Road to Respect ~ Sopranos

Chapter 5

Joseph

"Shouldn't you be asleep?" Joey asked as he walked down the stairs late at night. He saw AJ playing Mario Kart on his Nintendo thing.

"Shouldn't you?" AJ asked without looking at him.

Joey just rubbed his eyes and went into the kitchen to grab two beers. "Here." He said walking back into the living room. AJ grabbed the beer and opened it while Joey flopped down on the couch. "You suck." He said dryly while looking at the fifth place symbol in the corner of the screen.

"So do you."

Joey snorted and sipped his beer when Tony walked inside. "What are you doing up? You got school tomorrow."

"Workin' on my high score." AJ told his father.

"Did your mother go to bed?" Tony asked.

"Yeah. Where were you?" AJ asked. Joey chuckled as he could smell the perfume from where he was laying down.

Tony sent him a look. "The compactor went down at Barone Sanitation." Tony tossed his jacket onto Joey and sat down next to AJ. "Move over." He grabbed the extra controller and started to play the game with him while Joey used his jacket as a blanket and slowly started to doze off.

...

He felt someone shake him awake, and when he looked up, he saw Carmela. "Phone for you."

Joey grumbled and grabbed the phone from her hand. "Hello?"

"Joey?" Chris's strained and hushed voice called out. "I need your help."

"I'm not bailing you out." Joey said as he rolled over to sit down. He ran a hand over his face and saw that it was noon.

"I don't need to be bailed out, asshole." Chris told him. "I just need some help. Come to the hospital." He then hung up before Joey could tell him to fuck off.

It took a couple hours to get there but when he walked into the lobby his eyes immediately snapped to Adriana. She had her blond hair tied back and wore a low-cut green shirt and white pants. "Hey Beautiful."

Adriana rolled her eyes and crossed her arms, making her look serious but Joey was more focused on her breasts that were pushed up by the action. "Chris is in the bathroom."

Joey sighed and looked around the lobby, he always hated hospitals. "Why did he call me?" He walked over to the vending machine they were by and got a water bottle.

"Just in case Tony tries to do something." She answers.

Joey just looked confused until Chris walked out of the bathroom. He had on a large neck brace that went from his sternum to his chin. The two stared at each other for a moment before Joey burst out laughing. "Shut up!"

Joey ignored him and had to put his hands on his knees to keep from falling over. "You...ha ha... You look like an uncircumcised penis!"

"I shouldn't have called you." Chris grumbled as Joey started to calm down.

"Why did you?" Joey asked as he followed Chris and Andria outside.

Chris ignored him and hid behind a pillar outside the hospital. "Where's you park?" Chris asked.

Adriana pulled out a cigarette and tried to light it. "In the parking lot." Joey grabbed the cigarette from her mouth and threw it in the trash before she could light it. "What the fuck?"

Joey ignored her and looked to Chris. "What the hell is going on?"

"They could have followed you." Chris says to Adriana, ignoring Joey's question.