It was an hour after Geese died when Billy stormed down to the Pao Pao Cafe and Terry kicked his ass for the second time that night.
It was a month after Geese died when Billy was drowning himself in alcohol - all free, the Howard Connection might be in shambles but the name still meant something, goddammit - and sleeping in the gutter more often than not.
It was two months after Geese died when Duck King found him and dragged him home to Lily and Billy got the scolding of his life in the morning. It didn't help. Geese was dead, so what the hell was he supposed to do?
It was two months and two days after Geese died when Billy paid Duck back by breaking some punks that thought they could run a protection racket. Dumbass pieces of shit. Billy had been running better at fifteen. Duck wasn't even grateful.
It was three months after Geese died when Billy started offering regular protection for Lily and Duck. Cleaning up street trash was beneath him but helping Lily wasn't, and Duck kept dragging him home after the late nights. Stupid hippie. At least he had the smarts not to tell Billy no.
It felt good to use his bo again.
It was a six months and three weeks after Geese died when Billy could bring himself to visit the grave. It was covered in crap like flowers and crosses and fucking reeked of piss under all the incense. Couple stakes shoved into the ground too.
Billy poured some of Geese's favourite bourbon out on the dirt and just sat there. He couldn't think of anything else to do. He was nothing if he didn't belong to Geese Howard. Just another bottom-feeding scum sucker, like he would've stayed if Geese hadn't picked him up. And now...
Eventually he stood up and left, feeling as lost as ever.
It was a year, four months, and two days after Geese died when Billy caught a tip Terry was a couple states away. He drove all night and got his ass kicked in the morning.
It was two years after Geese died when Billy realised he was spending more time helping Lily with the laundry business and checking IDs at Duck's nightclub than beating the shit out of punks.
He went and put some idiots that had been giving Lily looks in the hospital to make himself feel better. It worked for a bit.
It was two years and seven months after Geese died when Billy noticed that Duck had some nice eyes under the goofy goggles. He felt guilty about noticing, which was weird because Billy hadn't felt guilty about anything since he was twelve.
It was three years after Geese died when Ripper and Hopper stopped by his and Lily's new, shittier apartment. They spent the night drinking and reminiscing, celebrating the good old days and mourning the new. Both of them had landed on their feet - no one wanted their heads and they were all too well-connected to arrest - and Billy found he felt surprisingly well-disposed towards the bastards who hadn't even tried to stop Terry that night. They offered to put in a good word with their new boss and Billy turned them down. It just didn't feel right serving anyone but Geese.
It was three years, six months, and two weeks after Geese died when Duck slipped under his guard and Billy didn't punch him for it. They weren't fighting anyway. Stupid hippie was surprisingly warm up against Billy's chest for the two seconds he was there.
It was three years and eleven months after Geese died when Lily came up to him with determination in her eyes and wine on her breath to say that she knew everything that had happened between him and Geese, had hated all of it, and was glad that asshole was gone. Except she didn't say asshole because Lily was a good girl, but Billy could hear it anyway.
He just rubbed her hair and stayed quiet. Didn't say a thing about her bad-mouthing about the man who'd saved them both from hell. Didn't seem worth it anymore.
It was four years and three months after Geese died when Duck signed Billy up for some stupid Hawaiian dancing lessons. He wasn't any good at it, but he kept going back. His dumb flailing made Lily smile, at least.
It was four years and ten months after Geese died when Billy happened across Terry in London and got his ass kicked. Again.
It was five years and two days after Geese died when a hurricane whipped through Southtown that knocked all the power out for hours. He and Duck ended up sitting together in the nightclub, drinking and smoking while they listened to the storm outside. Billy found out Duck was single and didn't have any groupies hanging off his ass, which felt pretty weird. Not that Billy'd hang off Duck's ass, but...
He kissed Duck and was ready to blame it on the drink until he got kissed back.
It was five years and about six months after Geese died when Duck dragged all three of them to the beach for a "party" that was just them and a boombox. They danced around like a bunch of kids, Billy showed off his new skills, and Lily nearly beat them both in sparring.
It was only on the way back that Billy realised he hadn't heard Lily laugh like that since he was sixteen and she'd caught him teaching some dumbshit punks a lesson in respecting Geese.
He hadn't laughed as freely since then either, come to think of it.
It was six years, two months, and a few days after Geese died when Billy noticed he'd put his bo down an hour ago without thinking. He spent the next twenty minutes bugging Lily while she was doing accounts instead of going back for it; just to prove he could. He slept with it for the next three days but felt a bit proud of himself anyway.
It was six years and eleven months after Geese died when Billy first realised he kind of liked how Duck would dance him to the bed instead of shoving him up against the nearest wall like Geese used to. There was a weird little twist in his stomach when he realised he didn't even feel guilty about it.
It was seven years after Geese died when Billy heard Terry was dropping by Orlando. It was the closest he'd been to Southtown in ages. Billy stared at his car keys for a long time before putting them back in his pocket and going to see if Duck needed any help.
It was seven years and about ten months after Geese died when Lily expanded Kane-Do Laundry into a new location with a regular, above-board loan from the bank. Billy bitched about how much higher the interest was than the one Geese had given out, but it was hard not to remember the price for those rates.
Hard to miss how much happier Lily was about it too.
It was eight years after Geese died when Billy was lying in the dark, listening to Duck sleep next to him and watching headlights pass by on the ceiling, that he finally admitted that Geese had, sometimes, been kind of a prick.
It was nine years and some months after Geese died when Billy went back to the grave. It was still festooned with offerings, but there were fewer flowers and more scraps of paper with stuff like Matthew 19:24 written on them and the kind of crappy incense you got in dollar stores. It smelled less like piss than last time.
Billy just crouched there, smoking his cigarette and thinking. When it finally burned all the way down he stood up, bowed deeply, and walked away.
The cigarette smoldered in the grass behind him.
It was about ten years after Geese died when the letter showed up. Billy scanned through the flowery bullshit, caught a few phrases like "King of Fighters" and "Geese's legacy", and tossed the whole thing in the trash. He didn't have time for that crap anymore.
I started joking around with reasons for Billy to be bringing Duck flowers in the movie and before I knew it I had sold myself on the ship.