323 Tender Way

He was one to talk. Nothing besides ink was sacred in this shop.

"Lay off me, Ozzie. She isn't some random chick. You know me better than that. Ten fuckin' years and you think I’m coming off my dry spell with some random I ran into on the street? I’ve got a lot more control than that. You should know, man.”

We were cut from the same cloth, and we’d worked too fuckin hard to let any dumb mistakes ruin us. Part of my recovery process was taking control and making careful decisions, not being a slave to an addiction that made all of your decisions for you.

"I brought you animals breakfast," Pearl, Ozzie's mother yelled from the entrance.

"At least someone from your family isn't insufferable, "I yelled back. I whacked Ozzie in his arm before heading to the front.

When Pearl saw me, she smiled. I put my arms out for a hug. She wrapped her arms around me while she was holding a small carton of milk. I smiled at how she still thought we were five years old.

"You got any cookies to go with this?” I asked, taking the milk carton from her.

"You know I do," she said. She set down a large bag and opened it up. I wasn't sure why she thought Ozzie and I didn't, or for some reason weren’t capable of feeding ourselves, but every day, like clockwork, she'd come in with a bagged lunch.

"Can't let my boys starve."

Maybe it was her way of keeping an eye on us.

"You know we're grown-ass men, right, Ma?" Ozzie said, shaking his head.

"Grown ass men, still act like little boys."

"Ma," Ozzie said, waving his hand around the shop. "We've been grown for more than a minute. You see all this? We made it. It's ours."

Pearl waved Ozzie and his explanations away, she didn’t care what he said. As long as we ate it, she was still going to bring it. Truth was, I’d probably eat pizza everyday if it weren’t for Ozzie’s mom.

Turning back to me, she asked with concern veiling her bright blue eyes: "You all right, dear?"

"Yes. Fine. Thanks. Why is everyone asking' me that?" I asked, biting into a cookie. I groaned as it fell apart on my tongue. "Pearl, I think you need to close down the shop and open up a damn bakery. These may be your very best yet."

She patted my cheek with a wrinkled hand. "Such a sweet boy." Then she whacked me in the back of the head.

"Ouch, what the hell was that for, Pearl?" I asked. “I said they were good!”

"When you go all day without texting or calling anyone back, we worry. We’re family now so don’t you go bottling everything up inside, you hear? Your disappearance was what made me stay up all night and start cooking."

“Disappearance? What were you cooking for, my funeral?”

I turned to Ozzie, his eyes were already avoiding mine as he pretended to examine the contents of the packed lunch.

"You fucking told your mom on me?"

Wack. Another hit from Pearl.

"Don't you worry what he said or didn't say. You know you can't just up and disappear. We worry about you. You're just lucky I didn't call your parents."

"Sorry," I said.

"Just don't do it again. Now, what could have possibly had you so busy that you couldn't even text Ozzie back?"

Oh crap, here we go.

"A girl," Ozzie chimed in before I could get a word out. "This time, it was a chick who led him astray, not a needle."

"A girl, Duke? Really? My heavens. She must be very special to catch your eye," Pearl said, beaming at me. "So let's hear all about her." She patted my hand.

"Ma, don't encourage the girls stuff," Ozzie growled. “I still need a partner at work I can depend on. Not some love-struck teenager who can’t act like an adult because he’s got a freaking crush.”

"You hush now, you hear, honey. The love of a good woman can do wonders for a man. Duke has been patient waiting for the right woman to show up."

Ozzie rolled his eyes. "Whatever you say, Ma. You watch too many soap operas."

Pearl tossed a Ziploc bag full of cookies at him. Ozzie caught them midair.

"You just put those in your mouth and hush up, son." Pearl then turned to me. "In the last ten years, I have seen woman after woman throw themselves at you, and not once have you looked their way twice. If this girl caught your eye, then you don't push her away. You follow your heart. This could be the real deal, Duke. I’m truly happy for you."

I smiled at Pearl and nodded. She loved a good love connection. I munched on the cookies as I thumbed the schedule book to look at all my appointments for the day. I knew that what Pearl said was right. It had been ten years. Ten years of every interaction with women feeling wrong, off-putting or just a challenge I wasn’t up for. My sponsor told me to take it slow, and fuck did I ever. But from the second I'd seen Madison failing epically in that coffee shop, I felt drawn to her. It was different, she was different and something clicked. I wouldn't normally have called off my entire day to help a complete stranger. I wasn't quite that selfless or outgoing, or even that creative. But with her, I think I would have stopped oncoming traffic with my chest if it meant I got to spend the day with her. I loved her wit, her charm, the badass attitude that fit her like a glove. But I now knew she was ambitious and smart, passionate about what she wanted for her future. She was also seven years my junior and pretty fucking innocent compared to the hell I’d walked through.