“Perfect, let’s go.”
I nod at Rain, who was sitting at a table with some customers and ask her to cover the bar counter for a bit. She nods and comes while Patrick, Jay and I go back to find Liam.
“What’s going on? What’s with the long faces?” Liam asks.
“I have to talk to you.”
“Should we be worried?” Patrick raises an eyebrow.
“I’m not sure.”
“Okay,” Jay adds. “Spit it out.”
I take a deep breath and with my heart in my hand and with all of the sincerity I am capable of, hope that they will give me the understanding and support I’ve always enjoyed.
“The time has come,” I say in a solemn tone. “It’s time for everyone to take his own road, and for me to take mine.”
Liam gives me one of his grins.
“You’re doing this for her?”
“I’m doing it for me. I am not going back on all these years together, our friendship or our family, but I am saying that the time has come for me to think about myself, what I want and what my future will be.”
Silence falls over us. It’s not one of those silences that are full of things left unsaid, the kind that oppresses you and makes it hard to breathe. It’s a silence filled with awareness, acceptance and support.
“I’m happy for you,” Patrick says, smiling. “Really, it’s about time, Aaron. We were all so worried about you. We were afraid that this day might never come and that you would be here taking care of us your whole life without realizing that your life was going down the toilet. I’m happy that you have finally decided to think about the future. You deserve it.”
I nod gratefully but can’t speak.
“And I’m happy that my sister is the architect behind it all.”
“Really?”
“It’s not that I’m happy toseeyou or think that you… Oh God, help me. How do you deal with this, Liam? Aaron, I feel this need to kill you every time I see you, so, Liam, how were you able to not choke him in his sleep?”
“Hey!” Liam jumps to his feet with pretend resignation.
“Oh, you’ll get used to it.”
“I suppose you’re right, and I don’t think I would have allowed anyone else to be near her.”
“Thanks for your trust.”
Patrick stands up and gives me a slap on the back.
“Make her happy, Okay? Or else—”
“You’ll kill me, I got it.”
“I’ll hang you by your balls on one of those lamp posts on the pier waiting for the gulls to come over and—”
“Clear. It’s a very clear picture, thank you.”
Patrick nods and sits back down, happy things are not ambiguous.
“We’ll always be a family,” Jay says standing up to hug me. “Four Reasons To Die, forever,” he says, stepping aside and offering me his hand.
Liam and Patrick follow suit. I look at their hands, one on the other for a few seconds and then add mine to theirs.
“Forever,” I say.
Nothing lasts forever, that’s what I’ve been telling myself for the last thirty years and now I’m ready to admit to myself in front of the whole world that there are some things that are forever.
There’s friendship, and family.
There’s love.
Love is forever.
She is forever.
