Chocolate #7, Amaretto #9, Vinegar #26
Title: A Drink With the Old Man
Prompts: Chocolate #7: regret, Amaretto #9: priceless, Vinegar #26: fasten your safety belt
Rating: PG13 for man talk
Characters: Papa B, Nicky Nails Blaze
Summary: Three years after Firebird is boss. Papa B was Boss Blaze but he retired early and passed the crown on to Atlas, who was more than able to handle it. There’s a lot of family history explained and a smattering of foreshadowing in this piece... :D
“Life’s a funny thing, Nicky boy,” Papa B said when Nicky came out onto the back porch attached to Papa B’s condo. As was usual for Papa B, he refused to listen to what anyone else said and, when his wife Adele died six years back, he’d insisted on moving out of the home he’d lived in for 34 years and moving into a set of condos reserved for seniors. It was the best senior housing in the city with a view out onto the ocean and more space than Papa B insisted he needed, but none of the family liked having him so isolated away from the rest of them. As such, Nicky had him come over for Sunday dinner every week and if he had free time during the week, he would make his way over to shoot the breeze with the old man.
Nicky handed his father one of the drinks he’d made then sat down in the other wicker chair on the porch. “Why do you say that, Pop?”
“Almost nothing turned out how I thought it would when I was a young man,” Papa B sipped his drink and let his breath out in a hiss. “Damn fine whiskey you brought me, son.”
“Firebird found this no-name smuggler and his seven brothers workin out of their mama’s basement. She set them up a new shop, and I swear they’re bringing in twice as much booze that’s three times as good as what Henry every got us.”
“That girl’s got a nose for sniffin’ out potential. She gets it from me,” Papa B said confidently.
Nicky snorted. He pulled out a cigar and handed it to his father as he said, “Wasn’t that you that brought in Igor and No Face into the Hamilton Job?”
Papa B chuckled, his laughter coming from deep in his chest as he remembered that particular clusterfuck. “Hey, I said I could sniff out the ones with potential, not the ones with the follow-through. Firebird learned how to do that from her daddy.”
“Atlas always could pick the winners. Not ashamed to say he skinned me alive more than once when we’d bet against each other.” Nicky looked out onto the ocean, relaxing as one only could with family. “What did you think life was gonna be like, Pop?” he asked, getting back to Papa B’s original topic.
Papa B lit his cigar then passed the lighter over to Nicky. “More glamorous, mostly. I thought I’d be Boss Blaze til I died. I’d have a mistress for every night of the week and there wouldn’t be a room in this city that I couldn’t walk into and be the biggest man there.”
“You may not be the biggest man in the room, but you’ll always be the meanest,” Nicky said.
“Damn straight,” Papa B replied with a grin but he sobered quickly, thinking on the what-if’s of his life. “I didn’t know myself well enough back then or else I would have known I wasn’t gonna like being Boss. I didn’t have that drive my daddy did to be the first in everything. Atlas and Draven got that, but you were always the most like me.”
Nicky shrugged. “Atlas was and Firebird is a good Boss. I’m just fine being their Underboss.”
Papa B clapped his son on the arm. “You’re a good boy, Nicky. You serve your family better than some people remember to give you credit for.”
“Thanks, Pop,” Nicky said, and the two men drank and smoke some more in the companionable silence. They’d always had this friendly relationship and it’d only gotten better as they’d both gotten older. Atlas and Papa B loved each other but they used to butt head like nobody’s business, and Draven had been closer to their mom than their dad. But Nicky and Papa B had always been close, perhaps because they were so similar.
“I don’t feel about the women I didn’t get,” Papa B said. “When I’d think about taking one of those little sluts to bed, I’d measure them up against your mother and she’d beat ‘em hands down every time.”
“Ma was one of a kind,” Nicky agreed.
“Not really. Every man’s got that one woman that does it for him. Adele was mine. Draven wasn’t too keen on Gabby but Atlas had Paloma,” Papa B referred to Atlas’ first wife. Atlas had been like their Dad in his devotion to Paloma before she had died only nine years into their marriage. Papa B pinned his son with a hard look. “I’d hoped Marie was the one that did it for you, but those two bastards of yours say otherwise.”
“Marie ain’t like Ma and Paloma,” Nicky sighed. “It’s...complicated.”
Papa B snorted. “Bullshit. Ain’t nothing complicated about keeping your pants zipped, boy.”
“Hey, Soul and Mac are good kids,” Nicky said defensively. “It was worth the months of Marie making me sleep on the couch if it meant I got them.”
Papa B snorted again but didn’t delve deeper into that conversation because he wasn’t in the mood to argue. “And I outlived my Adele. Neither of us ever thought she’d be the first to go. When I do finally kick the bucket, that woman is going to be on the other side of those pearly gates just waiting to give me an earful for daring to outlive her after all the shit I’ve done to myself.”
Nicky grinned at the image. “Not even the good Lord himself could stop Ma from going off on you when she gets into one of her moods.”
“The good Lord would be smart enough not to try,” Papa B chuckled. His grin faded as the silence grew. “I’m not too worried about her though. She’s got two of her boys to take care of up there so she’s not lonely while she’s waiting for me.”
Nicky Nails grunted, puffing on his cigar. “Honestly, I always figured I would be the first one of us boys to be put in the casket. Draven was too cautious to enjoy life and I didn’t think anything could stop Atlas.”
Papa B shook his head. “I knew from the beginning that it was only a matter of time before Draven shot himself in the foot. I did something wrong with him.”
“No you didn’t, Pop. You did just fine by all of us,” Nicky defended his dad. “Draven thought too much and didn’t feel enough. That was just the way he was. Atlas did what he could to try to make D happy while he was around, but I don’t think D knew how to be happy.”
Papa B puffed on his cigar and looked out over the ocean. “When you get to be my age, you have a lot of time to look back on your life with a much wiser eye than you ever had before. I’m damn happy with my life, even if it wasn’t what I planned it to be. But there are two things in seventy seven years that I should have done differently. I shouldn’t have left Adele at the altar that first time we were gonna get married, and I should have knocked off that fucker Jean Lafayette when I had the chance.”
“Every one of us that was in that alley back then regrets not killing Lafayette,” Nicky said.
“If I’d known that not pulling the trigger on Lafayette in that alley meant I was pulling it on my son twenty years later, I wouldn’t have thought twice,” Papa B said viciously. “Atlas was a good man. He was cut down long before he should have been.”
“I still miss him like hell,” Nicky admitted.
“Me too, Nicky boy,” Papa B wiped away a tear, old enough to know there was no shame in crying over the loss of a loved one. “You’ve got it tougher than me though. This old body is winding down whether I want it to or not, and I’ll see him when I finally do pass on. But you’ve gotta stick around for a long time yet. The family needs you.”
“It’s not so tough,” Nicky said. “Firebird reminds me of him so much sometimes.”
“She’s a tough one,” Papa B agreed. “She needs to go marry one of those Tanaka boys and start a family of her own, already. I don’t like her living in that big old house with nobody but the help to fill the silence.”
“You could always move in with her. I know she’s asked you to.”
“Only every damn time she sees me,” Papa B grumbled.
“She’s worried about you in this place. We all are.”
“I told her and I’m telling you: the only way I’m leaving this place is in a casket. I like it here.”
“Why?” Nicky asked, perplexed. “This condo is tiny and all they’ve got is a ratty ass pool and some shuffleboards.”
“That’s not all they got boy. You’d never leave if you knew the kind of action I see here. I’ve got a full head of hair and I can still get a boner without any of those stupid drugs. The women here can’t keep their hands off me.”
“Oh, Pop,” Nicky said, disgusted. “If you’re that hard up without Ma around anymore, then I can send you some women that aren’t registered with the AARP.”
“I don’t want no young thing. She’d just make me feel even older than I already do. The women here know what they’re doing. Plus, they can take their teeth out. I’ve gotten some of the best fuckin blowjobs of my entire life down by that ratty ass pool.”
Nicky snorted and finished off his drink. “I’ll have to take your word for it.”
Prompts: Chocolate #7: regret, Amaretto #9: priceless, Vinegar #26: fasten your safety belt
Rating: PG13 for man talk
Characters: Papa B, Nicky Nails Blaze
Summary: Three years after Firebird is boss. Papa B was Boss Blaze but he retired early and passed the crown on to Atlas, who was more than able to handle it. There’s a lot of family history explained and a smattering of foreshadowing in this piece... :D
“Life’s a funny thing, Nicky boy,” Papa B said when Nicky came out onto the back porch attached to Papa B’s condo. As was usual for Papa B, he refused to listen to what anyone else said and, when his wife Adele died six years back, he’d insisted on moving out of the home he’d lived in for 34 years and moving into a set of condos reserved for seniors. It was the best senior housing in the city with a view out onto the ocean and more space than Papa B insisted he needed, but none of the family liked having him so isolated away from the rest of them. As such, Nicky had him come over for Sunday dinner every week and if he had free time during the week, he would make his way over to shoot the breeze with the old man.
Nicky handed his father one of the drinks he’d made then sat down in the other wicker chair on the porch. “Why do you say that, Pop?”
“Almost nothing turned out how I thought it would when I was a young man,” Papa B sipped his drink and let his breath out in a hiss. “Damn fine whiskey you brought me, son.”
“Firebird found this no-name smuggler and his seven brothers workin out of their mama’s basement. She set them up a new shop, and I swear they’re bringing in twice as much booze that’s three times as good as what Henry every got us.”
“That girl’s got a nose for sniffin’ out potential. She gets it from me,” Papa B said confidently.
Nicky snorted. He pulled out a cigar and handed it to his father as he said, “Wasn’t that you that brought in Igor and No Face into the Hamilton Job?”
Papa B chuckled, his laughter coming from deep in his chest as he remembered that particular clusterfuck. “Hey, I said I could sniff out the ones with potential, not the ones with the follow-through. Firebird learned how to do that from her daddy.”
“Atlas always could pick the winners. Not ashamed to say he skinned me alive more than once when we’d bet against each other.” Nicky looked out onto the ocean, relaxing as one only could with family. “What did you think life was gonna be like, Pop?” he asked, getting back to Papa B’s original topic.
Papa B lit his cigar then passed the lighter over to Nicky. “More glamorous, mostly. I thought I’d be Boss Blaze til I died. I’d have a mistress for every night of the week and there wouldn’t be a room in this city that I couldn’t walk into and be the biggest man there.”
“You may not be the biggest man in the room, but you’ll always be the meanest,” Nicky said.
“Damn straight,” Papa B replied with a grin but he sobered quickly, thinking on the what-if’s of his life. “I didn’t know myself well enough back then or else I would have known I wasn’t gonna like being Boss. I didn’t have that drive my daddy did to be the first in everything. Atlas and Draven got that, but you were always the most like me.”
Nicky shrugged. “Atlas was and Firebird is a good Boss. I’m just fine being their Underboss.”
Papa B clapped his son on the arm. “You’re a good boy, Nicky. You serve your family better than some people remember to give you credit for.”
“Thanks, Pop,” Nicky said, and the two men drank and smoke some more in the companionable silence. They’d always had this friendly relationship and it’d only gotten better as they’d both gotten older. Atlas and Papa B loved each other but they used to butt head like nobody’s business, and Draven had been closer to their mom than their dad. But Nicky and Papa B had always been close, perhaps because they were so similar.
“I don’t feel about the women I didn’t get,” Papa B said. “When I’d think about taking one of those little sluts to bed, I’d measure them up against your mother and she’d beat ‘em hands down every time.”
“Ma was one of a kind,” Nicky agreed.
“Not really. Every man’s got that one woman that does it for him. Adele was mine. Draven wasn’t too keen on Gabby but Atlas had Paloma,” Papa B referred to Atlas’ first wife. Atlas had been like their Dad in his devotion to Paloma before she had died only nine years into their marriage. Papa B pinned his son with a hard look. “I’d hoped Marie was the one that did it for you, but those two bastards of yours say otherwise.”
“Marie ain’t like Ma and Paloma,” Nicky sighed. “It’s...complicated.”
Papa B snorted. “Bullshit. Ain’t nothing complicated about keeping your pants zipped, boy.”
“Hey, Soul and Mac are good kids,” Nicky said defensively. “It was worth the months of Marie making me sleep on the couch if it meant I got them.”
Papa B snorted again but didn’t delve deeper into that conversation because he wasn’t in the mood to argue. “And I outlived my Adele. Neither of us ever thought she’d be the first to go. When I do finally kick the bucket, that woman is going to be on the other side of those pearly gates just waiting to give me an earful for daring to outlive her after all the shit I’ve done to myself.”
Nicky grinned at the image. “Not even the good Lord himself could stop Ma from going off on you when she gets into one of her moods.”
“The good Lord would be smart enough not to try,” Papa B chuckled. His grin faded as the silence grew. “I’m not too worried about her though. She’s got two of her boys to take care of up there so she’s not lonely while she’s waiting for me.”
Nicky Nails grunted, puffing on his cigar. “Honestly, I always figured I would be the first one of us boys to be put in the casket. Draven was too cautious to enjoy life and I didn’t think anything could stop Atlas.”
Papa B shook his head. “I knew from the beginning that it was only a matter of time before Draven shot himself in the foot. I did something wrong with him.”
“No you didn’t, Pop. You did just fine by all of us,” Nicky defended his dad. “Draven thought too much and didn’t feel enough. That was just the way he was. Atlas did what he could to try to make D happy while he was around, but I don’t think D knew how to be happy.”
Papa B puffed on his cigar and looked out over the ocean. “When you get to be my age, you have a lot of time to look back on your life with a much wiser eye than you ever had before. I’m damn happy with my life, even if it wasn’t what I planned it to be. But there are two things in seventy seven years that I should have done differently. I shouldn’t have left Adele at the altar that first time we were gonna get married, and I should have knocked off that fucker Jean Lafayette when I had the chance.”
“Every one of us that was in that alley back then regrets not killing Lafayette,” Nicky said.
“If I’d known that not pulling the trigger on Lafayette in that alley meant I was pulling it on my son twenty years later, I wouldn’t have thought twice,” Papa B said viciously. “Atlas was a good man. He was cut down long before he should have been.”
“I still miss him like hell,” Nicky admitted.
“Me too, Nicky boy,” Papa B wiped away a tear, old enough to know there was no shame in crying over the loss of a loved one. “You’ve got it tougher than me though. This old body is winding down whether I want it to or not, and I’ll see him when I finally do pass on. But you’ve gotta stick around for a long time yet. The family needs you.”
“It’s not so tough,” Nicky said. “Firebird reminds me of him so much sometimes.”
“She’s a tough one,” Papa B agreed. “She needs to go marry one of those Tanaka boys and start a family of her own, already. I don’t like her living in that big old house with nobody but the help to fill the silence.”
“You could always move in with her. I know she’s asked you to.”
“Only every damn time she sees me,” Papa B grumbled.
“She’s worried about you in this place. We all are.”
“I told her and I’m telling you: the only way I’m leaving this place is in a casket. I like it here.”
“Why?” Nicky asked, perplexed. “This condo is tiny and all they’ve got is a ratty ass pool and some shuffleboards.”
“That’s not all they got boy. You’d never leave if you knew the kind of action I see here. I’ve got a full head of hair and I can still get a boner without any of those stupid drugs. The women here can’t keep their hands off me.”
“Oh, Pop,” Nicky said, disgusted. “If you’re that hard up without Ma around anymore, then I can send you some women that aren’t registered with the AARP.”
“I don’t want no young thing. She’d just make me feel even older than I already do. The women here know what they’re doing. Plus, they can take their teeth out. I’ve gotten some of the best fuckin blowjobs of my entire life down by that ratty ass pool.”
Nicky snorted and finished off his drink. “I’ll have to take your word for it.”