Hey guys. I'm back with another chapter of JAS. This one will be a little bit more somber, as it will bring up something that was mentioned in Gonna Have a Good Time Again. Plus we'll get some nice friendship moments between the guys. It'll mostly be between Albert and Rudy, but still. I hope you enjoy.

Disclaimer: I own nothing but my OC's.

Chapter 17: Proud of You

Albert knocked on the door of the Davis suite. He wanted to make sure that Rudy was doing okay. After a few seconds, the door opened to reveal Danielle in a robe, "Hey, Albert. What's up?" She asked.

"Good evening, Danielle. Is Rudy there? I wanna talk to him." He replied.

The woman seemed a little miffed at the mention of her fiance', but she merely shrugged, "I honestly have no idea where he went. All I know is that he said he was going outside for a while, taking a cig, and wine bottle with him."

"Oh. Well, I'll be sure to find him."

"Thanks..."

With that, Albert closed the door and walked down the hall. After what Danielle had told him, he had a feeling he might know where Rudy went. Soon, he found himself on a higher floor of the hotel, through the glass door, he could see Rudy leaning against the balcony. He opened the door and approached his friend.

"Hey, hey, hey. Are you okay?" He asked.

There wasn't a response for about five seconds before Rudy turned towards Albert. In one hand was a wine bottle as Danielle had said. And in the other... was what Albert thought was a cigarette, but on closer inspection... he could see that it was actually a lit blunt. And judging by the smell, he could also tell what was in the blunt.

"What do you want, Fat Albert...?" Rudy asked, slurring a bit as he took a swing of his wine, before putting the blunt to his lips. He blew out a puff of smoke, and smiled, "I'm totally fine... have you ever tried this stuff? It's... amazing! Amazing I tell ya!"

Albert could tell that Rudy was both very drunk and high at the same time, "Rudy... I don't think smoking marijuana is a good thing. You remember what happened to Patty when some dude was selling her that dope?"

Rudy laughed crazily, "Oh fuck that! That was a long time ago! I don't why I didn't try it sooner! This shit is so lit!"

"And so it that blunt, and if I were you, I'd put that out. I don't even think this hotel allows smoking."

"I don' give a damn about the rules this hotel has!"

"Rudy, you're drunk and high. Why don't you come back to your room and get some sleep? You seemed stressed and a little distance today. If there's anything I can do, I'll help..."

Albert began to put his hand on Rudy's shoulder, but the second contact was made, Rudy smacked him away, "Fuck off!" He growled, "I don' know what you're talking about. I'm fine! You wanna know who's not fine! Danielle! That bitch can go to hell for all I care! She fucks up everything!"

The large man frowned. Yet again, Rudy, while drunk, insulted his fiancee', "Rudy, you don't mean that."

"Yes, I do!" His friend snapped, "Everything is her fault! And her getting pregnant is just the tip of the iceberg! She's lucky I keep her ass around for Alya's sake! I'm just trying, man! I know I'm a shitty father, but God I'm trying! But no matter how hard I try, I know I'll never be half the father that my Dad was- FUCK!"

After that rant, Rudy took another swing from his wine, before smashing it on the ground, and began to sob. Albert was starting to understand what was going on, and pulled his friend in for a hug, "Hey, hey, hey... it's okay..." he said soothingly.

"I-I just miss my Dad, man..." Rudy sobbed, "It's been like twelve years at this point... but I still miss him! And I always regret not being there for him when he needed me the most..."

"What do you mean...?"

The rich man wiped his eyes as he looked up at Albert, "Well... when I finished college, I had no idea what I was gonna do with my life. I had gotten a music degree, but any jobs I tried with that absolutely sucked. I didn't know how I was gonna make a living since I pretty much blew all my money in school. I couldn't go back to my parents, 'cause they'd just tell me to get a job and solve my own problems. However, my Mom gave me a ticket to catch a flight to Atlanta for a possible internship in music."

"Did you take it?"

"Yeah. Because why not? So I flew to Atlanta and did the internship for a little while at this musical school. After a few months... I got a letter from my mom... she said my dad wasn't doing well. He had a heart attack some time ago that really messed up his body. I had an option to go back to North Philly to be there for him... or continue the internship and just get updates... you can imagine which one I chose..."

Albert nodded.

"I couldn't give up that internship, not then. I needed it. But at the same time, I felt bad for staying. Before I left, Dad was saying that this internship would do me no good, because people in Atlanta can be sleazy, and screw me over. I obviously didn't believe that. I was only trying to shoot for the stars. But as fucking usual, I'm wrong. Because you know what happened next? After another month, the school had budget cuts, and I was let go. That's when I wished I had listened to my Dad..."

"But you still got paid from your time at the school, right?" Albert asked, "There had to be some good to come out of it."

"Yeah, if you call 10 dollars an hour good." Rudy grumbled, "It was enough for food and to pay my rent at the hotel I was staying at. But unfortunately, my troubles weren't over. Literally that same night... I had gotten a text to come home as soon as possible. Because it was an emergency. I was still pretty pissed about being laid off, so I ignored it. But all night, I continued to get texts, from my mom, from my grandmother, from my cousins, which annoyed me to no end because none of them would tell me what was going on..."

Rudy choked back another sob before continuing, "But then... by 5 AM, my mom finally called me... and explained... that she found... dad unresponsive the day prior... he... was gone... his heart attack finally... did him in... and today is fourteen years since then..."

"Oh, Rudy..."

Albert pulled him in for another hug, "I had no idea..."

"Neither did I..." Rudy sniffled, "And to make matters worse, I had no way of getting back home at the moment. There weren't really any flights from Atlanta to Philadelphia that I could take, and even if there was, I didn't have the money for it. But one of my uncles offered to pay for a flight more. But I had to wait four days before the flight. I did make it in time for the funeral... but I was just so devastated, that I couldn't stay for the whole service..."

"I understand..." Albert nodded.

"The day after, we went to a lawyer to read Dad's will that he wrote... Mom got the deed to the house... his brothers got some of his possessions... as for me... I got a mansion in New York. As it turned out, he had bought that house as a vacation home. It was rarely used, but now it was mine fully. So after a bit of fixing up, and signing papers and shit, I officially moved in the mansion in February of 2000."

Albert smiled, "That's good, Rudy. It's great that your Dad left you something that he cared about it..."

"Though... looking back, I feel like I didn't that mansion after I basically dismissed my dad's worries about me going to Atlanta. I ignored him, as a result, not only do I not come home when my dad is sick, I also happen to lose my job and my dad within the same damn DAY! I never got to say goodbye, Albert..."

"I know..."

"And even when I finally got the mansion, I still had little to no money because my dad didn't leave any for me, wanting to make it on my own. My mom couldn't help me, since she retired. So it had to be the other way around. I had to do anything to fend for myself in the big apple. Especially after 2001 happened... but one day I was driving around Manhatten... and came across this girl that I knew was a prostitute by the way she was dressed. She was looking pretty hot and sexy..."

"Was it... Leia by any chance?" Albert asked.

Rudy nodded, "Yep. She walked up to me looking for a good fuck for twenty-five dollars. I didn't really have that, but I didn't want to disappoint her 'cause she was so cute, so I made a deal with her. If I took her back to the mansion and give her a place to stay, we could fuck. So that happened. And I soon got the idea to raise money. So I went to collect more prostitutes and whores, gave them a home, advertised my new business, got the money, even sent some to my mom to support her... you know the rest..."

The rich man looked back towards the balcony with a sigh...

"You sure have come along way, Rudy..." Albert said with a soft smile, "Your dad would be proud..."

Rudy flinched at that word, "'Proud'... PROUD?! Fucking PROUD! Why would my dad be proud of me after everything I'm done! I ignored his protests, didn't come to see him in his time of need, turned the mansion he left for me into a whorehouse, and raised a little girl in that sexual environment, and betrayed my best friend just because I couldn't stand to see the girl I loved get with him. Why would my dad be proud of ANY of that? If anything, he probably would have disowned me if he were still alive!"

Albert could see why Rudy was so upset about this, "Don't say that, Rudy. Your dad loved you. Yes, you've gone through some hardships in your adult life... but the important thing was... you overcame it. You overcame getting laid off in Atlanta, overcame crazy stuff happening in New York, overcame being a pimp, overcame betraying Donald... and now look at you. You're a famous record producer making it big. That's why your dad would be proud..."

He then put his hand on his friend's shoulder, "I know you miss him a lot... but think of all the good times you had together... and think about all you've accomplished that he'd appreciate. Becoming a record producer, making people's dreams come true... and above all, being a father. I know he would have loved Alya."

"That's another thing... Alya was supposed to be born on my Dad's birthday in July... but she came in June... the month he died. In some ways... I see my Dad in Alya... that's one of the things that makes me love her so much..."

"I see..."

Rudy looked at the blunt in his hand, and flicked it off the balcony, "And right now... I'm gonna continue to be there for her... and... Danielle too. Because as much as bitch she's being... I can't lie and say she doesn't need me right now. I'm gonna try and make an effort to mend things up between us..."

Albert smiled, "That's great, Rudy. I'm glad you're gonna work on your relationship. You feeling better now..?"

"A little... although my head hurts a little..."

"I think I know what'll help that..."

"How...?"

"You'll see..."

Back in the Simmons room. All the guys had gotten together. Albert had alerted them of the situation, so they got together for some apple cider. They all held up their glasses as a toast to Rudy's recover from being down... to rising up, as well as everyone else's.

"We've all been through a lot in our lives." Albert started, "Some of us started off rough once becoming an adult. But we've all made it through despite the hardships."

Harold smiled, "You got that right, man. I lost the love of my life... but I'm thriving for my son."

"I was a real shitty deadbeat... but my friends came through to help me." Russell smiled.

"And me... after being a sleazy pimp... I became better and look at me now." Rudy bragged a bit, "I'm famous and making it big. I wouldn't be where I am today if it weren't for you guys..."

Donald smiled at his best friends, "That's good, Rudy. And even though you fucked my wife all those years ago, I'm glad that we're friends again."

"Yeah..."

"So a toast to all of us, for still being friends after all this time. And for having each other's back." Albert said, "Cheers."

"Cheers!"

With that, the guys clanked their glasses together, and took a sip of their apple cider, "Now this is a dude's night out." Bill commented, "Much better than the one we had."

Everyone agreed to that.

Aww. Cool moment. So Rudy relays to Albert what happened to him between leaving college and becoming a producer, and how he regrets not being there for his father. Albert assures him that his dad would be proud of him no matter what. Plus a nice little moment with all the guys reflecting on their lives. Next chapter, we're finally gonna get to Atlanta and see that special surprise Albert had planned. Until then, I'll see you guys later. And as always, don't forget to review, please. Thank you!