Before long, Nick was pushing Judy in a wheelchair out of the hospital exit, where the Zuber car he called was waiting.
Nick held his arm out for Judy, who returned the gesture with a scowl.
"Stubborn bunny," he muttered as he handed over her crutches.
She shuffled over and into the car. Nick slid in beside her.
"Hey buddy, ninety-eight Hill Street, Downtown."
"You got it," replied the buffalo driver.
Judy gave Nick a curious glance, but he simply looked out the window.
She followed his lead, watching as the lush hospital grounds faded from view and gave way to skyscrapers and high-rises.
"So Carrots," Nick began after some time, "you planning on telling your parents about your leg at all?"
Judy's ears drooped, "I just want to be back on both feet first."
"…I get it."
"Get what?"
Nick shifted his gaze from the window to her.
"I haven't seen Ma since I started pawpsicle hustling."
Judy's eyes widened.
Twenty years?! She couldn't imagine being away from her family for that long!
"What happened?! Oh, sorry, you don't have to talk about it..." Judy said.
Nick grinned. "Hey, we're past that, right? No secrets between friends? Or, ahem, underwear, apparently."
"NICK!" mortified, Judy punched him in the arm.
"OW! You'll have me in the hospital if you keep that up!" Nick said.
"Consider yourself lucky to still be alive!" Judy crossed her arms.
"How is your lack of underwear my fault, madam?"
"Back to the subject," Judy clenched her teeth, trying to ignore the blush creeping up her ears. "So why haven't you seen your mom for so long?"
"...It's complicated," he said quietly.
Embarrassment gone, Judy put her paw on Nick's.
He took a deep breath, "I've been thinking. I am going to apply for the ZPD afterall. I'm gonna make her proud."
Judy smiled and gave his paw a reassuring pat, "I'm sure she's plenty proud of you already."
"I doubt it, but hey, you can ask her yourself. In a few minutes."
"Oh?! Oh…"
"Told ya you'd owe me big," Nick smiled, but it didn't reach his eyes.
"I slept under a bridge for years so I wouldn't have to ask Ma what I'm gonna ask her," he said.
"And, that is…?"
"For a roof over my head, and yours, until you get better."
Judy's jaw dropped.
"Ninety-eight Hill Street," the driver inclined his head to the right.
Judy looked out.
It was a rough part of town. Not the worst she'd ever seen, but the apartment building was old and tired.
The paint had peeled, and graffiti was the only halfhearted attempt at decoration on the brickwork.
Nick had already paid the driver and was holding the car door open for Judy, crutches in hand.
She nodded, took the crutches from him, and eased herself out of the car.
"Oh, my bag-"
"Right here," Nick held it up and the car pulled away.
He took a deep breath.
"This…is where I grew up."
Judy fumbled for the right thing to say, but all that came out was: "Uh-huh?"
"It's okay, Fluff. It is what it is."
Nick steeled himself and walked up the worn steps, once so familiar.
He gave a tentative knock.
The door creaked opened part of the way, chain still in place.
"Nicholas?!"
His ears drooped sideways, "Y-yeah. Hi, Ma."
The door slammed.
Judy thought that was the end of it, when suddenly the chain was unlocked and a stunning vixen opened the door.
Judy gasped.
Her paws were a paler red than Nick's, and her face was a stunning mixture of white, silvering into blonde, making her amber eyes all the more striking.
She's so beautiful! Judy gaped.
"Ma, I-"
"Nicholas Piberius Wilde!"
Piberius? Judy would have giggled if it weren't such a tense moment, especially since-
SLAP!
"Okay, I deserved that."
"Damn straight you fucking did!"
Judy blinked. Nick's mom had quite the potty mouth!
"Do you have ANY idea what you put me through?!"
Nick hung his head, but his mom lifted his chin up with her paw and stared him down.
"Too fucking proud to visit your own mother?! You thought I, of all people, would judge you for being a pawpsicle hustler?!"
She took a great shuddering breath, tears streaming, "There are worse ways to hustle, you dumb kit!"
She brushed her eyes with the back of her paw and took a deep breath.
"Okay, enough of this shit where the neighbors can rubberneck at us. Get in here, the two of you!"
A terrified set of emerald eyes met amethyst.
"Yes Ma!"
"Yes ma'am!"
After Judy had eased herself onto the shabby sofa, Nick sat next to her and they looked towards the older fox seated on milk crate she had pulled out front of them.
"Ma, the place is so run down. Haven't you been getting my… deliveries? From Finnick?"
"Yes, I have," she said.
Nick looked relieved, then confused.
Judy couldn't help but be suspicious.
Deliveries? Oh no, not drugs!
As if he read her mind, Nick gave her a stern look.
"Money, Carrots. Why do you think I was so worried about you reporting me for tax evasion? Whatever I didn't need to survive, I got Finnick to give to Ma, after his
cut."
Judy was speechless.
I could have ruined his life, just to prove myself as a cop. Her ears drooped.
Nick flinched under the steely stare from his mother.
"I never asked you for any of that, Nick. I just wanted my son. Fuck the money, I got by."
Nick scowled, "Interesting choice of words, mother."
The vixen folded her arms. "I'm not ashamed, Nick. I own this whole apartment building now. Is it the Palms? Not by a long shot. But I did it on my own."
"You didn't need to do it on your own! I worked every single day for you, Ma!"
Nick stood up, agitated, "-so you wouldn't have to do that anymore!"
He waved his arm around the dilapidated apartment. "Why do you live like this?! The money I gave you should have been enough for you to live comfortably!"
Nick's mother put her paws on her hips. "You lived as you chose, Nick. As did I. Except for the fact that I'm your mother and taking care of you was supposed to be my
goddamn job, not the other way around!"
The tip of Nick's tail twitched in irritation. "So where is all the money I earned that you were too good to take, then?!"
She walked over to a lopsided bookshelf in the corner of the room and gave it a hard push to one side.
Behind it was an old, rusted safe embedded into the wall. She put the combination in.
"It's here."
Judy had never seen so much money in her life.
Wads upon wads of notes, neatly stacked.
Nick fell to his knees.
"No," he whispered, "Ma, why?" he choked out, "The only way I could live as I did was because I thought I was making your life better!"
"How could you just leave me for twenty years, Nick?" she walked to the window and quickly peered through the curtain before setting the safe back behind the
bookshelf.
"Because of your fox pride? Well who the fuck did you think you got that from?!"
Judy watched the exchange and mused on how comparatively simple her childhood had been.
The older fox knelt down and put her paws on her sons' shoulders.
"You earned this to make a life for yourself and maybe to raise me some grandkits someday, not to bail your ma out, for fucksake!"
She turned around and looked at Judy, as though noticing her for the first time, "So who's the bunny?"
Judy opened her mouth but Nick waved a paw to shush her.
"This is my friend, Judy. She's been injured and needs someplace to stay. Judy, this is –" he quirked an eyebrow at his mom, "-still going by Mrs Wilde?"
"You know that would never change, I'll be his wife 'til the day I join him."
Judy's face fell when she realized Nick was fatherless, and wanted to say something comforting, but Mrs Wilde had already approached her and was holding out her paw
to shake.
"If you're a friend of Nick's, you're a friend of mine. I'll give you a warmer welcome when I'm not so fucking pissed at my son," she glared at Nick.
"Jeez, would you ease up on the cussing, Ma?" Nick said.
"Oh hang on, I'm sure I have it here somewhere…"
Mrs Wilde made a show of looking in all of her pockets and sleeves, "Oh dear, I am so sorry. It looks like I don't have any!"
"Any what, Mrs Wilde?" Judy piped up.
The two foxes smirked at each other and said in unison:
"Any fucks to give."
Judy rolled her eyes.
"…Are you sure that safe isn't like, a giant swear jar?"
"So you need a place to stay, Judy?" she turned to her son.
"Ever the bleeding heart, eh Nick?" The vixen's eyes softened. "Good. Follow me."
Nick and Judy exchanged glances but followed her out of the room.
"Like I said, I own the whole apartment building now. I've made some… changes, since you left," she pushed the next door open, eliciting a gasp from the younger
mammals.
It was a dining room. Modern, tastefully decorated, with the longest dining table Judy had ever seen, even back home with all of her siblings! She looked at Mrs Wilde,
who was wearing Nick's trademark 'sly fox' grin.
"I'll show you the kitchen, it's just been remodeled."
It was equally clean, modern and stylish.
Nick's mouth hung open in shock, "But Ma, the- the crappy front room… why?"
Mrs Wilde popped her hip and rested a paw on it, "It's called a hustle, sweetheart."
"So, you've renovated all the interiors of the rooms, but not the rest of the place?" Nick asked.
"I'm not a fucking moron. In this neighborhood, that's just asking for trouble. All the rooms have security locks for the girls' safety."
"'Girls?'" Nick's face fell, "...Ma, please don't tell me you're a-"
"A 'madam'? How dare you. I'm a savvy businesswoman," she said.
She walked out of the kitchen to a courtyard outside.
"See that building?" she gestured.
Nick squinted.
"What, the Peppermint Rhino?"
"Mm-hm. That's mine too." Mrs Wilde smiled at the confused duo.
"I put the money I earned away until I didn't have to 'work' that way anymore. If no one would hire a fox, then I'd become my own boss. Over the years, I've had it
renovated from a seedy strip club into a five star entertainment burlesque house.
"I called it Digitalis. I find gals like me who had to do… worse than just tease in the past, and I give them a job there, and a home here," she waved a paw back at the
apartment.
"Taught 'em how to sing, dance, act, and tease, and our shows sell out every night. It's become quite lucrative."
She saw the aghast expression on Judy's face.
"Don't worry, fuzzy Bunny, frowning gives you wrinkles."
She turned to Nick, "No one is allowed to touch my gals. They are like daughters to me. I also have security guards who are intensely loyal. They live here too. Polar
bears lucky enough to escape from some crime boss in Tundratown."
Nick and Judy shared a nervous glance.
Mrs Wilde turned to her son, "It's not exactly the Zootopian dream, but it's making lemonade out of lemons. That's what life is, Nick," she grabbed both of his paws in
hers.
"Your heart was in the right place, but you fucked up," she sighed.
"You're your mother's son, you poor bastard. You lived under a bridge for your pride, not for me. Did you realize what a burden you were putting on Finnick by making
him piggy in the middle?" she said.
She dropped her paws away from Nick's. "I'm not gonna let you stay here, Nick."
Nick's face fell.
"You're gonna take some money from this safe," she said as she walked back inside to the front room, "and get your own place. Maybe pay for this doe-eyed gal to stay
in a five star hotel to recover, until - oh,"
She raised her eyebrows and held up two fingers, "-unless you two are a… twosome?" she began to pack the cash into a duffel bag.
"N-no! He's my friend!" Judy spluttered, nearly overbalancing on her crutches, "Oh right! Nick, tell her your news!"
Nick put his paws behind his back and stood up straight, "Ma, I'm gonna apply to get into the police academy."
"'Kay. So you're you a glutton for punishment. What else is new?" she said, continuing to fill the bag.
Nick chuckled, "Wouldn't have her as a friend if I wasn't- ow! Dammit Carrots, quit punching me! You're stronger than you look!"
Mrs Wilde looked from Nick to Judy, and back to Nick.
"My nose isn't blind, Nick. You've found your mark, haven't you?" she grinned slyly.
Judy looked at Nick, the cream fur on his muzzle and inner ears turning pink.
"I didn't know foxes could blush! Haha Nick, now we're even for the underwear thing!" Judy said with glee.
Mrs Wilde burst out laughing. "Oh Nick, you are so gonna fill me in later, but I gotta get to work, and time is money. Go Find Finnick and buy him a fucking drink. Every
week. For the rest of your life. Make it up to him."
She gently herded Nick out the door and Judy hobbled after him.
"Here," she produced a stuffed duffel bag.
"Come back when you need more. Don't be a stranger," she pulled Nick towards her and hugged him fiercely. "-and do whatever makes you happy. Or I'll kick your ass."