Author's Note: I can't seem to tell if people like or hate this fiction, which is why I find that I am extremely grateful for the story stat counter they've created on this site—a new addition since I've last logged in on my old pseudonym. Even though I haven't received any feedback, I find it encouraging enough that people seem to be giving this fiction a chance and moving on to the next chapter, and I can only hope that this chapter finds you all well also.
This particular chapter was really difficult for me to hash out, mostly because I'm trying to write in third person, but as more of a flashback than happening in real time. Again, this chapter is still pretty AU, though it has some hints trickling in here and there of the original storyline. The next chapter after this one will be the last AU-heavy toned chapter before I start connecting it to my take on the original RocknRolla storyline. Please enjoy. Reviews are always appreciated.
When Archy First Met Johnny...
Archy was one year shy of thirty when he had first met four-year-old Johnny.
Archy hated children.
He couldn't stand when they sniveled and cried, when they whimpered and whined, and he wanted to absolutely kill them when they kicked, screamed, fussed around, or caused trouble. This was because, you see, Archy had never grown up in a household filled with affection and comfort. When Archy's wealthy parents died in a car crash, like it was out of some storybook cliché, the people who were supposed to be taking care of him did better than turn him into a commoner slave of his own household like Cinderella—they just simply threw him out onto the streets. Of course, this was only after they had swindled him of all his inheritance and divided it amongst themselves.
Archy was fifteen years old when he had lost everything, and just as well, because life had been a prison for him even when his parents were alive. His childhood had consisted mostly of activities that had bored Archy to no end, like ballroom dances and classes on etiquette. So while Archy may have been left penniless, he hadn't spent too much time grieving because for the first time in his life he was free. In fact, he had initially been so drunk on his freedom that he hadn't quite known what to do with himself.
Then Archy had met Lenny.
Lenny Cole had picked Archy up from the streets just a short while after Archy's initial high had worn off and the feelings of hunger and exhaustion were beginning to take its toll, and despite his circumstances there had been no fear in Archy's eyes. It was the lack of fear that inspired Lenny to take Archy under his wing in the first place. Lenny had been generous enough to clothe him, provide him a warm bed, and teach him all the basics about living on the streets. Though Lenny had trained Archy to be his right hand man it would later be clear to everyone but Lenny that the real puppet master pulling the strings was Archy and not Lenny Cole. For that accomplishment Archy would have to give some of the credit to the education his parents had forced down his throat through tutors when he was just a lad. Without that he would have never reached his full potential with Lenny.
It never bothered Archy in the slightest that Lenny continued to think that he was the one in control and the one calling all the shots, even long after Archy had Lenny in the palm of his hand and could have easily taken over. This was because it had made things much easier for Archy as he always did prefer working behind the scenes. He would later note that being the frontrunner of a production actually seemed to run more in the veins of the likes of Lenny as well as his son, or stepson, more like.
Which brings the story back to the start. The part where Archy hated children.
When Archy first met Johnny, it had been a sort of a sudden encounter, though Archy hadn't minded much then, because that was when Johnny's mom had still been around. That meant Archy hadn't had much to do with the little tyke, suiting Archy perfectly.
The problem came only after Johnny's mom had left the picture.
Everything started when Lenny Cole had felt that he was experiencing something of a mid-life crisis moment; this led to his impulse decision to settle down. The very notion was far beyond Archy's comprehension, because Archy could never picture Lenny being able to maintain any sort of functional relationship. Archy was further baffled upon first meeting the new Mrs. Cole, who had come across as soft-spoken and sweet.
Archy hadn't been surprised for long.
As he had predicted, the situation quickly turned sour shortly after the two had gotten married and decided to live together. That was when Lenny discovered that Mrs. Cole had been hiding a little secret—and Lenny Cole didn't care much for secrets.
Enter Johnny. Little Johnny, who was about four years old at the time, who one day had finally gotten tired of listening to his mother. So instead of hiding in the attic quietly like a good boy, he had decided to bound out into the living room with quite a ruckus. Of course, Lenny wouldn't have it. He had hardly even given Johnny's mother a second to explain before he was out the door, cursing up a storm, with Archy following a few steps behind him.
Years down the road, Archy would tell Johnny that if he hadn't had the sudden urge to take a glance over his shoulder to look back at Johnny and his mother, then that day may have been the end of it. Johnny's mother would have probably nursed her broken heart back together, found some other sorry type to get married to only for that one to eventually leave her too, and Johnny may have had some sort of semblance of an ordinary life, as dysfunctional as that would have been.
But Archy had looked back.
And when Archy had looked back, he had the image of little Johnny's face forever burned into his memory; the cheeky little face of a brat who was no stranger to trouble, but who seemed smart enough to know when even he had tripped the wrong wire. Archy had known then, though perhaps not consciously, that there was something more to this kid than any other child that Archy had ever come across. So that was why when Lenny had finally calmed down and was in more of a listening mood that Archy had subtly suggested the benefit of keeping the mother and Johnny around. It was a business proposition, and Lenny lived and breathed business. Archy's reasoning had been this: Lenny would have his arm candy and would also be able to pass on his legacy to Johnny and through him be remembered for generations to come—one of the great benefits of having a son.
It had been all cut and dry, plain and simple, and Archy always did love simple solutions to his problems. Unfortunately, nothing was ever simple as far as Johnny was concerned.
Archy had learned that soon enough.
The next time Archy had met Johnny it was in the middle of a lukewarm summer, and Archy was to take care of seven-year-old Johnny. This was a result of Johnny having gone and done something to piss Lenny off, and consequently Archy was then given the responsibility to "take care of the boy." This would develop into a familiar theme for Archy for the remainder of his career, as Lenny would never want anything to do with Johnny. And although Archy hated children, his hate would always be unparalleled to Lenny's, which is why he would always get stuck with Johnny because he at least had the ability to practice tolerance when necessary, a quality that Lenny severely lacked.
That same trait of tolerance was why Archy had stood by the car on a hot summer's day, waiting for Johnny to be chased out of the house by Lenny. This too would eventually become part of their usual routine, although at the time Archy had thought that that moment was the first and last time he would ever have to discipline the boy. The plan was for Archy to set the boy straight and return him to Lenny with the guarantee that there would be no more problems and no more mischief, and that neither he nor Lenny would have to deal with Johnny again.
At the time, Archy had no idea as to how greatly he had miscalculated.
When Johnny had come out of the house he had been dressed in shorts, a tee-shirt, and sneakers. His little eyes had met Archy's cold, steel ones and for a moment the two had stood there, frozen, as if neither were quite sure what to do at first. The first thing Archy had noted was how big Johnny had gotten in the three years since he had last seen him. Archy did not hesitate long, however, and he quickly composed himself soon after making his observation. He then opened the door to the backseat of the car and leaned slightly forward, cocking his head to the left as he told little Johnny to get in the car. The boy had complied without much argument, slightly surprising Archy, especially with all the stories Lenny had told him about how much of a terror the little boy was.
Once Johnny was buckled in, Archy got into the driver's seat and started the car. He looked at Johnny through the rear view mirror.
"You know why you're here, don't you?" he asked.
Johnny didn't move a muscle or say a word; he just stared back at Archy. Archy frowned.
"Well I'm not about to play games with you, boy, but I'm a tell you what all this is because I know it must be something foreign to you, and I don't want to waste our time on a starin' contest," Archy said, short and clipped. "You're here because you've been causin' trouble for Lenny, and I'm to set you straight. You understand?"
"Uncle Archy..." the boy said suddenly in such a soft voice that Archy had almost missed it.
Archy looked up at Johnny briefly in the rear view, momentarily confused. His eyes flitted back to the road quickly.
"What was that y'said?" Archy asked.
"S'what I 'eard yer name was," little Johnny said in a drawl that Archy would become familiar with in years to come. "They told me that yous was my Uncle Archy."
The tiny muscles at the edge of one of Archy's eyes twitched slightly and Archy felt a headache coming on.
"Is that so..." he said.
"It's a fact," Johnny had quickly responded back.
"Now don't be cheeky..." Archy warned, and he couldn't help but smirk a little when he saw Johnny go tight-lipped in the rear view mirror.
The rest of the ride was mostly peaceful; the boy was no longer making a fuss and it almost seemed as if he had resigned to his fate. However, at one particular intersection, Archy made a last minute decision to go left and not right. Instead of taking Johnny to Lenny's warehouse in order to shake the boy up a little, Archy decided to go and take the boy into the countryside, eventually parking the car in the middle of some field, the area deserted for what seemed to be miles around. Only a lake and a lake house could be seen from the car. The house was uninhabited and in fact it was Archy's old lake house, or rather, it was a lake house that had used to belong to his parents. It was a property that Archy had recovered several years ago, along with several other properties, from the very people who had stolen it from him—though it may have cost them a limb or two.
Once settled, Archy had shut off the engine and turned in his seat to look back at Johnny, one wrist resting on the steering wheel and his other forearm on the compartment beside him.
"Right. Now, out the car we go, c'mon," Archy said, tilting his head slightly to one side.
It had taken all of Archy's strength not to laugh at the look of pure fear on the boy's face. He could have only imagined what thoughts were probably floating about in Johnny's mind. He managed to suppress a smile.
"No? Well all right then," Archy said. "You can stay here or you could try to run away, but let me make somethin' clear to you now boy, there ain't a patch o' civilization around here for miles."
Johnny hadn't so much as blinked, though Archy knew the wheels in the boy's mind were turning; he had seen it in the boy's eyes. Archy allowed himself a small half-smile.
"Still no?" Archy said. "Well, you're making yourself one hell of a mistake, but I'll tell you what. We can do this your way. As far as I'm concerned, I've got all day, and since we're out someplace nice, I think I'm going to have myself a bit of a vacation while we're here. You are welcome to stay in the car, but if you're smart you will eventually realize that it will do you no good."
Archy continued to speak as he turned back around, patting himself down to make sure he had everything and taking the keys out of the ignition, pocketing them.
"If it so happens that you come to change your mind, all you need to do is make your way down from that slope over there, and at the end of it, there you will find me."
With that last statement, Archy had stepped out of the car and shut the door behind him, leaving behind Johnny and never once looking back. He then made his way to the lake house and went inside. He had come out a few minutes later with a glass of ice water and a book, and made his way to a chair that was under a parasol and facing the lake, something that Archy had set up a while ago on one of the rare days Lenny had let him take off. He then took a seat and placed the glass on a very skinny and small table placed next to the chair before opening his book. He hadn't gotten too heavily involved with his reading, however, because he was occasionally checking his watch to keep track of how much time passed. Though Archy didn't care much for children, he wasn't entirely heartless and wasn't planning on letting the child die from a heat stroke. He grew slightly concerned after about forty-five minutes and was contemplating getting up from his seat to check up on the boy when he heard a little voice quip from a mile away.
"Uncle Archy!"
Archy had shut the book he was holding and a small smile formed on his face. He put the book down on the chair and got up, turning in the direction of the voice. He saw Johnny standing just a few feet away, half his body hidden by the tall and golden stalks of wheat. Uncertainty was clearly written on little Johnny's face, thus leading Archy to decide to take a softer approach with the boy. He took a small step forward, spreading his arms open wide in a gesture that would seem familiar to Johnny years from now, as well as the words that follow it.
"Come on, give us a cuddle."
And that's all it took. Almost instantly, a huge smile had spread across Johnny's face and the child appeared to glow with delight as he ran down the incline and through the field into Archy's arms, which had relaxed along with the man's overall posture. He had been somewhat taken aback with surprise at the innocence radiating from the child. His expression softened as he looked down at Johnny's head burying itself in his waist. After a few seconds, Archy decided to lift the boy off the ground and hold him to his chest. This second gesture caused Johnny to burst out into peals of laughter as he threw his arms around Archy's neck, burying his face in the older man's neck. At that moment Archy had found himself wondering if anyone had ever held the boy like this, and he's absolutely sure that Lenny hasn't.
It is in this moment Archy had experienced a sort of warm, fuzzy feeling in his chest, and he wouldn't learn until much later that the feeling he had experienced was called affection. All Archy knew was that Johnny had started to become something special to him, and he made a silent vow just then to do his utmost to protect the child. There was a sort of paternal love and protectiveness that Johnny brought out of Archy, and those feelings were the foundation of the relationship that would forge between the pair in years to come.
When Johnny had finally calmed down, Archy tried to get the boys attention and tugged gently at the back of the boy's collar with one hand while still holding the boy to him with his other arm. Johnny had pressed a hand against Archy's chest so that he could push himself back to look at him. He had looked at Archy curiously. Archy's lips had formed into a faint smile.
"I've an idea for you," he said. "Would y'like t'hear it?"
Johnny had nodded without hesitation. Archy chuckled.
"Well then, what d'you think about the two of us makin' a little tug boat and watchin' it float on the water over there?" Archy said and tilted his head to the side in the direction of the lake.
Johnny had taken a brief glance toward the direction of the lake before looking back at Archy and nodding, giving the older man a winning smile. That same smile was the one Archy would recognize immediately upon seeing it again years later, and would still be recognizable even during the years where Johnny just looks pathetic, withdrawn, and malnourished, side effects of his irresponsible lifestyle. At that moment though, it had been Archy's first time witnessing it and it caused him to shake his head in amusement because he couldn't believe how Johnny could manage to be cheeky even in his expressions.
Archy had carried Johnny into the lake house and found them some paper and a bit of string—Archy helped Johnny fold the paper into a little boat and made a hole for him on one end so that they could tie in the bit of string. The two then went back outside to the lake and Archy taught Johnny how to cast the boat onto the water and how to keep a hold of the string so that he could bring the boat back once it started trying to float away.
Johnny had gotten down on his hands and knees, and frowned slightly as he kept his eyes focused in deep concentration on the paper boat floating on the water. The weather was perfect; the sun had been peeking through the clouds and the lighting was just right. Archy had lain on his side next to Johnny, head resting on one of his hands where the arm was propped up at the elbow, while his other hand rested on the ground. He was mostly watching Johnny, who had seemed almost like an angel the way the sun had hit the boy's head and given him a bit of a halo. Archy had occasionally taken a glance at the water, however, just to check on the status of the paper boat.
They had remained like that for a while in peaceful silence. It wasn't until the boat shriveled and sank that Archy decided it's time for them to go home, and the two of them headed back to the car. The car ride back to the Cole residence was mostly quiet until sometime during the last stretch, when Johnny asked a question.
"So does this mean every time I get in trouble, you'll be the one that gets to take care of me, Uncle Arch?"
Archy's eyes had momentarily flitted to the rear view mirror before he had returned his attention back to the road.
"I suppose so," he had said without giving it too much thought—as it was the most Lenny-inspired logical answer—but this was where Archy had made his first and hugest mistake with Johnny.
"But don't you go off an' startin' trouble now, you understand?" Archy added, but unfortunately by then it was already too little too late. The cogs in Johnny's brain had once again been set into motion, and from that particular moment on, Johnny's had himself a lifelong mission.
"Sure thing, Uncle Arch," he said.
Johnny had grinned then, and had Archy seen it, he would have known right away that some disciplinary action needed to be taken. Unfortunately, Archy had been too busy concentrating on driving because they had come to a four way intersection and Archy had had to make sure they wouldn't miss their turn.
When they had arrived in front of Johnny's house, Archy parked the car, turned around in his seat, and warned Johnny not to look as if he had had a good time in front of Lenny. The warning was probably a waste of breath on Archy's part because Johnny was smarter than Archy realized at the time. He even surprised Archy by easily playing the part of a wounded spirit in front of Lenny. Archy watched Johnny as he disappeared into the house looking like a wounded puppy and barely registered the fact that Lenny had given him a pat on the back, telling him a job well done.
A routine then developed over the next few years and Archy found that he was constantly being sent to run after Johnny simply because Lenny didn't want anything to do with the boy, not to mention everything always seemed to calm down for a short period of time after Archy had successfully dealt with Johnny. Peace would only last for a moment, however, before the cycle would begin again and Johnny was out causing more trouble. Over time, Archy started to notice that the situations that Johnny would get into or create got larger in severity, and that it progressively became more difficult to discipline the boy. All the while Archy didn't know that there was an intentional reason behind all this until many years later. Quite a few years from now, when Johnny is much older and the nature of their relationship has changed somewhat, Johnny will tell Archy that he only became more daring in his actions in order to keep the older man's attention for longer periods of time. While all the pieces of the puzzle would eventually fit and make sense to Archy, for the time being he would end every other week with a serious need for a drink to relieve him of his stress and a couple pills to take care of his pounding headache.
The most significant meeting between Archy and Johnny occurred just after Johnny's mother had passed away. The poor woman had finally reached her limit, having been driven mad by Lenny's callousness. Just a few months after Johnny's fifteenth birthday she had gone away, committing herself to some psychiatric institution. She had left behind Johnny without so much as an explanation. A few weeks later a letter had come to Lenny, which he had Archy read aloud to him because Lenny had been too lazy to read it himself, that stated she had overdosed on some sleeping pills and that her lifeless body had been found in a filled bathtub with water that had been stained red with the slits she had made on her wrists with a razor blade.
Archy would later remember finding it ironic, while only half-listening to Lenny as he ranted and raved about his plans of sending the boy to some rich kid's boarding school, how he had lost his own parents at about the same age and felt a strange sense of affinity with Johnny just then. So while he was waiting outside by the car waiting for Lenny to yet again chase Johnny out of the house so that he could escort him to school, Archy had come to one conclusion. He had decided that while his unfavorable opinion of children hadn't much changed over the years, he had decided that he could make an exception for Johnny, even if that meant going against his core values. Except that Archy didn't much take to the idea of his own going back on his own values, so he had decided to make a compromise within himself instead. It was okay for him to like Johnny, only because Johnny was no longer a boy but a young man.
How's that, one might wonder.
Well, it was simple, because Archy figured that there was no way you could still be a boy if you didn't have parents. And as far as Lenny was concerned, Archy didn't even consider him as a father to Johnny, and he knew for a fact that Johnny didn't either.
Later on, Archy would suppose that he was at least partially responsible for that.
The car ride had been long and mostly uneventful. Johnny wasn't talking much and that had concerned Archy for a number of reasons. For starters, there was usually never a moment where Johnny wasn't running his mouth. So the fact that Johnny was all sullen and withdrawn in the backseat had bothered Archy, because Archy couldn't tell if Johnny didn't want to talk because of the painful looking bruise on his cheek—a parting gift from Lenny—if it was because he had just lost his mother, a combination of the two, or something else entirely. What had bothered Archy even further was the fact that as Johnny was getting older, he could no longer seem to know by instinct what in the world the boy was thinking, and that was probably the thing that was most disconcerting to the older man. The boy had been slowly growing on him over the years, and the last thing Archy wanted was for there to be a distance to grow between them, but he was becoming less certain that was something he could stop.
They reached their destination within several hours and after Archy had put the car in park, Johnny spoke.
"I don't want to go to school, Uncle Arch."
Archy had allowed a small sigh to escape past his lips before he turned around to look at Johnny.
"Your father—"
"He's not my father, Uncle Arch, and you know that. Not my proper father, anyway," Johnny had said to him darkly. "Hell, you've been more o' a father than he's ever been anyhow."
Archy had suppressed the urge to swell with pride at Johnny's last statement and maintained his cool composure.
"All right, Lenny then. You know what I mean," he said. "Now Lenny's made a bit of an investment on you by sending you to this school, and I'm to see to it that you attend. And you will attend. Do I make myself clear?"
"As the piercing shriek of a whistle," Johnny replied. "But Uncle Archy, I'd much rather just work with you. Can't I? Won't you talk to my old man about it? I'll be really good, I promise!"
"No," Archy had said while shaking his head. "That is absolutely out of the question."
"Well why the hell not?" Johnny had asked stubbornly.
"Because as much as you think I love runnin' around after you day in and day out, last I checked babysittin' was not supposed to be part of my job description," said Archy. "And while you may not be aware of it, I am a rather busy man. Besides, I don't quite trust you to handle a gun properly."
"I could learn, Uncle Arch!" Archy had said, voice with earnest. "If you let me work directly for you, I promise I won't be causin' any more trouble. I'd much rather do what you do than go to school."
Archy's lips had tensed and formed a thin line, amusement written nowhere on his face.
"No," he had said firmly to Johnny. "You are going to be good, attend this school that you and I both know was extremely generous for Lenny to even send you to in the first place, get yourself a nice education, and when the year is up I will be back here again to come and get you. Do you understand?"
"But Uncle Arch!" Johnny protested. "I promise I won't—"
"You may keep your promises for a short while, but they never last, John," Archy said to him. "And I have gotten rather tired of your empty promises, so you are going to attend this school whether you like it or not and stay out of trouble. Now is that clear?"
Johnny had looked as if he were about to say something else, but instead resorted to just nodding his head, shoulders slumped. Archy had frowned at him.
"Well, am I going to get a proper answer to my question?" he asked.
"Yes, you were clear, Uncle Arch. Crystal," Johnny had said with bitterness and disappointment evident in his tone. "I understand."
"Good. An' I don't want to hear anythin' more about you trying to get into your father's business, not while you still 'ave a chance at a proper life," Archy had said while cocking his head in the direction of the school. "Now c'mon. Out you get."
Obediently but reluctantly, Johnny had gotten out of the car. He turned around to look at Archy after he'd only taken a couple of steps toward the school building.
"Y'know, it's not too late for you to change your mind, Uncle Arch," he said. "It's not Lenny I'm wantin' to work with, you know, it's you."
"Doesn't matter, Johnny," Archy had said, shaking his head. "You're not going to grow up to be anythin' short of proper, not on my watch."
"A'right, but you're goin' t'regret it later, Uncle Arch," Johnny had said back to him. "Don't say I didn't warn you!"
Archy had shaken his head while he watched Johnny run off and had held out very little hope that the school would do any better at the job of straightening the little devil out. Once Johnny was out of sight, Archy had gotten back into his car and driven back to where he came from, where he would go back to working for Lenny without either of them having to deal with Johnny for the next year. It didn't mean that Archy forgot about Johnny though; he never stopped thinking about the boy all the time, wondering if he was doing well in school or at least having a good time. He hadn't worried too much though, because Archy knew Johnny and knew him well; he didn't doubt that Johnny was fine.
Years later though, Archy will look back on his memories and realize that he should have known better than to try—in the end Johnny always got his way, and it didn't matter how hard Archy would try to make it otherwise.
A/N: Well, I hope you all enjoyed that. This chapter turned out much longer than all the others so far, I think. Nine pages, whereas most of the other chapters I've written so far totaled to be no more than about five or six. Hopefully I didn't kill you all with all of this text! I've already started to work on the next chapter, and it should be done in about a couple days, so stay tuned for that and see you then!