“Won’t he get squished?” At my attempt to convince her to stay home, her eyes narrow, and she pats my back.
“Don’t worry, tough guy. I’ll be standing beside you the whole time.” She’s right. I hate the subway. What she doesn’t know is a member of The Kings attempted to murder me yesterday. The longer I wait to tell her, the bigger the argument we’re going to have.
“We need a nanny, babe.”
“I tried. It’s not my fault Cousin Donna couldn’t travel from Italy. Fucking plague.”
“Language, sugar. We agreed. It’s friggin’ or a frackin’.”
“Whatever. If she can’t get to the states in the next couple weeks, I’m going to look elsewhere.”
“Yes, ma’am.” When we’re done eating, I clean up my son, check his diaper, and place him on his feet.
At the sight of the kid-carrier, he jumps up and down. “Out, out.”
“Correct, ma little dude, we’re goin’ to the city.”
With not much ado, we’re on our way and as the train clacks and leans to the right, I hold a pole, my wife between my arms. As my native New Yorker predicted, the heavy metal frame of the carrier pokes anyone who dares crowd me from behind.
Switching trains in Union Square, we travel to midtown and climb the stairs to street level a few blocks from Patten’s Fifth Avenue office.
“It would’ve been a heck of a lot easier to have this meeting virtual.” My long strides make it hard for my better half to keep up and I’d slow down but I don’t want my little rider to catch a chill.
To be honest, I want my family safely inside. As I turn, a tiny wet mitten slaps my face, and my son laughs. “Giddy up da-da.”
“You missed your calling. You should’ve been a pony.” My woman looks lovelier than I ever recall and as I open the door, I kiss her cheek.
“Love you, babe.”
“You, too.” She convinces me to stop for coffee and after chatting with the guard, we ride the elevator. Once upstairs, I squat so she can slip the little guy from the backpack.
“Well, what do you know? You brought me a new employee.” When Slate lifts Mikey and tosses him in the air, Sam and I share an astounded look.
My boss lost his first wife and babe in a car accident during his last deployment. Most often, he avoids interacting with children. I hope he’s made peace with his past.
Grinning, I ignore the change in him and walk him down the hall. “This kid will be an amazing asset. He gets away with murder.”
In the conference room, I strap my boy in a toddler seat behind a stack of extra-large Legos, while our host points out a box in the closet. “My mother got tired of storing toys and sent them here.”
“Thanks. I’m sure your new hire appreciates it.”
“Blah, blah, blah.” As my boy bangs his cubes on the table, his mom sits and tries to explain.
“He’s not being rude. That’s what he calls blocks.”
Slate opens his laptop and moments later, a bright image of a Smart Sissy doll appears on the back wall. Her Muppet-like mouth grins atop a soft fuzzy body. Others might think she’s cute, but I’d just as soon blow every one of them all to kingdom come.
Leaning back in his chair, my boss makes a finger triangle, and presses the tips to his nose. “Before we get started, there’s something you should know. The opiates soaked in the stuffing are much more dangerous than we first believed.”
Sam’s mouth opens and her eyes widen. “I thought it was less lethal. A small dose and the user falls asleep.”
Our friend frowns, clicks a button, and a graph pops up. “At first, it appeared to be the case, but you can see here, deaths are rising at an alarming rate.”
“We need to get this shit off the street.” She shakes her head and her blond locks fly. “This is all my fault. We should’ve informed the DEA as soon as we found the drug.”
“Water under the bridge, sugar. All we can do now is make it right which brings me to the reason we stopped by.”
Sam covers her mouth. “Oh my God, that’s right, I almost forgot about our new client.”
