Page 70 of Time Served in New York
While I waited on the elevator, I watched them drag the man into the suite but got confused when Paula yelled, “Jenn! They’re playing our song!”
I burst out in hysterical laughter when I heard Jenn yell, “You can do it, put your ass into it!”
I was still laughing when I walked out of the elevator.
17.
CAPTAIN
“Doesn’t he seem really calm for a man who’s about to get fitted with a ball and chain?” Soda asked.
“It’s hard to be anything other than calm when you’ve got a kid sleeping on you,” I pointed out. “Look at him. He’s even drooling.”
“How that boy can sleep in a crowd of people is beyond me,” Chef said from my other side.
“You didn’t sleep in prison?”
“I did but never well,” Chef admitted. “I had a cellmate who snored like a buzzsaw. Sometimes I’d lay awake at night and plan his death.”
“You should hear Blue. Funny thing is she doesn’t believe me when I tell her she snores.”
“She always has,” Santa agreed from his chair across from us. “It’s hard to believe Chef and Brea can’t hear her at their house.”
“I swear, one of these days I’m going to record her just so I can prove it,” Preacher threatened.
Rodeo walked back into the room with his phone in his hand and I asked, “How are your girls doing?”
“Still the cutest babies in the state of Texas,” Rodeo boasted.
“Hey now!” Bug piped up from his spot in front of the television.
“Your girl holds that title right along with them,” Rodeo assured him. “Stamp, your kids are out in the hall with Paula’s.”
“Good,” Stamp yelled from the kitchen.
“What time do you think we should start getting dressed?” Hook asked. “We’ve got an hour before we’re supposed to meet downstairs.”
“Frankie suggested we take it in shifts. Bernadette even wrote down a schedule,” Santa said, motioning toward the table where Bug, Kitty, and Boss were playing cards with Paula’s brothers, Vincente and Antonio, and Frankie’s brother, Ziggy. “They’re keeping score on the back of it since that’s the only paper we could find.”
“How are they doing, Boss?” Preacher asked.
Boss looked over at Preacher with a disgusted look as he shook his head. “No hope for ‘em.”
“Hey! I’m working on it!” Antonio argued. “I’ve never played Spades before.”
“We need to find some dominos,” Rodeo suggested. “I would school them on some bones.”
The door opened and Paula and Stamp’s sons walked into the suite. After they’d greeted everyone, they stood around the table watching the card game, asking questions about how to play.
“I want to go home,” Preacher whined. “I miss my bed. I miss my porch. Hell, I even miss having Mouth show up at the crack of dawn while she talks shit over coffee.”
“Hey now,” Chef grumbled half-heartedly, never opening his eyes as he reclined on the couch with his feet propped up on the table.
“I’ve got a question, Santa.”
“What’s up, Cap?” Santa asked.
“Where the hell is Hammer, and why isn’t he going to be in the wedding?”
