Regrets

Epilogue: Love Her Madly

"Regrets". Epilogue: "Love Her Madly".

2016.

Barney Ross woke up that morning to the sun shining in through his bedroom window. He cringed at the rays of light that shown through the blinds and onto his face and into his eyes. He shut his eyes for a moment and turned over before sitting up on the edge of his bed. He let out a tired grunt as he got up- both from his tired state and from his increasing age. He laughed lightly to himself at the thought, then continued on with his usual morning routine.

That same morning, an hour before noon hit, Barney's cell phone began to ring in his pocket. He couldn't tell it was his phone at first; after too much persistence from the newer kids he'd hired, as well as his nieces and nephews, he finally got the newest phone on the market. Sure, he'd figured out the basic systems and functions and had been taught how to properly use things on it, but he was pretty sure he'd never get used to the ringtones that these smartphones had on them. The little jazz piano riff, ducks quacking, even birds chirping. Whatever happened to the regular ringing like on the old home phones?

Barney stopped his motorcycle and pulled off to the side of the road and pulled his phone out from his pocket. "Hello?" he asked in greeting.

"Fine way to greet your favorite niece, Uncle Barney," Adriana- his sister's first child and his first niece- laughed from the other end.

He couldn't help but laugh. "Hey, Adriana. Since when do you make such an early phone call?"

"Well, I have since I had my first son eleven years ago, but I just never call you early." There was tease in her voice.

"Fair enough. So what's the occasion?"

"I'm with my mom and she says that she got a call from some woman who says she knows you today."

A woman? Barney thought confusedly, Have there been any women I met lately? He almost laughed at that last thought. For one thing, he always remembered every single woman he had been involved with in one way or another in his life. He figured that was cause of the respect that his mother, God rest her soul, had beat it into him that men were supposed to respect women, no matter what.

"Did she give a name?" Barney asked curiously.

"No," Adriana answered, "We only have the number she used and where she said she wants to meet you."

"She wants to meet up with me? Where and when?"

"That bar in town you always go to with the rest a' the Expendables. She said tonight, around seven, I think. I could give her the number she called us from if you want."

Barney agreed and got the number of the mystery woman from his oldest niece. The two bid each other a playful goodbye, going along with their usual banter; he'd always had a good relationship with his first niece. The two had a closer relationship with one another ever since she was a kid than he'd had with her siblings or her cousins. After hanging up the call, he started his motorcycle back up and continued to drive on. He drove in a blissful silence, the only sound around him being the engine of his bike, the sounds of nature around him, and the muffled sounds of people and other vehicles on the streets around him. This continued until he reached the familiar tattoo shop and stopped his motorcycle in the small lot.

After the argument between Tool and Barney back in 1976, they eventually made up- with a little help from those around them. The two were like brothers, and they decided that they were both being more childish than usual, and not in a good way. By the time they got back to New Orleans from Arizona that year, the two were friends again.