It was obvious Ford was trying to goad him into an argument, but Adriano didn’t take the bait. Instead, he asked, “What was your objective in coming here, Ford? Did you feel like picking a fight? If so, you wasted your time, because I’m not doing that anymore.”
“No, of course I didn’t come here to pick a fight. I came to ask you for another chance.” Oh, hell. Now I felt bad for the guy. He pressed on with, “We hadfour yearstogether! That has to count for something.”
Adriano’s tone turned sympathetic. “It’s too late,” he said gently. “I’m in love with Jack. He’s everything to me, and I plan to spend the rest of my life with him.”
“How can you say that, after such a short time?”
“Time has nothing to do with it. You and I proved how irrelevant it is. We were never right, and we were never going to be, no matter how much time we invested. Sometimes I think we stayed together out of habit more than anything, and because it seemed easier than getting back out there and starting from scratch.”
“Maybe…”
“Do yourself a favor, Ford. Accept the fact that you and I failed. Actually, that’s probably another reason we stayed together so long, and why you’re here now—because you feel like you have to succeed at everything. But failure isn’t a bad thing. Look at it as a chance to learn and grow.”
After a pause, Ford said, “I guess you’re right. So, do you think you and I can be friends?”
Adriano told him, “We already are,” which I thought was sweet.
They spoke for another minute or two, and after Ford took off, Adriano appeared at the foot of the stairs. He grinned when he saw me sitting there and said, “I suppose you heard everything.”
“I was just being efficient. Now you don’t have to tell me what he wanted.”
He climbed the stairs and knelt down on one that nearly put us at eye level. Then he pulled me close and kissed me before saying, “I’m sorry if Ford dropping by like that made you uncomfortable.”
“It didn’t, actually. I was intimidated by him when we met, but I’m not anymore because I’m confident in our relationship. Now, I just feel bad for the guy.”
“Why is that?”
“Because a terrible thing happened to him—he had the greatest man in the world, and he let you slip away.”
Adriano grinned as he got to his feet and helped me up. “Come on, let’s finish getting ready,” he said. “We have a fancy chartered plane to catch.”
* * *
The plane really was ridiculously nice—so much different than economy class, which was what I was used to. All of us drank Bloody Marys, laughed, and told stories all the way to San Francisco, and I was feeling no pain by the time we arrived.
The Dombrusos offered to drive us to our destination, but we opted to take a cab and promised we’d join them for Sunday dinner. Then I brought Adriano to the crappy building that had been my home for a couple of months. Wow, was I evernotgoing to miss this place.
When we pulled up out front and saw a bunch of kids sitting on the steps, Adriano joked, “Oh look, a kid gang.”
“For real, though. They’re a bunch of baby delinquents. See the one with buzzed off blond hair? That’s who stole your watch from me. And look, the little shit’s still wearing it! I can’t believe no one’s taken it from him.”
Adriano turned to me as I slid down in the seat to stay hidden, and a huge smile spread across his face. “That’s who took the watch? A scrawny ten year old?”
“He’s at least eleven. Maybe even twelve.” When he started laughing, I said, “See why I didn’t tell you? We need a plan. If he sees me, that mini demon is going to take off running, and we might never catch him.”
“Let me handle this. You just stay here.” He asked the cab driver to pop the trunk, and then he went and got something out of his luggage.
When he approached the group of kids, they eyed him suspiciously. I couldn’t hear what he said to them, but then the boy slipped the watch off his skinny wrist and traded it for some sort of large package. The tiny hoodlums were talking excitedly as they all rushed into the building with whatever he’d given them.
I asked the cabbie to keep the meter running before joining Adriano. As we went inside, I asked, “How’d you do that?”
“It was easy. I traded him for something he considered more valuable than the watch.” While he was talking, he unraveled a thick bundle of yarn from the Rolex’s band. So that was how the kid had kept it from falling off.
“I can’t even begin to guess what that was.”
“The latest generation PlayStation, which hasn’t hit the stores yet. Never mind that it cost a fraction of what the watch is worth. To a kid, it’s pure gold.”
“Was that meant for your brothers’ kids?”