Bosco was released two days later. It was decided that he'd be staying at
his mom's home. I guess it made sense. He'd have neighbors close by just in
case he needed something. The homes on either side had been two of Rose's
closest friends. One she'd known for twenty years and the other eighteen
years which meant that both of them had known Bosco while he was still
living at home. That gave me some sense of comfort. In addition to the
comfort factor was the financial factor.
While in the hospital, the attorney who'd prepared Rose's will stopped by. Rose had left everything to her two sons, to be divided equally. With Mikey's death, it all went to Bosco. Rose had been smart enough to refinance when the rates dropped. By doing so she'd been able to pay off the mortgage on her home. It didn't hurt that her attorney had also been the neighbor she'd known for twenty years. I remembered some of the neighbors from Rose and Mikey's funeral. The attorney and his wife had been two of many neighbors to speak.
So, Rose's home was now Bosco's. In discussing where he would live, it made sense that he should either rent his mother's home or live there himself. Either one had its benefits but if he chose to rent it out, he'd have landlord headaches to deal with. For the time being, he was going to move into his mom's place. The added support of many neighbors was an important part of the decision. For the time being, he wasn't driving so I agreed to help out as much as possible which meant I was going to be spending a lot of time with him as well as his neighbors.
The Fantenelli family lived next door. I soon discovered that Mrs. Fantenelli's children were grown and living in other states. They were all successful in their chosen careers. I had many discussions with Mrs. Fantenelli on her porch. I had my doubts whether or not Bosco was actually doing any cooking for himself. Mrs. Fantenelli left me with the impression that his charming neighbor had some sort of prearranged pact with Rose that that the two of them would always look after each other's families. I'm sure old Bosco knew of this and I could only imagine how many times he'd tried to convince Rose that he could take care of himself.
One afternoon, Mr. Fantenelli joined us and one of my beliefs was confirmed. Mrs. Fantenelli loved to cook. His had this funny smile as he shook his head telling me how his wife was delighted to have Bosco living next door. Enough said. A refrigerator full of leftovers confirmed it. Both husband and wife had adored Bosco while he was growing up. He'd been best friends with one of their sons. Mr. Fantenelli joked about how his wife's hopes had been dashed when their daughter married a guy she met in college. The whole idea of Bosco and their daughter made me wonder just what this she looked like.
As much as I loved the childhood stories the Fantenellis and other neighbors shared, Bosco simply couldn't get enough of them. Together they scoured photo album after photo album sharing memories. The Bosco I knew was somewhat of a loner...somewhat anyway. I mean it wasn't that he sat at home night after night but I rarely heard about his friends. In twelve years, I'd heard a long list of female names and the detailed accounts of their time spent with Bosco. But it was a bit odd that I didn't remember him to ever mention friends either present or childhood.
When he wasn't getting his fill of childhood stories, Bosco was making some decisions of his own. He didn't care much for some of the furniture at his ma's place. Even though Bosco wasn't being the Bosco I knew, he was showing signs that he was taking control of his life. He shocked me by having moved stuff around including numerous pieces that had found their way elsewhere.
Part of the shock had been the furniture or the lack of while the other part was seeing him for the first time without his head bandaged. The day before I'd dropped him off for a doctor appointment. As usual they were running behind so Ty had agreed to give him a ride home since he was off.
I was a little surprised at the length of his hair. I'd expected it to be stubby short but it was actually longer than what I'd remembered from his days in Anti-Crime which wasn't saying much really. Standing there it was hard to believe that a month had already passed since he'd been shot.
"So what'd the doctor say yesterday?" I inquired.
"Same thing he always says...everything's healing fine. My arm's is doing well...same for my chest...the lung. He still wants me to take it easy with my arm though...no heavy lifting. As for my head, it's healing nicely."
"No heavy lifting?" I said laughing while glancing around the room. "So the furniture that was in here that's now gone must've walked on its own?"
"Actually it was more like it slid on its own." He said this while looking like he'd just got caught with his hand in the cookie jar.
"Do I wanna hear this?" I could only imagine what had happened earlier in the day as the furniture magically disappeared.
"It's no big deal...I mean if you turn it over on its side; most of it slides pretty well."
"Most of it?"
"Well one or two pieces might have needed a little encouragement."
"Encouragement? O - kay....so where do you plan to sit now that the furniture has been encouraged to go elsewhere?" I put the emphasis on 'encouraged'.
"I'm glad you asked 'cause you see mom's attorney dropped me off a check today and I need to put it in the bank. After that if you have some time, I need to go look for some new furniture."
"New furniture...just how much new furniture are we talking about? How many rooms of furniture did you encourage to go elsewhere today?"
"Well, I guess you can see that this room needs new furniture and the bedroom needs new furniture as well as that table that was in the room by the kitchen..."
"Was as in that's gone too?"
"It had a little encouragement."
"And the bedroom...tell me you didn't do anything to the bedroom furniture?"
"Well not yet. You see I was watching TV last night and I saw a commercial where it said they haul away your old bed when you buy a new one."
"Too bad they didn't show any living room furniture in that commercial..."
"What?"
"Nothing," I said shrugging it off. He'd obvious missed my sad attempt at humor. "As for shopping for new furniture...what exactly did you have in mind?"
"I'm not sure. That's why I need to go look."
"Great."
I couldn't imagine any way I'd rather spend my day off than shopping for new furniture with Bosco who incidentally had no idea whatsoever what kind of furniture he wanted. I suppose if I'd been smart, I would have let him believe that I had to work that day. As it was, I let it slip that I had the day off.
The check from the attorney was actually two checks. Turned out for some reason Rose had not only insured her own life but she'd kept a small policy on Mikey as well. It was only worth $25,000 but it would certainly be enough to pay for funeral expenses for Rose and Mikey. The other check was substantially larger...$125,000. That answered one question: where was he going to get the money to pay for new furniture?
So we went shopping for furniture. Whoever thought shopping for anything with Bosco would be an enjoyable experience? It turned out to be the most fun I'd had in a very long time. For one thing Bosco shopping wasn't just shopping. It was an event...or several events.
The first place we went, one guy latched onto us, trailing us everywhere we went explaining all the fine qualities of whatever we were looking at. After hearing him go on and on about the benefits of this and that about five or six times, Bosco looked him straight in the eye and questioned him as to didn't he have any work to do?
The salesman was pretty shocked and I managed to sustain my laughter for a while before having to walk the other way. Bosco caught up to me, leaving the stunned salesman behind. He really had no idea this guy had been doing his job until I explained it to him. Then he was the stunned one questioning why people actually get paid to irritate other people. What could I say...he did have a point there. With nothing else to add I explained that it's a crazy world we live in.
So off to another store we went. This time it was a female salesperson who trailed us around the store. With her in heels and Bosco in tennis shoes, the race was on. He actually got to look around without her 'irritating' him since she wasn't able to keep up with him.
The third store had a salesperson who must have spent the night before studying. He told us of all these wonderful opportunities there were for us to buy now and pay later. I inquired about how much it would cost if we chose to pay later. The explanation made no sense to Bosco who listened intently as we discovered how much more it could cost to pay later. He questioned why the same furniture cost so much more if we paid for it in six months. The end result was the two of us heading for store number four after Bosco told the salesman that maybe we'd come back in six months just to find out about the prices.
It was store number four where things got interesting. That's when the charming salesman offered his hand, introducing himself. By charming I should say he was over the top. He went on to ask how he could be of assistance and referred to us as a happy couple.
Bosco gave me this look before clearly asking me if he knew this guy. The salesman – Andrew – looked confused. I ignored that explaining that 'no' we didn't know him. That wasn't enough for Bosco who then inquired about the happy couple. This time Andrew the salesman got a perplexed look on his face almost to the point of avoiding us all together for fear that we weren't a happy couple and that we were about to erupt into some full-blown argument over plaids versus stripes. I had to laugh more at the reaction than Bosco's comment. I gave Bosco a shove before telling our new friend Andrew that we were going to look around. Bosco stopped an aisle over as I continued to giggle. At that point he joined me in laughing having realized the guy thought we were together as more than just friends.
Store number five would have to wait...I needed to eat. Lunch should have been easy but I was starting to see that nothing with Bosco was easy. He was like having a little kid around...that curious nature as they discover the world around them. I guess it made sense. For the last month or so he'd spent most of his time either in the hospital or returning there for checkups. Beyond that he hadn't ventured much further than the front porch of his neighbor's house.
For lunch he sank his teeth into a greasy burger with a side order of fries. He didn't miss the fact that I was watching him...or rather I was eyeing his fries.
"You want a French fry?"
His question made me giggle.
"Is there something about French fries that's funny that I don't know about?"
"Not really...I mean it's not the fries itself that are funny, just something you did once."
"So what did I do once?"
I explained as best I could the incident with him eating all the fries and then offering me the cold ones in the bottom of the bag...the whole idea that he thought I was on a diet yet there I was eating a cheeseburger...his offer to go buy some more fries. My description was somewhat lost on him or else I didn't explain it quite right.
"So we argued about French fries?"
"For the most part, we argued about stupid stuff like that. I'm sure to this day there were people at the precinct who after meeting us for the first time thought we were married...with the stupid stuff we got into arguments about."
"Except for that last year or so?"
"No, that last year or so we argued a lot more and about other stuff."
"Like Cruz and me, working with her in anti-crime, my involvement with her when we were off duty, the way she did things, the way she treated people..."
"Yeah, stuff like that." It'd been a week or so since I'd told him about Cruz.
"Maybe it's a good thing I don't remember?"
I was somewhat surprised by his comment. My face must've showed it.
"So it doesn't bother you that you don't remember certain stuff?"
"Why should it...I mean it sounds to me as if she's not worth remembering. Besides she's dead...end of story right?"
"If only everything in life were that easy Bosco." I said this while laughing. Sometimes Bosco's perspective on things was a lot clearer than the rest of us. I mean he was right about one thing. Cruz was out of our lives. The way he put it though...I had to laugh.
We approached store number five on a full stomach and after a short break. This in itself should have been good and in a sense it was. On the other hand, Bosco was enjoying his little shopping excursion.
It all began when another salesman asked us what we were looking for. Bosco was quick to reply that we needed to find a bed. It was the way he put it that sent me into a fit of laughter earning me a look from Bosco. The salesman directed us to an area of the store with bedroom furniture and abruptly left to take a phone call. I continued giggling as we strolled through the many choices, pushing Bosco around when he got sidetracked by something insignificant. He had this look on his face that spelled trouble so whenever a salesperson would approach us, I'd take him by the arm and head into another direction.
At one point, he decided that maybe we should give up on the bed for now and focus on something for another room. Mission accomplished when it took him all of eight and a half minutes to find a dining room table and chairs that he liked. I continued shopping while a salesperson wrote up the order. It was about five minutes later that I discovered an incredibly comfortable chaise. I was actually relaxing there when I overheard a salesperson ask someone if he was looking for something special to which I clearly heard Bosco rely 'yeah a woman.'
He'd obviously overheard me laughing and followed up with a 'that's her'. I can only imagine the look on the stuffy sounding salesman's face. I was still in my comfy chaise when Bosco found me.
"You should try this out...it's really comfortable." It was merely a suggestion but Bosco took me at my word plopping down beside me.
"It's big enough for two people too."
I scooted over a little, making room for him.
"What do you think of this other furniture?" he continued, referring to the sofa, loveseat, and chair with ottoman.
"What do you think?" I inquired, tossing the question back at him.
"It's kinda nice. If it's as comfortable as thing, I'll take it."
All this time we'd spent actually looking at furniture. I guess we should have just tried them out one at a time.
"I don't think you have room for all of it but you could buy a few pieces."
We took turns trying out the other pieces while figuring out what could go where in his living room. The decision finally made, we found yet another salesperson to write up this order. The furniture would be delivered the following afternoon if they actually delivered it when they said they would.
He still needed a new bed but that would have to wait for another day. Shopping with Bosco had definitely been quite an adventure. At times he'd reminded me of Bosco of old. His sense of humor though was a little more over the top than what I remembered. Not that this was a bad thing. Either way, I had a great time with him. Maybe he was right. Maybe the fact that he didn't remember wasn't such a bad thing. It allowed us to start fresh without all the baggage that had hounded us for the past year or so. I wasn't sure what the future held for us. A lot of that depended on his memory and if and when that returned. I was sure of our immediate future though. It included one more chapter in 'Bosco's adventures of furniture shopping'.
While in the hospital, the attorney who'd prepared Rose's will stopped by. Rose had left everything to her two sons, to be divided equally. With Mikey's death, it all went to Bosco. Rose had been smart enough to refinance when the rates dropped. By doing so she'd been able to pay off the mortgage on her home. It didn't hurt that her attorney had also been the neighbor she'd known for twenty years. I remembered some of the neighbors from Rose and Mikey's funeral. The attorney and his wife had been two of many neighbors to speak.
So, Rose's home was now Bosco's. In discussing where he would live, it made sense that he should either rent his mother's home or live there himself. Either one had its benefits but if he chose to rent it out, he'd have landlord headaches to deal with. For the time being, he was going to move into his mom's place. The added support of many neighbors was an important part of the decision. For the time being, he wasn't driving so I agreed to help out as much as possible which meant I was going to be spending a lot of time with him as well as his neighbors.
The Fantenelli family lived next door. I soon discovered that Mrs. Fantenelli's children were grown and living in other states. They were all successful in their chosen careers. I had many discussions with Mrs. Fantenelli on her porch. I had my doubts whether or not Bosco was actually doing any cooking for himself. Mrs. Fantenelli left me with the impression that his charming neighbor had some sort of prearranged pact with Rose that that the two of them would always look after each other's families. I'm sure old Bosco knew of this and I could only imagine how many times he'd tried to convince Rose that he could take care of himself.
One afternoon, Mr. Fantenelli joined us and one of my beliefs was confirmed. Mrs. Fantenelli loved to cook. His had this funny smile as he shook his head telling me how his wife was delighted to have Bosco living next door. Enough said. A refrigerator full of leftovers confirmed it. Both husband and wife had adored Bosco while he was growing up. He'd been best friends with one of their sons. Mr. Fantenelli joked about how his wife's hopes had been dashed when their daughter married a guy she met in college. The whole idea of Bosco and their daughter made me wonder just what this she looked like.
As much as I loved the childhood stories the Fantenellis and other neighbors shared, Bosco simply couldn't get enough of them. Together they scoured photo album after photo album sharing memories. The Bosco I knew was somewhat of a loner...somewhat anyway. I mean it wasn't that he sat at home night after night but I rarely heard about his friends. In twelve years, I'd heard a long list of female names and the detailed accounts of their time spent with Bosco. But it was a bit odd that I didn't remember him to ever mention friends either present or childhood.
When he wasn't getting his fill of childhood stories, Bosco was making some decisions of his own. He didn't care much for some of the furniture at his ma's place. Even though Bosco wasn't being the Bosco I knew, he was showing signs that he was taking control of his life. He shocked me by having moved stuff around including numerous pieces that had found their way elsewhere.
Part of the shock had been the furniture or the lack of while the other part was seeing him for the first time without his head bandaged. The day before I'd dropped him off for a doctor appointment. As usual they were running behind so Ty had agreed to give him a ride home since he was off.
I was a little surprised at the length of his hair. I'd expected it to be stubby short but it was actually longer than what I'd remembered from his days in Anti-Crime which wasn't saying much really. Standing there it was hard to believe that a month had already passed since he'd been shot.
"So what'd the doctor say yesterday?" I inquired.
"Same thing he always says...everything's healing fine. My arm's is doing well...same for my chest...the lung. He still wants me to take it easy with my arm though...no heavy lifting. As for my head, it's healing nicely."
"No heavy lifting?" I said laughing while glancing around the room. "So the furniture that was in here that's now gone must've walked on its own?"
"Actually it was more like it slid on its own." He said this while looking like he'd just got caught with his hand in the cookie jar.
"Do I wanna hear this?" I could only imagine what had happened earlier in the day as the furniture magically disappeared.
"It's no big deal...I mean if you turn it over on its side; most of it slides pretty well."
"Most of it?"
"Well one or two pieces might have needed a little encouragement."
"Encouragement? O - kay....so where do you plan to sit now that the furniture has been encouraged to go elsewhere?" I put the emphasis on 'encouraged'.
"I'm glad you asked 'cause you see mom's attorney dropped me off a check today and I need to put it in the bank. After that if you have some time, I need to go look for some new furniture."
"New furniture...just how much new furniture are we talking about? How many rooms of furniture did you encourage to go elsewhere today?"
"Well, I guess you can see that this room needs new furniture and the bedroom needs new furniture as well as that table that was in the room by the kitchen..."
"Was as in that's gone too?"
"It had a little encouragement."
"And the bedroom...tell me you didn't do anything to the bedroom furniture?"
"Well not yet. You see I was watching TV last night and I saw a commercial where it said they haul away your old bed when you buy a new one."
"Too bad they didn't show any living room furniture in that commercial..."
"What?"
"Nothing," I said shrugging it off. He'd obvious missed my sad attempt at humor. "As for shopping for new furniture...what exactly did you have in mind?"
"I'm not sure. That's why I need to go look."
"Great."
I couldn't imagine any way I'd rather spend my day off than shopping for new furniture with Bosco who incidentally had no idea whatsoever what kind of furniture he wanted. I suppose if I'd been smart, I would have let him believe that I had to work that day. As it was, I let it slip that I had the day off.
The check from the attorney was actually two checks. Turned out for some reason Rose had not only insured her own life but she'd kept a small policy on Mikey as well. It was only worth $25,000 but it would certainly be enough to pay for funeral expenses for Rose and Mikey. The other check was substantially larger...$125,000. That answered one question: where was he going to get the money to pay for new furniture?
So we went shopping for furniture. Whoever thought shopping for anything with Bosco would be an enjoyable experience? It turned out to be the most fun I'd had in a very long time. For one thing Bosco shopping wasn't just shopping. It was an event...or several events.
The first place we went, one guy latched onto us, trailing us everywhere we went explaining all the fine qualities of whatever we were looking at. After hearing him go on and on about the benefits of this and that about five or six times, Bosco looked him straight in the eye and questioned him as to didn't he have any work to do?
The salesman was pretty shocked and I managed to sustain my laughter for a while before having to walk the other way. Bosco caught up to me, leaving the stunned salesman behind. He really had no idea this guy had been doing his job until I explained it to him. Then he was the stunned one questioning why people actually get paid to irritate other people. What could I say...he did have a point there. With nothing else to add I explained that it's a crazy world we live in.
So off to another store we went. This time it was a female salesperson who trailed us around the store. With her in heels and Bosco in tennis shoes, the race was on. He actually got to look around without her 'irritating' him since she wasn't able to keep up with him.
The third store had a salesperson who must have spent the night before studying. He told us of all these wonderful opportunities there were for us to buy now and pay later. I inquired about how much it would cost if we chose to pay later. The explanation made no sense to Bosco who listened intently as we discovered how much more it could cost to pay later. He questioned why the same furniture cost so much more if we paid for it in six months. The end result was the two of us heading for store number four after Bosco told the salesman that maybe we'd come back in six months just to find out about the prices.
It was store number four where things got interesting. That's when the charming salesman offered his hand, introducing himself. By charming I should say he was over the top. He went on to ask how he could be of assistance and referred to us as a happy couple.
Bosco gave me this look before clearly asking me if he knew this guy. The salesman – Andrew – looked confused. I ignored that explaining that 'no' we didn't know him. That wasn't enough for Bosco who then inquired about the happy couple. This time Andrew the salesman got a perplexed look on his face almost to the point of avoiding us all together for fear that we weren't a happy couple and that we were about to erupt into some full-blown argument over plaids versus stripes. I had to laugh more at the reaction than Bosco's comment. I gave Bosco a shove before telling our new friend Andrew that we were going to look around. Bosco stopped an aisle over as I continued to giggle. At that point he joined me in laughing having realized the guy thought we were together as more than just friends.
Store number five would have to wait...I needed to eat. Lunch should have been easy but I was starting to see that nothing with Bosco was easy. He was like having a little kid around...that curious nature as they discover the world around them. I guess it made sense. For the last month or so he'd spent most of his time either in the hospital or returning there for checkups. Beyond that he hadn't ventured much further than the front porch of his neighbor's house.
For lunch he sank his teeth into a greasy burger with a side order of fries. He didn't miss the fact that I was watching him...or rather I was eyeing his fries.
"You want a French fry?"
His question made me giggle.
"Is there something about French fries that's funny that I don't know about?"
"Not really...I mean it's not the fries itself that are funny, just something you did once."
"So what did I do once?"
I explained as best I could the incident with him eating all the fries and then offering me the cold ones in the bottom of the bag...the whole idea that he thought I was on a diet yet there I was eating a cheeseburger...his offer to go buy some more fries. My description was somewhat lost on him or else I didn't explain it quite right.
"So we argued about French fries?"
"For the most part, we argued about stupid stuff like that. I'm sure to this day there were people at the precinct who after meeting us for the first time thought we were married...with the stupid stuff we got into arguments about."
"Except for that last year or so?"
"No, that last year or so we argued a lot more and about other stuff."
"Like Cruz and me, working with her in anti-crime, my involvement with her when we were off duty, the way she did things, the way she treated people..."
"Yeah, stuff like that." It'd been a week or so since I'd told him about Cruz.
"Maybe it's a good thing I don't remember?"
I was somewhat surprised by his comment. My face must've showed it.
"So it doesn't bother you that you don't remember certain stuff?"
"Why should it...I mean it sounds to me as if she's not worth remembering. Besides she's dead...end of story right?"
"If only everything in life were that easy Bosco." I said this while laughing. Sometimes Bosco's perspective on things was a lot clearer than the rest of us. I mean he was right about one thing. Cruz was out of our lives. The way he put it though...I had to laugh.
We approached store number five on a full stomach and after a short break. This in itself should have been good and in a sense it was. On the other hand, Bosco was enjoying his little shopping excursion.
It all began when another salesman asked us what we were looking for. Bosco was quick to reply that we needed to find a bed. It was the way he put it that sent me into a fit of laughter earning me a look from Bosco. The salesman directed us to an area of the store with bedroom furniture and abruptly left to take a phone call. I continued giggling as we strolled through the many choices, pushing Bosco around when he got sidetracked by something insignificant. He had this look on his face that spelled trouble so whenever a salesperson would approach us, I'd take him by the arm and head into another direction.
At one point, he decided that maybe we should give up on the bed for now and focus on something for another room. Mission accomplished when it took him all of eight and a half minutes to find a dining room table and chairs that he liked. I continued shopping while a salesperson wrote up the order. It was about five minutes later that I discovered an incredibly comfortable chaise. I was actually relaxing there when I overheard a salesperson ask someone if he was looking for something special to which I clearly heard Bosco rely 'yeah a woman.'
He'd obviously overheard me laughing and followed up with a 'that's her'. I can only imagine the look on the stuffy sounding salesman's face. I was still in my comfy chaise when Bosco found me.
"You should try this out...it's really comfortable." It was merely a suggestion but Bosco took me at my word plopping down beside me.
"It's big enough for two people too."
I scooted over a little, making room for him.
"What do you think of this other furniture?" he continued, referring to the sofa, loveseat, and chair with ottoman.
"What do you think?" I inquired, tossing the question back at him.
"It's kinda nice. If it's as comfortable as thing, I'll take it."
All this time we'd spent actually looking at furniture. I guess we should have just tried them out one at a time.
"I don't think you have room for all of it but you could buy a few pieces."
We took turns trying out the other pieces while figuring out what could go where in his living room. The decision finally made, we found yet another salesperson to write up this order. The furniture would be delivered the following afternoon if they actually delivered it when they said they would.
He still needed a new bed but that would have to wait for another day. Shopping with Bosco had definitely been quite an adventure. At times he'd reminded me of Bosco of old. His sense of humor though was a little more over the top than what I remembered. Not that this was a bad thing. Either way, I had a great time with him. Maybe he was right. Maybe the fact that he didn't remember wasn't such a bad thing. It allowed us to start fresh without all the baggage that had hounded us for the past year or so. I wasn't sure what the future held for us. A lot of that depended on his memory and if and when that returned. I was sure of our immediate future though. It included one more chapter in 'Bosco's adventures of furniture shopping'.