Chapter 8
The door to Kim's apartment opened at 3:15 p.m. Joey walked in and noticed the quiet first.
"Mom?" he called, feeling a little anxious. Kim came in from the kitchen, wiping her hands on a dishtowel. Joey smelled his mother's delicious spaghetti sauce cooking. She hadn't made that since before they had moved. She only made it when there were people around to eat it. She didn't like it to go to waste. "Maybe Dad's here," he thought, suddenly smiling and running past Kim into the kitchen.
"Bobby!!" he exclaimed, jumping up on him and throwing his arms around his neck. Kim followed him back into the kitchen and leaned against the counter smiling.
"What's up, Champ?" Bobby asked him, bringing him out into the living room to roughhouse. Bobby imagined that it had been quite some time since he had been able to do that and he remembered how much he loved it. Kim watched them from the doorway for a few minutes, realizing how much she had missed her friend and all the help he had always been with Joey. She turned and went back in to stir the sauce. She wanted to give Joey some time for some "man-to-man" talk.
After both of them were totally exhausted, Bobby and Joey flopped on the couch and turned on the baseball game. Joey was rattling off statistics non-stop. After a few minutes, Bobby nudged Joey with his elbow and said, "So, Sport. How are you doing?"
"Okay, I guess," Joey, said with sadness in his voice.
"Doesn't sound like okay," Bobby prodded him. "C'mon, you can level with me, remember?"
"I don't know. I guess I just don't understand why we had to come to Ohio. I miss you. I miss Grandma. I miss my friends. I miss my school," he paused and tears sprang to his eyes. "I miss my Dad," he finally said, letting the tears freely flow.
Bobby moved a little closer to Joey and put an arm around his shoulder, pulling him close. "I know you do, Joey. I don't understand it all either yet. But, don't worry. We'll sort everything out and it'll all be okay."
Kim had been listening from the doorway again and stood there, watching her son cry to Bobby. iWhy hadn't he opened up to me?/i she thought to herself as the buzzer on the stove sounded, indicating that the spaghetti was done cooking.
She dried her eyes and cleared her throat. "Okay, Caffey. You know the drill. Get out here and test this pasta!"
Bobby hugged Joey and they both ran out to the kitchen to do the testing. "Okay Joey, this is how we test to see if the pasta is truly done. You can't depend on some stinking timer! Good pasta cooks in its own good time," he explained as he pulled two strands of the spaghetti out of the pot and promptly threw them against the wall.
"Bobby!" Kim yelled, slapping him in the arm.
"If it sticks, is a no done yet," he said in a false Italian accent. "If it falls to the floor, it's EATS!" He finished instructing. "Now go wash your filthy mitts. What did you do, dig to China today at school?" he teased as he followed him to the bathroom to wash up.
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Jimmy was sitting alone in a corner of Angela Boscorelli's bar, quickly drinking himself into a stupor.
Bosco came in and came over to the bar. Before he got halfway across the room, Angela caught sight of her son and nodded in Jimmy's direction. She had called her son because he had told her some of what was going on and she noticed the depressed and angry look on Jimmy's face. He had started drinking the hard stuff immediately upon entering the bar and hadn't slowed down in the last two hours since she had called Bosco. Angela was both worried about the man and didn't want any trouble. He had the look of someone looking for a fight when he came in.
"It's not pretty," Angela warned her son, handing him a beer, as he headed over in Jimmy's direction.
"These things never are," he answered her back over his shoulder. "You should know that," he finished, referring to how many times she had dragged his drunken carcass upstairs to her apartment to sleep it off.
Bosco didn't feel particularly friendly toward Jimmy, but he didn't want to see him this upset either. After all, they worked together at calls sometimes and he was really an okay kind of guy. He had pulled his butt out of more than one jam after he'd run into a burning building before the fire department arrived.
He had heard through the grapevine known as Carlos about the break-up of his new marriage. He didn't have all the details, but he knew enough. He tried to think of a casual way to approach him, but as he saw the look on his face, he knew no matter what, it wasn't going to be easy.
He slid into the booth across from Jimmy and it seemed as though he didn't even notice his presence. Bosco took a drink of his beer and set it on the table. "Drinking alone, or can anyone join in?" he finally said.
Jimmy slowly looked up to see who was bothering him. He barely made out that it was Bosco, his drunkenness distorting his vision. "Bosco! What the hell do you want?" he said meanly.
"Not a thing man," he answered. "Just happened to come in to see my Ma after work and noticed you were over here. So, what's bugging you?"
"I'm sure you know. Carlos managed to spread the word to everyone," he said, discarding the glass he was drinking out of in favor of drinking directly from the bottle.
"Yeah, well I take anything that guy says with a grain of salt. But, hey, it's none of my business. If you don't want to talk about it that's fine," Bosco said, starting to stand up.
"She's gone," Jimmy said simply.
"Excuse me?" Bosco responded, sitting back down.
"I said, 'she's gone.' Brooke's gone. She packed her stuff and left while I was at work today. No chance to explain or make amends. She just split," he said, his words slurring.
"Yeah, well. What did you really expect her to do, Doherty? She's hurt, and she's embarrassed. Maybe she just needs some time, you know," Bosco tried to suggest.
"Nope! She's gone. She sent me papers today that she's trying to have the marriage annulled," Doherty continued, knocking the empty glass on the floor as he swept his arm through the air in front of him.
The two sat in silence for a moment. Then Bosco said, "So, that's some shiner you got there. Did you have it looked at?"
"Nah. This is from Lombardo. I deserve it. I deserve worse," he said miserably. "What the hell is wrong with me, huh Bosco? Why do I screw everything up?"
"Only you can answer that one, my friend," Bosco answered. "But I know from experience that this isn't the answer," he finished; gesturing toward the near empty bottle Jimmy was gripping. "C'mon. Let me drive you home Jimmy," he offered, standing up.
"No. I'm not ready to leave yet. I'm not numb enough yet," he said, throwing the empty bottle against the wall and signaling to Angela that he wanted another one.
"Oh, yeah. You're ready to leave now Doherty. You can either make it easy or hard on yourself," said Bosco, standing up and grabbing onto Jimmy's arm. Jimmy shrugged off Bosco's grip and stood up, ready to fight. "Nah, you don't wanna go there, Doherty. You really don't," warned Bosco, ready for Jimmy to lunge at him. Doherty took a swing at Bosco, who managed to dodge the blow. To Bosco's surprise, Doherty recovered from the miss and swung again, this time catching Bosco with a glancing blow just above his left eye. Jimmy lost his balance and fell to the floor, unable to get up again. Bosco felt the blood begin to slowly trickle from the cut.
Angela grabbed the bat she kept behind the bar and started to make her way around to help her son. Bosco saw her out of the corner of his eye as he wiped the blood away and put up his hand to stop her. She stopped, but stood ready to protect her son in the event that Jimmy tried to continue.
Bosco leaned over Jimmy and determined that he was out cold. He looked around the bar and enlisted the help of some college-aged onlookers to help him carry Jimmy out to his car.
He drove Jimmy home to his apartment. He was afraid to leave him alone in his excessive drunken state for fear he may choke or something. He managed to get him inside on his couch, laying him on his side and putting a garbage can in front of him. Jimmy awoke slightly, noticing his surroundings. "Just sleep it off, Jimmy. We'll figure things out in the morning," Bosco offered. Jimmy fell sound asleep and Bosco threw a blanket over him.
The door to Kim's apartment opened at 3:15 p.m. Joey walked in and noticed the quiet first.
"Mom?" he called, feeling a little anxious. Kim came in from the kitchen, wiping her hands on a dishtowel. Joey smelled his mother's delicious spaghetti sauce cooking. She hadn't made that since before they had moved. She only made it when there were people around to eat it. She didn't like it to go to waste. "Maybe Dad's here," he thought, suddenly smiling and running past Kim into the kitchen.
"Bobby!!" he exclaimed, jumping up on him and throwing his arms around his neck. Kim followed him back into the kitchen and leaned against the counter smiling.
"What's up, Champ?" Bobby asked him, bringing him out into the living room to roughhouse. Bobby imagined that it had been quite some time since he had been able to do that and he remembered how much he loved it. Kim watched them from the doorway for a few minutes, realizing how much she had missed her friend and all the help he had always been with Joey. She turned and went back in to stir the sauce. She wanted to give Joey some time for some "man-to-man" talk.
After both of them were totally exhausted, Bobby and Joey flopped on the couch and turned on the baseball game. Joey was rattling off statistics non-stop. After a few minutes, Bobby nudged Joey with his elbow and said, "So, Sport. How are you doing?"
"Okay, I guess," Joey, said with sadness in his voice.
"Doesn't sound like okay," Bobby prodded him. "C'mon, you can level with me, remember?"
"I don't know. I guess I just don't understand why we had to come to Ohio. I miss you. I miss Grandma. I miss my friends. I miss my school," he paused and tears sprang to his eyes. "I miss my Dad," he finally said, letting the tears freely flow.
Bobby moved a little closer to Joey and put an arm around his shoulder, pulling him close. "I know you do, Joey. I don't understand it all either yet. But, don't worry. We'll sort everything out and it'll all be okay."
Kim had been listening from the doorway again and stood there, watching her son cry to Bobby. iWhy hadn't he opened up to me?/i she thought to herself as the buzzer on the stove sounded, indicating that the spaghetti was done cooking.
She dried her eyes and cleared her throat. "Okay, Caffey. You know the drill. Get out here and test this pasta!"
Bobby hugged Joey and they both ran out to the kitchen to do the testing. "Okay Joey, this is how we test to see if the pasta is truly done. You can't depend on some stinking timer! Good pasta cooks in its own good time," he explained as he pulled two strands of the spaghetti out of the pot and promptly threw them against the wall.
"Bobby!" Kim yelled, slapping him in the arm.
"If it sticks, is a no done yet," he said in a false Italian accent. "If it falls to the floor, it's EATS!" He finished instructing. "Now go wash your filthy mitts. What did you do, dig to China today at school?" he teased as he followed him to the bathroom to wash up.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Jimmy was sitting alone in a corner of Angela Boscorelli's bar, quickly drinking himself into a stupor.
Bosco came in and came over to the bar. Before he got halfway across the room, Angela caught sight of her son and nodded in Jimmy's direction. She had called her son because he had told her some of what was going on and she noticed the depressed and angry look on Jimmy's face. He had started drinking the hard stuff immediately upon entering the bar and hadn't slowed down in the last two hours since she had called Bosco. Angela was both worried about the man and didn't want any trouble. He had the look of someone looking for a fight when he came in.
"It's not pretty," Angela warned her son, handing him a beer, as he headed over in Jimmy's direction.
"These things never are," he answered her back over his shoulder. "You should know that," he finished, referring to how many times she had dragged his drunken carcass upstairs to her apartment to sleep it off.
Bosco didn't feel particularly friendly toward Jimmy, but he didn't want to see him this upset either. After all, they worked together at calls sometimes and he was really an okay kind of guy. He had pulled his butt out of more than one jam after he'd run into a burning building before the fire department arrived.
He had heard through the grapevine known as Carlos about the break-up of his new marriage. He didn't have all the details, but he knew enough. He tried to think of a casual way to approach him, but as he saw the look on his face, he knew no matter what, it wasn't going to be easy.
He slid into the booth across from Jimmy and it seemed as though he didn't even notice his presence. Bosco took a drink of his beer and set it on the table. "Drinking alone, or can anyone join in?" he finally said.
Jimmy slowly looked up to see who was bothering him. He barely made out that it was Bosco, his drunkenness distorting his vision. "Bosco! What the hell do you want?" he said meanly.
"Not a thing man," he answered. "Just happened to come in to see my Ma after work and noticed you were over here. So, what's bugging you?"
"I'm sure you know. Carlos managed to spread the word to everyone," he said, discarding the glass he was drinking out of in favor of drinking directly from the bottle.
"Yeah, well I take anything that guy says with a grain of salt. But, hey, it's none of my business. If you don't want to talk about it that's fine," Bosco said, starting to stand up.
"She's gone," Jimmy said simply.
"Excuse me?" Bosco responded, sitting back down.
"I said, 'she's gone.' Brooke's gone. She packed her stuff and left while I was at work today. No chance to explain or make amends. She just split," he said, his words slurring.
"Yeah, well. What did you really expect her to do, Doherty? She's hurt, and she's embarrassed. Maybe she just needs some time, you know," Bosco tried to suggest.
"Nope! She's gone. She sent me papers today that she's trying to have the marriage annulled," Doherty continued, knocking the empty glass on the floor as he swept his arm through the air in front of him.
The two sat in silence for a moment. Then Bosco said, "So, that's some shiner you got there. Did you have it looked at?"
"Nah. This is from Lombardo. I deserve it. I deserve worse," he said miserably. "What the hell is wrong with me, huh Bosco? Why do I screw everything up?"
"Only you can answer that one, my friend," Bosco answered. "But I know from experience that this isn't the answer," he finished; gesturing toward the near empty bottle Jimmy was gripping. "C'mon. Let me drive you home Jimmy," he offered, standing up.
"No. I'm not ready to leave yet. I'm not numb enough yet," he said, throwing the empty bottle against the wall and signaling to Angela that he wanted another one.
"Oh, yeah. You're ready to leave now Doherty. You can either make it easy or hard on yourself," said Bosco, standing up and grabbing onto Jimmy's arm. Jimmy shrugged off Bosco's grip and stood up, ready to fight. "Nah, you don't wanna go there, Doherty. You really don't," warned Bosco, ready for Jimmy to lunge at him. Doherty took a swing at Bosco, who managed to dodge the blow. To Bosco's surprise, Doherty recovered from the miss and swung again, this time catching Bosco with a glancing blow just above his left eye. Jimmy lost his balance and fell to the floor, unable to get up again. Bosco felt the blood begin to slowly trickle from the cut.
Angela grabbed the bat she kept behind the bar and started to make her way around to help her son. Bosco saw her out of the corner of his eye as he wiped the blood away and put up his hand to stop her. She stopped, but stood ready to protect her son in the event that Jimmy tried to continue.
Bosco leaned over Jimmy and determined that he was out cold. He looked around the bar and enlisted the help of some college-aged onlookers to help him carry Jimmy out to his car.
He drove Jimmy home to his apartment. He was afraid to leave him alone in his excessive drunken state for fear he may choke or something. He managed to get him inside on his couch, laying him on his side and putting a garbage can in front of him. Jimmy awoke slightly, noticing his surroundings. "Just sleep it off, Jimmy. We'll figure things out in the morning," Bosco offered. Jimmy fell sound asleep and Bosco threw a blanket over him.