24
It was that time of the month again: Family Game Night! And no black eyes or busted ribs would cancel the monthly event. Instead, a pair of sympathetic siblings agreed to move game night to their bruised and beaten little brother's home. So that's where they gathered with pizzas, beers - for those over twenty-one and who weren't on pain medication - and several pints of Chunky Monkey, Phish Food and New York Super Fudge Chunk (because, of course) to fill their bellies. Everyone was gathered, minus the two patriarchs of the family - Pop was out with friends and Frank was lucky enough to be invited to a rubber chicken dinner at Gracie Mansion.
It wasn't surprising to anyone that Danny and James were the first to load their plates and claim their seats at the dining room table where a tower of wooden Jenga pieces stood as the centerpiece waiting to be picked apart. Jamie was the last to join the family in the kitchen, having been back in the bedroom when they arrived. He greeted the girls and Danny's boys as they sorted through the pies and drinks set out on the counter.
Danny stared through the pass through to reassess the bruising on Jamie's face. He was still pissed about what those gangbangers did, especially since it was his little brother they'd used as a punching bag. What he would have given to be part of the investigation that nabbed the last gang member and tied the case up against all five perps and two gang leaders with a big, red bow for the DA's office. And if said remaining gang member ended up with a black eye or two of his own before he got processed, well, you can't help clumsy idiots.
When Jamie joined them at the table with a plate, Danny resorted to humor in order to hide the anger that still simmered within. "Hey, look! It's Rocky Balboa!"
"It wasn't funny on Sunday, it's not funny today," Jamie commented with a shake of his head.
James paused from picking the crispy pepperoni off his pizza. That was the second time Uncle Danny called him that. "Who's Rocky Balboa?" he asked.
Danny's head snapped toward his nephew. "Who's..what," he sputtered, unable to comprehend such a question, then he turned to Jamie. "How have you not -"
"He's ten, Danny," Erin called out from the kitchen before following the rest of the crew to the table. Although questions like that made her feel even older than her age.
Jamie tapped James with his elbow. "Main character from the Rocky movies. We're gonna have to add those to the list for when you're a little older."
Danny got a better look at Jamie's face under the dining room lights. "All kidding aside, you're looking better than you did on Sunday, kid."
"Yeah, less puffy," Sean commented.
"And it looks like you can see a little from your other eye too…well, sort of," Jack added from beside his brother. It wasn't completely swollen shut today.
Jamie accepted a napkin from Eddie, then looked back at the guys. "Thanks, I think," he frowned, figuring they intended to make him feel better.
"Yeah, based on the last time someone used your face as a punching bag, your purples and reds will be greens and yellows by next week," Danny reasoned.
James stopped eating. "Last time?" he asked and glanced at his dad for an explanation. "What last time?"
Danny chuckled with a mouthful of meat lover's pizza. "Oh, yeah. I guess your dad hasn't told you about the last time he ended up like this."
"Not exactly something I want or need to retell," Jamie said pointedly. He was still weary of sharing some of his cop stories with James considering Sydney's feelings about the job. That is, unless James asked about stuff, like he knew he was about to do, thanks to Danny. Sydney and her issues caused him to take pause before discussing the job with him. The rest of the family freely discussed the job in James' presence, especially at Sunday dinners where they openly discussed their work. He couldn't put a muzzle on them and, honestly, he didn't want to. Jamie was starting to realize that he hated feeling so guarded about this one very important aspect of his life. Sure, there were things that a kid didn't need to hear about, but he didn't want to feel like he had to hide that part of his life from James out of fear of rocking the boat with his ex who, for the time being, still held the reins over his access to their son.
"What happened?"
"Tell him," Danny insisted.
Jamie's good eye narrowed at his brother. He was practically jumping at the chance to rehash that whole mess for him. "Feels like you really want to be the one to tell him. By all means, I'll just step in to correct all of your exaggerations."
Knowing her brother-in-law very well and that James did not grow up hearing these types of stories like all of the Reagan kids did, Eddie reminded Danny again of who was at the table. She too knew of Sydney's issues with their work. "Just remember your audience."
James knew what that meant. "You guys are gonna leave out the good stuff," he complained. He could already tell they would.
"Exaggerations?" Danny huffed, insulted at the insinuation, but he wasn't going to be put off by it. "All right, you want to know?"
"Yeah!" James piped up before tearing off another bite of his pizza.
"Well, it all started when your dad was barely out of the academy," he began.
"It was my second year on the job," Jamie interjected.
Erin and Nicky snorted over how this was going to go - they'd be taking turns telling the story and arguing about the details.
Danny's hands went up in the air. "Like I said, a rookie!" he reiterated to James before returning to the tale. "And he was working undercover with some really bad guys."
Jamie sighed and focused on his own slice.
"Woah, undercover? Like a spy?" a wide-eyed James asked his dad. "I didn't know you did that!" He thought he just went out on patrol and stuff. This sounded cooler.
"Not exactly," Jamie said through a full mouth.
"I mean, yeah, like a spy," Danny insisted, gaping at his brother's expression. "What? That's what an undercover does! They spy on the bad guys and report back to their handler. It's what you did!"
James wanted his uncle to get on with it already. "What did those guys do that dad had to spy on them?"
Jamie stepped in before Danny could say anything about the Cavazzere and Sanfino crime families' dealings. "They were financial crimes, they were running a scam. Let's leave it at that." That was, after all, one of the main things that got him pulled into the undercover op to begin with. They didn't need to get into all of the more unsavory activities they partook in when people crossed them. There would be no explaining to James what 'peeiling back the onion' meant.
"Sure, that was why you got pulled in," Danny agreed, picking up on why Jamie interrupted him so quickly. "So your dad got a job in one of their boiler rooms where they have a bunch of their minions calling people and selling them stocks in companies that don't exist - basically stealing money. His job was to get evidence from their computers on all of their activities."
"So how'd you end up all beat up for that? Did you get caught?" James urged them along.
The rest of the table was familiar with the story - Eddie included, or so she thought. They knew where Danny was going in the end. The teasing just never got old.
Before Jamie could even open his mouth, Danny was eagerly answering for him. "The main guy at the boiler room already had it in for your dad 'cause he got a little too cozy with his ex-girlfriend who was also the sister of the mobster that got him the job there."
James scrunched up his nose. Gross.
"Really? Funny, I've never heard that part of the story, Jameson. How cozy are we talking?" Eddie questioned her husband.
All eyes were on him now and giggles sounded from around the table. He could feel the heated glare from his wife and turned to her, giving Eddie the most innocent, pitiful, puppydog expression he could muster. "He's exaggerating and it's actually not that pertinent to the story."
Eddie pursed her lips; he knew he was caught. "It's not, huh?" was all she said, deciding it was better not to get into any adult hijinx involving mobster girlfriends in front of James. It was all good. She'd ask for those details later.
"Nope. And not close at all," he claimed, trying for a smile that was more pained than innocent.
"Not what I heard," Erin sing-songed.
"You too?" he glared at his sister.
After he got a good laugh at his brother's expense, Danny continued. "Anyway, after your dad managed to download the information onto a thumbdrive, the boss sensed he was up to no good."
"And," James prodded.
"And he and some of his cronies followed him out after work and searched him," Danny answered.
James cringed. That must be when it happened. "They found the thumbdrive and beat you up for it," he guessed.
"Not exactly," Jamie shook his head.
"No. Remember how your grandpas told you about your dad's tendency for swallowing stuff when he was a kid?" Danny was still disappointed he hadn't been the first one to share that with Jamie's mini-me.
"Oh, come on," Jamie grumbled. "Just finish the story and get it over with."
"What's the fun of that?" Nicky chimed in.
"You didn't," James said as his father took another bite.
Jamie knew there would be no sympathy from this crowd.
"He did," Erin laughed.
"How did you do that?" he asked, thinking about the size of some of the thumbdrives in his mom's desk at home.
"It was tiny! And I had no choice," he exclaimed.
"So if you swallowed it, they couldn't have found it. Why'd you get beat up then?"
"Because the guy hated thinking he was wrong," Jamie said.
"Nah! It was his chance to kick your ass, I mean butt, for moving in on…what was her name again?" Danny asked Erin.
"Bianca!" Erin giggled as Jamie gently hid his bruised face behind his hands.
"Bianca," Eddie nodded thoughtfully.
Danny snapped his fingers. "Bianca, that was it!" Then he happily returned to his pizza.
Jack thought back to that time, then turned to his little cousin. "I think I was your age when it happened. I still remember exactly what he looked like at the dinner table. He sat right across from me," he said and directed a grimace at his uncle. "A lot like how you looked last Sunday. Well, except that you didn't break your wrist this time."
"They broke your wrist too? How many guys were there?" James asked, shocked by that additional detail. He really had his butt kicked then too.
"Three guys. And they did not break my wrist," Jamie clarified, not technically, anyway. Although, he came close, didn't he?
"Maybe it wasn't broken, but it was in a brace and I had to cut your meat for you because you couldn't even do that for yourself," Erin pointed out.
"Not the same," Jamie insisted.
"Minus the wrist, it was the same. Busted ribs, black eye, cuts and bruises. It was wicked," Sean listed.
"I don't have a broken nose this time either," Jamie pouted. The first time was worse and hopefully, this last time really was the last time he'd get his ass kicked on the job.
"Thank you for the reminder. They broke his nose too," Danny snickered.
"Woah," James whispered with a side-eye glance at his dad.
"Should have kept your mouth shut, bub," Eddie giggled.
"I blame the pain meds," he said lamely despite not having touched the stuff since Sunday night.
"No wonder mom hates your job," James commented and shook his head knowingly, but he wasn't the least bit phased by his mother's opinion of his dad's job. He didn't like to see him hurt, but the job was pretty cool, especially the whole undercover thing.
"Yeah, she'll love it even more with your uncle sharing stories like that," Jamie groaned. He was tempted to sneak in his dad's line of 'don't tell your mother,' but figured it was a phrase he needed to use sparingly, if at all, with James. With a shake of his head, he said, "I thought we all came here to play games, not torture me?"
James smiled as he munched on his crust. He was really digging this family game night thing. "I just got one question."
"Of course you do," Jamie grumbled. "Let's have it."
"What happened to the thumbdrive?" James asked innocently.
As Danny opened his mouth, Erin quickly held up her hands to stop him. "We are not going there while we eat!" she warned him.
"How about we don't go there at all?" Nicky cringed.
They were all party poopers, Danny thought. He leaned over to his nephew and whispered, "I'll tell you all the gross details later."
James smiled, looking forward to it.
"Thanks, Dan," Jamie sighed with a roll of his eyes.
