The Beginning

Nicky

Roni's sparkling golden heel kicked me beneath the table. I'd smoked a joint before dinner, hoping it'd be more enjoyable. Turned out, they'd wrangled me with the promise of dinner and brought me to place that couldn't satisfy. High end was nice and it made you feel important, but rarely was it ever filling. Now, I was hungry and bored.

"Don't kick me, asshole." I sneered at her.

"Be present, dickhead." She shot back.

"Again, Nicky?" Uncle Dominic called on me like a kindergartener. He'd been talking for the last hour about Rico. Going as far as sharing memories and lamenting about his death, but no further. We all knew why we were there. Family meetings weren't held every Sunday to talk about our feelings.

"Is this the vigil or are we here to do business?" I wondered.

Uncle Dom leaned forward, resting his forearms on the table. "We can do both. We allow our loved ones to laugh, to cry, to eat and drink. We wait for their emotions to settle and we see them out. Then the real work begins."

"There's a seating chart for a reason, Uncle Dom. Can we just cut to the chase?"

"Nicky." Roni warned from deep in her gut.

"Roni." I kissed my teeth.

"Dominic." My mom stared daggers from the other end of the table.

"Sorry, mama." I rolled my eyes. I felt the air pressure change. My head tilted left narrowly avoiding the shoe that flew over my head.

"Can you feel it when a butterfly beats its wings over the equator, too?" Oscar asked sarcastically, yet in awe of the sixth sense I possessed.

My hand snapped to catch the second incoming slipper. I stood to collect them both. I knelt at my mom's feet and put both her shoes back on. She settled for clapping her small, chubby hand to the back of my head. "Don't you roll your eyes at me."

"Yes mama." I relented. I turned my back to her, rolled my eyes again, and headed to my seat.

"Quit." Roni snapped at Marc, Ozzy and I. "You guys are being awful."

"Nicky's right, Ron. Who gives a shit?" Ozzy whispered to her. "Rico was the worst of us. I used to think it was you but—ow!" He didn't get a chance to finish his sentence. Roni reached over and tugged the baby hair on the nape of his neck.

I started to laugh, but Roni's sharp knuckle separated my shoulder. I hissed and rubbed away the pain. "Jesus, Ron."

"You have been stressing me the hell out since we got off that airplane." She admitted through her teeth. "I get that we're not in California anymore, but that doesn't mean the problems aren't there, Nicky. Have you even called to check in?"

"That's why I have you." I smiled pleasantly. It earned me another shot in the arm. "It's been twenty-four hours, Veronica. You think anyone is going to bother chasing me here? They're going to sway the people who're already there. We're just going to do a little clean up when we get back. Can you do me a favor and enjoy life for the rest of this meal? Please."

She took a displeased breath. "I wish we'd stayed home."

For a second, I wanted to agree with her. I knew why Uncle Dom brought us together for a second night in a row. He wanted to ask me to take Rico's spot in Colburn. My place in California was too cushy to give up. I'd spent a lot of time building the same rapport we'd built over the decades in Colburn. I couldn't give up the hard work and dedication that I'd put into the city of Riverside. The grants I'd applied for, the charity we'd provided out of pocket, and the sleazy government officials we extorted to take care of such expenses. Life was good, and I was even better.