Untitled/unfinished Rough Draft of Ed Wucler 1 fic
Two very old men sat in a fishing boat, wearing all the gear that came with going fishing.
One was Robert Freeman, cranky grandfather of one wannabe gangster and one revolutionary in training.
The other was Ed Wuncler The First, corporate scum and grandfather of many grandchildren, most notably an idiot named Ed Wuncler The Third.
“Ed...”
“Yeah, Robert?”
“What was your wife like?”The question was a like an ice cube placed suddenly to the testicles.
The last thing Ed wants to talk about is Victoria. Victoria , one of the few people he feels bad about screwing over. Victoria who turned toward the demon in the bottle when she found out that he was having affairs, and not just any affairs, affairs with male “escorts”. She loved him with full sincerity and he didn’t even love her as a friend. Just as a means to the ends.
Robert was the first to volunteer information about his wife and Ed Wuncler the First thank whatever God existed for that.
“Janie was a spitfire cutie-pie. She deeply believed that sparing the rod spoiled the child, so she applied the rod real hard when one of our kid was misbehaving. Even when they got all teary and were screaming for mercy. That would have stopped most mamas, but not my Janie.”
That’s what Ed liked about Robert. He wasn’t all goody-goody, but he still had a soul. He was just corrupt enough.
“I wish she were still around. She would have whipped some sense into those grandkids of ours.”
“Now, Robert, your kids may be pains in your ass, but they got some real survival skills that’ll help in the real world. Riley has streets smarts and Huey got some real book smarts. My idiot grandson has neither and will probably have to go to some institution when I die.”
“Oh, Ed...”
“No, Robert, you don’t have to be polite. He’s an idiot. Hell, I tell it to his face at breakfast and he still hasn’t caught on. He just doesn’t get it.”
A pregnant pause.
Robert cleared his throat.
“So your wife, was she nice?”
Damn it, damn it, Ed didn’t want to think about the woman he had done wrong.
“Yeah, she was a very wonderful woman when she was sober...”
“Oh...”
“Sigh. It was my fault, I didn’t pay enough attention to her.” And she found out what the Ace Agency really was, Ed mentally added.
“Oh Ed, that wasn’t your fault. It was probably her parents fault. At least that’s what modern science says.”
“Damn it., why aren’t the fish biting!” Ed Wuncler ignored his undeserved sympathy and threw his expensive rod on the deck.