Chapter Two: The Cafe

Once Matty Demaret left Gianda's Catering Hole, his father's restaurant, he felt as if a huge weight had been lifted from his shoulders. He was going to start a new life, a better and safer life. One free of trying to be who his father wanted him to be. Matty realized that he couldn't do it anymore. Marbles and Scarpa died because he was trying to be like his father, while he and Taylor almost did. Matty was done; he was out. He didn't need his father, anymore. He just needed Taylor. He began to realize he cared about Taylor's feelings and opinions more than he cared about his father's, or anyone's for that matter. His long-time friend was wise and kind and Matty knew Taylor cared about him a lot; that he cared about him even more than he cared about his own life. Matty had never felt so admired or important as when Taylor pushed him out of the way, took the bullets, so Matty wouldn't get hit with them. He had always wished that his father, or at least Teddy, would care about him the way Taylor proved that he did. But in the end, even his own father didn't consider his only son to be the most important thing in his life. Yet Taylor did.

Matty remembered what Taylor had said while sitting beside him on the plane, heading back to New York. It was dark and they hadn't slept, but neither could after all that happened in the Beef Terminal.

"You're outta this now, right?" Taylor had asked, brows creased. Matty was unlike himself; looking out the window, staring into space, a deep sadness in his eyes.

"Yeah. That bag is the last thing I'm deliverin'. I'll tell my father, and after that... I'm out," Matty remembered he had said.

"Me too," Taylor had replied. Matty was glad that Taylor decided to take his own advice.

Presently, the lean man, Matty, walked down the stairs of his father's restaurant and over to his car, his black Cadillac. Taylor was leaning against it, a cigarette between his fingers. He observed Matty, bottom to top, before he spoke. Matty noticed; he wouldn't admit it, but he liked that Taylor often looked at him like that.

"You told him?" asked Taylor, hopefully, looking into Matty's eyes. He wanted Matty to be done with it all, he couldn't take seeing him beaten, to hear him yell in pain, see him with cuts and bruises, all given to him by other men. Men Taylor was thrilled to kill. He wanted to see a smile on Matty, not a worried frown. And he definitely didn't ever want to see a man pointing a loaded gun at him. If it happened again, Taylor didn't think he'd be as lucky as he was the first time and make it out alive. Either way, he'd save Matty no matter what the outcome would be. Matty was too important to him; he was the only one Taylor ever had any real feelings for. He was someone who deserved saving. His own life didn't mean nearly as much to him as Matty's did.

Matty bowed his head and nodded.

"Yeah..." he said. "Yeah, I did."

Taylor stood away from the Cadillac and walked closer to Matty. He softly gripped his forearm, looking down at Matty's form before looking back up into his gray-blue eyes with his own dark brown ones.

"Good..." Taylor said. He shook Matty's arm. "Good. You're finally done with it..." he added. An incredible feeling of relief came over him; he couldn't explain how anxious and worried he'd been in Montana, knowing Matty wasn't safe. But now he knew Matty would be safe; Taylor would make sure of it.

"Done with this, too..." Matty replied. He took the keys to his Cadillac out of his pocket then threw them through the opened window, watching as they landed on the driver's seat. He no longer wanted the car that his father had bought him. He remembered what his pop had said, his insulting remark... 'You drive a Cadillac. What more do you need?' Matty shook the thought away, then started walking toward Taylor's van.

Taylor walked beside Matty and took one more hit of his cigarette before he threw it on the ground. He didn't really need it now that he knew Matty was officially done with trying to get in with his father. He only lit the cigarette in the first place because he was afraid Matty wouldn't be able to give Benny Chains the news. Matty had never been good at telling his father about the negative feelings the man gave him.

Taylor was glad that Matty had had the courage and that the blue-eyed man was coming with him. Taylor knew that his van was now the only thing Matty would be able to get around in. That meant he and Matty wouldn't be parting any time soon, and that's the way he wanted it.

"What now?" Taylor asked, curious as to what Matty was thinking.

"Now? Now we get the hell outta here," Matty replied, providing Taylor with more comfort as he realized Matty really wanted to get away from his father's restaurant, to move on. Comfort radiated throughout Taylor, a rare feeling, as he picked up on the fact that Matty said 'we'. It was always 'we'.

Though he was happy with this, he was curious as to where Matty was planning on going with him.

Both men got into the black van, Taylor putting his keys in the ignition and turning them as Matty put his seat belt on. Matty looked at Taylor who pulled out of the restaurant's parking lot and onto the street, then he looked back once more at his father's restaurant before looking ahead at the road.

"Where do you wanna go?" Taylor asked, quietly.

"I don't know. You hungry?" Matty asked, his pale hands resting on his knees. Taylor looked at Matty, into his eyes, then he looked back at the road.

"Yeah. How 'bout the cafe?" Taylor asked.

"Yeah, that's fine," Matty replied.

Taylor drove to the cafe and pulled into its parking lot. He parked the van then he and Matty got out and headed for the entrance. Taylor held the glass door open for Matty, feeling the smaller man's side brush against his chest before he followed him inside. Taylor got a whiff of Old Spice as Matty walked forward; Matty always smelled good; he was very clean.

Both ordered their food from behind a counter then found a table and sat across from each other. After they ate, they sat still, sipping on their coffees.

"So what are you gonna do? Find yourself a job?" Taylor asked, looking at his friend.

"Yeah," Matty replied, pressing his lips together as he looked out the window. "There's just somethin' I need to take care of," he said, hesitating. Taylor watched him, brows creasing in curiosity.

"My last name..." Matty continued. "I've got to change it. Let's face it, I ain't gonna make it anywhere around here as Benny Chains' son," the pale and black-haired man finished. He stared into space as he thought of the conversation he had with his father.

"You made the right choice. Moving on," Taylor said, trying to give Matty a positive feeling. He sensed that his friend was feeling uneasy about that situation, with the way he frowned.

"Yeah..." Matty replied, quietly. He paused for a while, suddenly seeing in his mind moments from the night in Montana, at the Beef Terminal. He remembered Scarpa getting shot, finding out that Marbles was also dead. Above all, he remembered how Teddy, his uncle, the one who had acted like a father to him when Benny didn't, had betrayed him.

"You were right all along, Taylor. I never should have gotten into it. If I hadn't, Marbles and Scarpa would still be here," Matty said, voice quiet as he continued to look out the window.

Taylor's brows creased and he pressed his lips together. He bowed his head, looking at his cup of coffee. He felt great sympathy but he was also angry because he felt that Matty was blaming himself for something that wasn't his fault. He thought of Teddy and what he'd done, thought of the emotional pain Matty was going to have to go through after all that happened.

"Matty, you can't blame yourself for what happened. Teddy's the fucker to blame, not you," the tattooed man said, his voice deep. Matty looked at Taylor, his expression stoic. He blinked then nodded, clenching his jaw as he remembered all the times he'd spent with his uncle growing up.

After paying the waitress and leaving the cafe, Matty and Taylor got back into the black Dodge. Once both doors were shut and Matty put his seat belt on, Taylor went to put the keys in the ignition but he hesitated.

"What do you say we head to a bar?" Taylor asked, trying to think of ways to give Matty a good time and distract him from the memories. "Drink... smoke... watch a couple games?" he added. He watched Matty's face for a reaction but it was still.

"Sorry, Taylor... I'd rather go home. Relax, in my own house, you know?" Matty said, all the motels he'd slept in on his mind. He missed his home. He needed normalcy.

"Yeah... I get it. Relaxin' sounds good right about now. How 'bout we get a couple six packs, head to your place?" Taylor said.

"Alright," said Matty. Taylor put the keys in the ignition then drove out of the cafe's parking lot, heading for the closest liquor store.

To be continued...