks. “I’m sorry I blew my stack. Everything’s just getting to me, but I shouldn’t have let it happen. You’re right that I could get taken away and stuck in solitary to cool down there, and I can’t let that happen.” He turned back to Ginger. “I need you with me, Ginger. I could probably struggle through being in solitary if I had to, but I don’t want to have to. I’m freer here than I’d be in there.”
Ginger nodded. “Of course everything’s getting to you,” he said, “and I hate myself for the part I had in getting you to that point. I never wanted to hurt you.”
Lou sighed and laid a hand on Ginger’s shoulder. “You’re only trying to help me now. And I’ll always appreciate it, no matter what happens in the future to us or to Syl.”
Ginger looked firmly into Lou’s eyes. “And I will try to always live up to that. You forgave me when I didn’t deserve it and didn’t kick me out when you should have.”
Lou gave a weak smile. “That’s a matter of opinion.” He looked weary as he mused, “But I wonder if Syl will forgive Tony.”
“If the man is insane, I would imagine Sylvester would have compassion on him,” Ginger said.
“Yeah.” Lou propped himself up with an elbow against Ginger’s bunk. “Rockford said the guy can’t even function on his own, really. He can’t stand being alone; he needs someone to lean on. I guess that’s why he got so desperate to get Syl to come that he threatened the kids when Syl didn’t wanna go. That’s kind of sad. Pathetic, but sad.”
Ginger grunted. “I am not as compassionate as you and Sylvester. To me, threatening Sylvester’s loved ones is unforgivable.”
“And that’s why you’ll probably never forgive yourself for shooting Mike,” Lou remarked.
“The circumstances were different, but yes. Even though I was furious at him for betraying you, I still shot your loved one. He could have died.” Ginger suddenly looked tired. “But I have to be grateful that you are more compassionate than I am.”
Lou gave a sad smile. “And I have to be grateful that you would never threaten or hurt my loved ones to make me do something. You’re right-the circumstances were definitely different.” He walked past Ginger and sat on the bunk again.
Ginger stood and watched him for a moment. “Will you be alright?”
“Yeah,” Lou assured him. “I’m still shook, but I’ll be okay.”
Ginger slowly nodded. He would believe that.
****
Lou remained quiet and sobered for the rest of the day. It was after dinner when he finally felt like sharing more than a few words of conversation. Ginger sat and quietly listened, watching his best friend.
“I remember growing up in New York,” Lou mused, pushing the empty tray aside. “Syl was there so much, he was like a second brother. Him, me, and Mike. Oh boy, we had some fun times. Some crazy times too. We’d explore all over. Once we had a run-in with a local gang and ended up in a big fight with them.” He chuckled and shook his head. “We figured we’d get punished for that for sure, even though we really didn’t have a choice. But our parents got it in their heads that we were protecting Mike, which was true, and they were grateful.
“And then sometimes we’d sit around and talk about what we wanted to do when we grew up.” Sadness flickered in Lou’s eyes. “That was when I first saw the warning signs. Syl talked about the guys in the neighborhood who always seemed to have enough money. He said that when he was old enough, he wanted to find out how they did it and get in with them. Of course, they were working for the local mobsters.”
“But he wasn’t one of those twits who outright wanted to be a mobster,” Ginger prompted.
“Nah. But even when he found out how the guys made their money, he still wanted in.” Lou sighed sadly. “He just couldn’t stand to be poor. None of us liked it, but I never thought of going into the rackets. I didn’t want to be chained to some Mob guy all my life. I tried to tell that to Syl, and how there’s more to life than making money any way you can, but he was just determined to do it. I think he fell in with Tony around that time.”
“They knew each other the entire time they were in the Mob?” Ginger said in some surprise.
“Yeah. Tony wanted in so he could make a good life for his family with the money-send his brother to college, get his mother a better house-and I think he probably influenced Syl pretty heavily to go in it with him.”
Ginger looked displeased. “Peer pressure can be very powerful.”
Knowing Ginger was really thinking of how he had convinced Lou to steal jewels with him, Lou briefly rested a hand on Ginger’s knee.
Ginger let him. “. . . What did you say you wanted to do?” he asked, honestly curious.
Lou smiled. “I wanted to be a big businessman and travel the world. Heh, I guess Syl and I both got what we wished for. I’m the only one of us who went to college, though. Syl was too busy making Mob money.”
“You only went for a year or two,” Ginger remembered.
“That was all we could afford,” Lou said. “But that was okay; I got in the company after that.”
“And you were able to put Michael through uni at least partway.”
“Yeah.” Lou smiled. “He didn’t like going back to New York when I was still living in London, though. But I finally convinced him that it was for the best and Mom and Dad would be thrilled to have him living there again for a while. He took classes and came home each day, like I did.”
“I would have thought Michael might be interested in trying living on campus.”
“Maybe a little bit,” Lou conceded. “But not enough to want to shell out extra money to move there. He went to some parties and stuff anyway and said it was wild.”
“Did he try joining a fraternity?” Ginger wondered.
“He considered that too, but he wasn’t sure if the initiation stuff was normal or if it would get crazy and haze-like. And then Mom and Dad were kind of leery of fraternities in general. They realized there’s some good ones out there, and that Catholics don’t actively discourage college fraternities, but they were still worried about all the wild stories that go around. Mom and Dad also kind of saw fraternities as secret societies and you know how Catholics feel about things like Freemasonry.” Lou leaned back. “Me, I wasn’t so concerned about the secret society issue. I just thought it was kind of stupid to have to jump through hoops just to get guys to be your friends.”
“It is,” Ginger said flatly. “It’s basically basing your friendships around dares. What the bloody devil is sincere about that?”
A faint smile played on Lou’s lips. “Of course, I think most fraternities are against crazy and hurtful initiations now. I hear about a lot of fraternities and sororities that do things to help people instead.”
Ginger nodded. “I suppose. But I’d rather be a Freemason than join a fraternity.” He smirked slightly. “Although I doubt I’d ever do either one.”
Lou chuckled but then sobered. “Yeah, you never even went to college at all, did you?”
“No. I didn’t have the money. And in any case, I didn’t think my success in life should have to be based around even more official schooling. After secondary school, I wanted to get to work.”
Lou smiled more. “You sure did, too.”
“Of course, I could only get a job as a mail boy at first, but I worked my way up the corporate ladder.”
Lou sighed, gazing up at the ceiling. “I wonder what we’re gonna be able to do when we get out of here. It’s always so hard for ex-cons to find anything decent.”
“Sylvester managed alright with that Work Furlough program,” Ginger reminded him. “Although it’s odd to think of him working with art and enjoying it. He doesn’t seem the type who would like that sort of culture.”
“I know,” Lou admitted. “But I guess he’s deeper than even maybe I gave him credit for. And then Jeanie probably had a lot to do with it.”
“Point.” Ginger looked to him. “Will they let you know if there is any positive change in Sylvester’s condition?”
“Yeah,” Lou nodded. “At any time of the day or night.” With a weak smile he added, “Sorry in advance if you get woke up.”
“Under the circumstances, I won’t mind,” Ginger assured him.
****
It was several days before Lou really heard any definite news. When at last he was called into the warden’s office again, Ginger knew the news was good when Lou returned happy and with a light in his eyes that had been dim the last few days and now was bright once more.
“Syl’s gonna be okay,” he reported. “We’re still not sure what the D.A.’s gonna do, but Jeanie’s really going to bat for Syl. She loves him and was glad that he wanted to protect the kids from being hurt. She’s trying to get Perry Mason to take his case.”
“Really?” Ginger raised an eyebrow. “It doesn’t exactly seem like his type of case. He usually prefers that his clients not have ever been actual criminals.”
“He’s had a few,” Lou said. “I think he really figures it depends on a lot of individual factors, like what their motives were and what they’re like now, and Jeanie’s insisting how Syl is different than he was when he was in the rackets.”
Ginger nodded in approval. “Then I hope she will succeed in convincing him. Sylvester might have a second chance with Perry Mason as his solicitor.” He looked into Lou’s eyes. “And I’m glad that he’s going to recover in any case. Your burden has finally been lifted.”
Lou smiled. “It really has. They said I might be able to talk to Syl in a few days. I hope so.”
Ginger laid a hand on Lou’s shoulder. “As do I.” Phone calls were one of the few nice things to look forward to in prison. There was no one for Ginger to talk to on the phone now that his mother was dead, but he didn’t feel he needed anyone else. He was instead just happy that Lou still had family.
Lou looked to Ginger in surprise. The few times there had been physical contact between them, Lou had instigated it. For Ginger to do so was something new. Prison really was bringing them closer, just as that other convict had facetiously observed.
He smiled more. “Thanks, Buddy.”
Ginger nodded and stepped back. He would not explain his actions, but he did not need to. He saw from Lou’s eyes that it was already understood.
****
Ginger wandered into the living room one evening as Lou hung up the phone and pushed away from the telephone table. “What did Sylvester have to say?” He had recognized that Lou was speaking with his cousin due to conversation snippets he had caught.
Lou looked to Ginger with a smile. “He’s doing good. So are Jeanie and the kids. He said maybe they’d be coming down to L.A. on a trip soon and we could get together and do something.”
Ginger was pleased. “You would enjoy that.”
“Yeah, I would.” Lou stood, heading over to the couch. “Mike too. And you’d be there, I hope.” He turned back to face his friend.
“Yes,” Ginger agreed. “I would come. I doubt Sylvester’s wife is terribly fond of me, however.”
“Well, she likes you better than Tony,” Lou quipped.
“Which isn’t saying much,” Ginger grunted. “She likes everyone better than Anthony.”
“That’s true,” Lou had to admit. He sat down and leaned back, relaxing into the softness of the furniture. “It’s sure good that they let Syl have a second chance. Everything could have so easily gone down the tubes for him.”
“And for all of his talk of loyalty, I doubt Anthony had anything to do with that second chance,” Ginger remarked, sitting near Lou.
“Actually, Tony admitted he threatened the kids and all that,” Lou said. “That’s probably part of what helped Syl.”
“Amazing,” said Ginger, quirking an eyebrow.
“Tony really did realize he made a big, pointless mess of everything,” Lou said. “Then he wanted to fix what he could, especially for Syl.”
Ginger slowly nodded. “They released him from the insane asylum, but do you think he can function in society?”
“I’m not sure,” Lou said honestly. “You have to wonder if they can really cure somebody who’s been unstable all of his life. He seems to be doing okay so far, though.”
“It’s been several years, so one would hope,” Ginger growled. Suddenly tensing, he asked, “He isn’t coming down with them, is he?”
“Nah.” Lou shook his head. “He still doesn’t like California or road trips. But he likes and trusts Syl, so that’s probably what keeps him here at all. He still hasn’t forgiven his family for giving in to his former boss and agreeing to let him handle the situation. They insist that they didn’t realize the guy meant to have Tony killed, but Tony’s having a hard time believing it. Syl hopes that maybe there can still be a reconciliation in the future, though.”
“I suppose it would be difficult to believe, especially if they were aware of what the man was,” Ginger said.
“The brother was, but I don’t think the mother really got it,” Lou said. “And yet she was at Tony and Syl’s first trial and all that, so I don’t know how she could help but know. Maybe she just kind of turned a blind eye to it or something because the guy acted so nice and helped them through the years.”
“And what does she think of him now?” Ginger couldn’t help but wonder.
“I’m not sure,” Lou said. “There’s still all the help he’s given them, but now there’s also knowing he manipulated them when he wanted to kill her oldest son. And the brother admitted that it was so hard having a loose cannon like Tony for a son that the mother confessed she sometimes wished her son was like other people’s sons.”
Ginger shrugged. “I’m sure my parents wished that about me more than once. Even so, they would be sick if they realized they’d been manipulated into a position where it looked like they had given their blessing for me to be killed.”
Lou nodded. “That’s what I like to think about Tony’s family too. I can’t stand to think they just wouldn’t care.” He shuddered. “Even with all the awful things he did in the Mob, I guess I can’t help kind of feeling for the guy when the only thing he wanted was to provide for his family.”
“I can understand that,” Ginger said. “But I still find his actions regarding those children deplorable.” He sighed. “I suppose I should be more forgiving of that, considering how I fired on the camper.”
“But you didn’t know there were kids in there,” Lou said passionately. “Tony knew all about the kids; he’d just had dinner with them! He knew how young and defenseless they were and he still used their safety to force Syl to go with him to knock off Rockford. The circumstances are still different.”
Ginger leaned back, touched and pleased. “How I was ever allowed to have a loyal friend such as you is beyond my understanding.”
“We were both lucky,” Lou declared. “Luck probably didn’t have anything to do with it, though.”
“Naturally you would say that,” Ginger remarked. “And I suppose I will have to agree.” He paused. “Did you ever meet Anthony’s family? I know I didn’t.”
“I think I did maybe once,” Lou mused. “Yeah . . . I was with Syl and he was taking me to meet Tony. The mother saw us off at the door and the brother tagged along and asked about Mike. I think he was close to Mike’s age. But I was worried about the whole set-up and I tried to discourage the idea of him and Mike meeting up. With Tony getting into the rackets, I wasn’t sure what his family was like. I guess that wasn’t fair to them,” he said with a weak smile, “but I felt pretty protective of Mike. And then I was the one that actually got Mike into crime. Oh brother.” He shook his head miserably.
Ginger sighed. “Since we both claim responsibility for that, let’s leave it at that and be grateful we’ve moved past it now.”
“I sure am grateful,” Lou said. “But I’ll never forget that it wouldn’t have had to be that way.”
Ginger nodded, a troubled look crossing his features.
“At least, though, we always knew our friendship was the most important thing,” Lou continued. “We gave up more than one jewel when there was more at stake.”
“But not the one that finally got us doing porridge.”
“Yeah.” Lou sighed. “I was really uneasy through most of that mess. I wanted the diamond back too, but I think I was finally starting to wake up to what had become of us and Mike through the years and I didn’t like it. And of course I was worried about Mike, even though I kept trying to convince myself that he wasn’t badly hurt.” He leaned back, looking up at the ceiling.
“And I knew you were unhappy but I closed my mind to it. I thought that if we could get the diamond back, everything would go back the way it was and we would be happy again.” Ginger folded his arms, looking still more displeased. “Bloody idiot.”
“Hey.” Lou looked to him. “We were both pretty stupid back then, so like you said, let’s leave it there and just be grateful for the present.”
Ginger nodded. “Yes. Let’s.”
“I’m looking forward to see Syl again,” Lou said, the sparkle coming back to his eyes. “I guess we’ll never be as close as we were when we were kids, but I’m gonna appreciate what we can have.”
“That’s the best approach,” Ginger agreed. “But meanwhile, I appreciate that you and I have grown closer instead of further apart.”
Lou smiled. “And there’s nothing better than that.”
And despite whatever regrets they still carried, that was always something comforting they could turn to.