Red's Family Diner

Chapter 17

January 11th, 1968

Wilbur Beloved —

The crisp cool air of New York City blasted past the airport doors as Drew chuckled. "It's cold." He said, bundling himself up more. His voice broke into a small shiver. The snow was still present on the ground as I grinned. "We made it in time kiddo. Look." I said as I held our luggage out. Ever since the discovery of Red's body, the media has spiraled out of control. The nagging at Maddie's place ruined my breakdown area. Luckily they assumed all the broken bottles and cigarette buds from the homeless people around. The constant flashing of cops asking around the Diner, asking questions of me and Glam's relationship with Red. Mostly them nagging me about my dead marriage also. It was a selfish reason to come back to New York. To grab traces and remains of Maddie to be left alone. The other was to educate Drew, he was old enough to understand now and I want him to live with a sense of freedom. After all the damage I've caused to him. "Can we go to the Times Square?" Drew asked, turning to look up at me. I smiled, nodding, as I called up a taxi.

Walking with the hoard of other commuters felt almost surreal. I'm back in New York. I held Drew's hand tight through the crowd crush as we managed to appear in the main square. The smell of pizza lifted in the air as Drew chuckled. "It smells so good here." He commented as I glanced around a bit. The paranoia still reeked on me, especially in crowded places. My ears softly played a relapse of Edith's scream–before I snapped myself out of it. "Want to try the pizza? It's the best in the whole country." I boasted with a large grin as Drew nodded. I wanted to make Drew learn about my roots–as a sort of good heads up to not end up in the same boat as his old man. "How many would you like?" spoke the cart owner as I thought for a while. "Maybe 2 slices huh?" I asked, turning to face Drew quickly. My hands dug into my coat pocket for a 20 and slapped it onto the counter. The man took it and turned his back to pick some fresh slices that sat for a while. Cooling down. "Here you go, sir! I hope you enjoy it!" The man spoke as I thanked them and handed the slice to Drew. His mouth watered. "These are massive!" He spoke, a wide smile contained his face making me laugh. "Like I told you. The best." I said as we ate and walked towards Central Park to sit.

New York never changed, from the small bands performing to blues singing and swaying. 'Chicago' by Frank Sinatra was played gently by a nearby band–maybe the 2nd band we both watched enter right after the other. Drew bobbed his head to the music as I found myself chewing on the same piece. Was it because of the immense repetition of fear? Was it rather stupid to return to New York with yet another child? It didn't matter. This time I'm present. No pesky rats to steal my kid from me. "Dad, why do we always walk around the manhole covers?" Drew asked, his mouth slightly full as he swallowed. "Uh...you never know when you can fall in one kid. Like your old man had done once when he was younger." I said as Drew chuckled slightly. "That's funny, I can imagine you falling like the drawings in those newspapers." He said as I looked to the side. "I guess you can," I replied taking another bite out of my pizza. You should show him the old house. I shifted my posture slightly as I faced Drew head-on again. "Do you want to see Mom and Dad's old home? Ooh–I should go see if I could get in contact with Grandma again." I spoke, muttering the last bit to myself as Drew's eyes lightened up. "Really?! I want to see that!" He said as I smiled. "Maybe tomorrow, it's getting pretty late and I have no idea if it's still even up." That was a lie, I still keep in contact with the landlord and he's told me stories. Maybe since we're already here I might as well collect some final photo albums I haven't scorned in my drunken rant to Maddie's. Picking up valuable memories and keeping them for myself. "Tomorrow?! I can't wait though! Please–can we go now?" Drew cried, pleading with his eyes and clapping his hands together. Almost like he was about to pray to me for a chance. I rolled my eyes jokingly as I shrugged. "I guess so since you're asking so nicely," I spoke as Drew grinned. "Yay!"