Page 9 of Give Me What You Will

Yeah, you should’ve.

Frankie bit his tongue and finished his beer right as the bartender appeared with another round.

“Hey Jamie, do you mind bringing us a shot of Jameson?” Sammy asked the bartender, who glanced worriedly at him as he casually wiped away his tears on his shoulder sleeve. The bartender nodded, then came back a minute later, clasped Sammy’s shoulder affectionately, and left without a word.

“Drink,” Frankie ordered and held out his shooter. “To the best damn pittie in Boston. May she rest in peace and chase every fuckin’ squirrel in heaven.”

Sammy straightened, eyes red and wet, but held out his shot glass. “Nona. I love you, girl.”

They tapped their glasses and took their shot.

The whiskey burned Frankie’s chest, and he wished it would burn away his grief, too, but he knew it would be there for a while longer. He smirked, setting the shooter down, eyes flickering over Sammy. “You remember that time she got skunked? Fuckin’ poor girl didn’t know what to do.”

Sammy’s body relaxed visibly, grinning back. “Oh, the hell she didn’t. She swung that thing around by its tail in the backyard! She knew exactly what she was doing. You were the one who didn’t know what the fuck to do!”

Frankie burst out laughing. “Fuck, of course not! That skunk was spraying fuckin’ everywhere! It smelled like skunk for months in the fuckin’ backyard. I yelled at her to stop, but she never listened. Dear Christ, I was bent over vomiting by the time you showed up, and then you couldn’t stop laughin’ at me.”

Sammy laughed, his handsome face lighting up in a way that Frankie couldn’t look away from. “It was a pretty terrible sight. You were covered in vomit, and she, still wagging her tail, was soaked in skunk oil. My nostrils were burning for weeks after that.”

“She got her punishment for it, though. The kids at the park wouldn’t touch her with a ten-foot pole.”

Sammy nodded, “She loved kids, and they loved her.”

“I ain’t never to this day seen a dog melt lookin’ at a baby.”

“The way she sat next to the twins,” Sammy murmured, still smiling. “Tony brought them by your garage, and she just sat right next to the stroller, and yeah… melted.”

“She should’ve been a mom,” he replied.

“She would’ve been a great mom.”

Frankie’s throat once more closed up.

“I’m sorry I didn’t get a chance to say goodbye to her,” Sammy whispered, tears once more forming beneath his bright green eyes.

“Yeah, I know,” Frankie said. “But she knew she was loved. And she had a good life, that’s all that matters.”

Silence descended on them as Sammy collected himself, slipping her tag into his pocket and taking another sip of his fresh beer.

“How come you didn’t say goodbye to me?” Frankie asked quietly. “Like I get it, you were upset about Papi and…” he hesitated, waving his hand, “all that shit. But c’mon, man, you didn’t tell me you were leavin’ to LA the day after Papi’s service.”

Sammy sucked in a long breath. “I got called in early, didn’t have time…”

“Bullshit,” Frankie snapped in a low tone. “Bull-fucking-shit, and you know it.”

Anger twitched around Sam’s pursed lips.

“My mom kept askin’ about you,” Frankie said, deciding to turn the screw of guilt on his best friend. “Took it personally that you didn’t stop by to pay your respects. She fed you, sheltered you, paid for a semester of your college when you couldn’t get your financial aid shit figured out in time…”

Sammy’s eyes turned to daggers.

“You know better than—”

“Stop, just fucking stop,” Sammy hissed through gritted teeth. “I know I fucked up. I know, and I’m sorry. I’m truly sorry. I’ve spent the last eight months beating myself up for how everything went down. I’m not interested in hearing it from you, too.”

Frankie stared at him and gave a short nod.

They finished their hot dogs and beers in silence before finally, after a good buzz going on and a stomach full of hot dogs, Frankie let out a sigh. He would not let this night go to shit. He had waited too long to see Sammy. He should’ve hopped on a plane the next day and chased his ass down to fix this.