Greek Runaway

Εικοσι δυο(Twenty Two)

3rd Person's POV

-Year 2006-

Larry Daley, a local of New York, is in need of a job. He runs across the street to his car. Which has been ticketed, and has a wheel clamp around the tire.

"Oh, come on." He said. He needs to get to his son's school to pick him up. He tried jumping on the clamp to get it off and had no luck. He then decided to jog to the school. "Hey, Mike!" He said to the man who was outside the school.

"Hey, Larry. How are you doing?" He asked.

"Have you seen Nicky?"

"I'm pretty sure he went home with Erica. It was half-day today. Parent Career Day." Larry sighed and went to his ex-wife's house and knocked waiting for her answer.

"Hey." He said as she opened the door.

"Hey. Come on in. You all right?" She asked him.

"Yeah, yeah. Why didn't anyone tell me it was Career Day?" He asked.

"What do you mean? Nicky said he was going to tell you." Erika said.

"Oh, okay I guess he forgot."

"There he is. How are you, Larry?" Don, Erika's fiance said coming into the room.
"Good. How are you doing Don?" Larry asked.

"Good." There was an awkward silence between all three adults. "Can you believe this weather? Chilly, right? Chilly, chilly, Chilly Willy the penguin." Don said. Then of Don's phones on his belt started to ring. He sighed. "Leave me alone." He muttered to himself. "Hey, why don't I go tell the little corncob you're here." He said leaving the room.

"Great. Great, that's great. Yeah, thanks." Larry said to him. He then followed Erika into the kitchen. "Wow, your fiance really manages to squeeze a lot into the belt."

"Stop," Erika said scolding Larry.

"What? No, it's like he's...the Batman of stockbrokers."

"Bond trader," Erika corrected.

"Bond trader. Sorry."

"Hey, how's it going with that virtual-reality driving range that you wanted to open?" Erika asked.

"Getting there, still waiting for the technology to catch up. It's not easy. There's a lot of moving parts." Larry said as Erika gave him a look while he explained the driving range. "Hey, do you think Nick would like Queens?" Larry asked.

"Oh, no, Larry. You didn't get evicted again, did you?" Erika asked him with concern.

"I didn't...get evicted. I didn't get evicted, no. I mean, I didn't... No, I didn't get evicted yet. It's like..." He stuttered out.

"Larry, listen to me. I don't know how much more of this Nicky can take." She said concerned for Nicky. "Every couple months, it's a new career, a new apartment. If it wasn't for Nicky, I wouldn't say anything, I would stay out of it." She said lecturing Larry. "It's just too much instability. It's not good for him."

"It's just trying to figure things out right now, okay?"

"You know...I don't think Nicky should stay with you." Erika suggested.

"What?" Larry asked hurt.

"Just until you get really settled." She said. Then Nicky came out and the conversation was over.

"Hey, Dad." Nicky said.

"Hey, ready to carve it up?"

"Cool." Nicky got the stuff he needed for his hockey game and said goodbye to his mom and Don before Nicky and Larry were walking to the outdoor rink for his game.

Nicky went over by his team to get ready to warm up, and Larry went to stand in the stands with the test of the parents, managing to gain a front-row seat.

"All right, good! Take it, Nicky! Breakaway!" Larry yelled. Then Nicky was tripped and Larry was then sliding across the ice to him.

"What are you doing?" A parent yelled in annoyance.

"Hey, Nicky! Are you alright? You okay?"

"I'm fine. Would you get off the ice?" Nicky asked. Larry brought him closer.

"Listen. Their left defenseman is a very weak skater. So you go left side, you got a clear shot at the goal. Okay?" Larry said telling him cheats.

"Cool. Thanks." Nicky said. And Larry stood up.

"We're good here. We're good. All right as you were, skaters." Larry slid back by the rink side. "Game on!" The whistle was blown and the puck was hit and went right at Larry's face. He fell over because of the hit. "I'm good."

Soon Nicky's game was over and they were walking through the park talking about the game.

"I'm telling you, you tore it up out there today. Thinking the NHL is a serious possibility." Larry said proud of his son.

"I don't really want to be a hockey player anymore." Nicky said.

"All right, what do you wanna be?"

"A bond trader."

"A bond trader?" Larry asked suprised.

"Yeah, it's what Don does. He took to his office last week."

"That's cool. So you wanna dress up in a monkey suit and tie everyday?" Larry asked. "Like an automaton robot?" He asked in a robot voice making Nicky laugh. "Trust me, you can't play hockey in a cubical. Kind of awkward."

"Well he's got a pretty big office." Nicky said trying to prove his point.

"That's not the point. Come on, you love hockey."

"I still like it, but bond trading's my fallback."

"Your fallback? Wait a minute. You're too young to have a fall back, okay? And also, where did you even hear that word."

"Mom was talking to Don about all you different schemes." Nicky told him.

"She called them schemes?"

"She said it was time you found a fallback. Are you really moving again?" Nicky asked sadily.

"I don't know. We'll see. I mean...there's some pretty cool places out in Queens." Larry said trying to reason with Nicky.

"Yeah."

"Hey. Hey, Nicky, look at me. Look at me, man. I wanna tell you something. I know that things have been kind of up and down for me lately...and that's been hard for you. But I really feel like my moment's coming and when it does...everything's just going to come together, you know?"

"What if you're wrong...and you're just an ordinary guy who should just get a job?" Nicky asked.

"All right, well..you know what, we'll figure it out, okay? All right? Come on let's get you back to Mom's."