his nephewalways a bug up his ass about something complained

                                                                 You don’t have any idea what it's like, Uncle Joe.

kid couldnt be that stupid

his brother wasnt a shining light

his sister-in-law

                Aw he wasnt letting her in  last time he saves a swooning bride with the back of her head aligned with a stone planter

maybe the kid could be that stupid

                                     it killed himsure as shit if the kid bred he was the gene pool taking his familys name bloodline forward Forward  not a chance  its called retrograde the only boy among his siblings eight children  an they were done having kids  he was donehe had girls they were sharp cookies  sharper than himhis wife was sharper than him  a real looker  but if she couldnt keep up with him or better him he wouldnt have been interested

I havent any idea what its like Nathaniel the rest of the familyhis parents called him Nate Yawanna think that through

What do you mean?

Yare bitching about junior high

                                 Ya think I didntyour aunts and uncles didnt go to school

Oh, don’t give me that, Jo . .

. . he snapped WHO nearly lost his shit he wasnt gonna let the punk disrespect him

Nathaniel looked immediately at his father

his father closed his eyesshook his head  Nate was on his own

WHO  ya talking to

Uncle Joe.

WHO

Uncle Joe.

WHO one more time so you don forget  ever if I got to knock some sense into ya thats right up my alley

                                                                                                               Ya can ask your father

Uncle Joe.

You were saying

                     Don give me that

That was then, this is now . . Uncle Joe.

For instance

               Classes cant be that different

Yeah, well, you didn’t have to practise school-shooter drills.

                                                               prick smiledreally pleased himself  oneupped his uncle

School-shooter drills

                       Some real skin off your asshuh  Drills

Yeah, lame drills . .

. . To   possibly save your life

                                Lame   Yare right

Nathaniels eyes narrowed Was his uncle dissing him?

aif he could hear him think Yah  an accurate question

                                                        maybe the boy wasnt as stupid as he thought

Your shooter drillsif I may pale in comparison to the drills we had Nuclear annihilation  Not a handful tenfifteen kids teachers Terrible Yah  But Im talkin all the kids teachers parents whole communities

                                                                                              Yare whining  I really have a difficult time listening to someone who carries my name whining

he stood looked to his brother

                                Ya got some serious work to do with this ingrate  this boy 

his brother was wideeyed

Ingrate  Ungrateful

                       Im off to talk with someone else  Boys he gesturedtouched his finger to his scarred eyebrow

2225,  Day-between-Two-Ts,  20  10. 21

1204,  Monday,  1  11. 21

 

Youll excuse me he said to the group he was standing with at the bar The mouth over there is getting the better of me I gotta shut him upfuckin whiner

You think that’s a good idea?

Yawanna keep listening to him

No, but . .

. . No buts I aint moving any furthur down the bar or heading outside

taking his beer in hand he stepped back into the aisle made of bodiessomeone immediately slipped infilled where he stood

       he smiled was nice to have a placeholder

Excuse me man

                 the guy had his back to himstood in the body aisle facing two others he couldnt see them big guy where they were seatedtheir backs to a brick wall

                                              Excuse me he tapped him on the shoulder felt like a brick wall 

he tipped his hips something inside him creaked hafturned to him Talkin to me?

Tapped your shoulder yah

                            Neanderthal Ya aint that stupid areya

What do you want? clear as a bell no slurring

I want you to quit your whining

                                  the man and woman seated with him vacated Gotta get going Cass

Yeah . . later never once taking his eye off him Quit whining.

                                                             his face congealed they knew each other from somewheresomewhere

Whining  Yes

he turned completely aroundthe small of his back to the tall round café table nobody filled the stools behind him

                                                                                                                       Sure you want to say whining?

Ya got another word from it

                                 I also got bellyaching

You got your nerve, buddy.

I understand yare recently divorced I understand dates arent going well I don understand you cryin bout baggage At yer agetheir age Id assume baggage We got baggage by the time were twenty We aint twenty An you aint dating or attracting high school girlsWHO have baggage

Thats wha I came over to say

                                Baggage is exponentialaint linear the older we get  I aint got data though

I could commiserate with youIm not Ill side with ya But please please  please stop the . . whayawanna call it whinincryinbellyachin Ill let you say

Cass set his beer on the table behind himballed his fists

he was nonchalant was hanging onto his heavy glass handled mug  if he had to use it to defend himselfequalise the playing field he was okay with that

What if I were to say you got a big mouth.

Yasayin

          Cuz ifya are Id say wha I said were words out of your mouth  Now ya got an issue with the truth

I aint a mindreader

You got a big mouth.

Do I Aside from this conversation whaelse ya hear me say tonight

                                                                         About anything

he stuck his toe in the wood floor maybe pretending it was dirt

About anything

You like pushing things.

When theres a right an wrong a true an false yacan bet yer ass

                                                                    How do you come down on things an don tell me like a ton of brick

Cass cracked a smile despite himself

                                         I think we know each other.

I think we do too

                  Ya can buy me a beer an we can talk about it talkbout baggage

Yeah . . what you said.

Exponentially or linearly

Yeah . . what you said.

Late 1600hrs,  ReggaeFriday,  22  10. 21

1444,  Sunday – HAPPY HALLOWEEN,  31  10. 21