Page 376 of Devil’s Disciples

I’d always given Reno a little less recognition than the other men. I suspected it was because we’d been friends since childhood, and that he came along later in life. Learning of his courage, the narrow escape from death, and of his devotion, I now viewed him with a higher level of admiration than I had in the past.

“So, if it wasn’t for you, Reno wouldn’t be standing here?” I asked.

“Hard saying,” Crip responded. “Gung-ho SOB might have fought them off with a handful of rocks. Wouldn’t have surprised me one fucking bit.”

I glanced at Reno and gave a mental nod.

He stood before me as proof that a man never really knows who a person is until he takes the time to get to know them. Subsequently, if a man doesn’t invest that time or effort, he might be surprised with what he finds out in the end.

There was one person in my life that I knew little about.

It was time for that to change.

137

Ally

Side by side on the concrete bench, we gazed at the ocean while drinking beers. The sweet smell of the surrounding flowers lingered lightly in the air.

“I’ve got a question,” he said. “A few of them.”

I glanced at him. “Okay.”

“What’s your biggest accomplishment in life?”

The question took me by complete surprise. I wasn’t one to brag about anything. Beaming over my life’s accomplishments wasn’t my way of doing things. Luckily, I hadn’t accomplished much. At least nothing worth making note of.

“Moving from Connecticut to California, I suppose.”

“That’s your biggest accomplishment?”

I shrugged. “I think it’s huge. For me, anyway.”

“Why?”

“It took guts. I have no family here. I know no one. I left my only family member buried in Bridgeport. Yeah. I’d say coming here is my biggest accomplishment.”

“Who was your childhood hero, and who is your hero now?”

“That’s an easy one,” I said. “For both. My father.”

“Why?”

“I don’t place people I don’t know on pedestals. Actors. Actresses. Sports figures. I don’t know who they are. How could I look up to any of them? Despite his faults, my father is the only one worthy of that label. He adhered to a system of beliefs that I admired, and still live by today.”

“Okay,” he said. “Next question. When was the last time you sang to yourself?”

I laughed. “This morning.”

“In the shower?” he asked.

“No. While I put on my makeup. I sing to myself all the time. There’s never anyone around to hear me, so it’s probably more often than you’d think.”

“Last one,” he said. “At least I think it’ll be the last. You pay in cash at the grocery store, and the checker gives you fifty bucks too much in change. You don’t realize it until you’re at the bar with your friends. When you get in your purse to get your lipstick, or whatever. Do you keep the money, or give it back?”

“Give it back.”

“Why?”