5. Chapter Five
Chapter Five
The first time he worked was on the third night after he was at the pub. Murphy wanted him to work with Goldie and once Goldie laid things out for him, he stared at all the bottles in a daze. Goldie waved a hand over them in the back bar, and Liam heard his words, but none of them penetrated his mind.
“When you get good, you can hold all the liquor bottles in two hands for a Long Island, Scorpion, and those kinds of drinks. Shots, you gotta pour fast, so set them on the black plastic with the holes at the bar, pour and the excess runs off into the drain.”
“Long Island? Scorpion? I, uh, never did this and all I’ve ever drank is shots and beer.”
“Hey, that was most of us when we got here, Cosmo.”
“Do you really have to call me that?”
Goldie jerked his head to the end of the bar, where there were two stools for the bartenders. They sat and Goldie explained, “Listen, it took me a long time to get used to mine too. There are a ton of reasons for it, having these names. Number one, though, you’ll get the first night, I guarantee it. A lot of guys, and women too, for that matter, come here just for us. They could go to any bar to drink and listen to music. It’s us they come here for, and some get…a little more into us than most others do. If they knew our names, they’d look up our social media, get our names from those people-finding sites and find out everything about us.”
Liam heard that and immediately swallowed his shock. “I never thought of that.”
“It happened to the first couple guys Murphy had here, including Eazy. If you ever think it’s not a big deal, ask him about it. I wear Gold Rush with pride now, but prefer Goldie,” he said with a deep, resounding chuckle.
“Gold Rush? That’s a drink?”
“Sure! Hypnotic, Haze, as in Purple Haze, Absinthe, all of them are drinks or liquors. Murphy thought of it, and it’s a good idea. We also like to have us be different colors, like a rainbow. It’s easier to keep up with us. Our files and everything are under our colors. Mine is yellow or gold, yours is red, and so on.”
“I get it. Makes sense and it’s a little less dull than, say, Blondie and Baldy.”
“Hey,” he shouted, laughing. “I’m not actually bald!”
“Are you kidding? Bald guys are fire.”
Goldie winked at him, and Liam swooned a little. “Stop that flirting,” Goldie warned.
“Right. Right, right.”
Goldie spent the afternoon showing him things, including the tablet that brought up drinks he didn’t know how to make, which was most of them.
“This saved all of us, but it’s best to practice on your weekday nights. Even come in while one of the others is working during the week. Once you get in a groove, it comes almost naturally.”
Goldie seemed confident that he could learn, but Liam wasn’t as confident. There were thousands of drinks. When the old men came in, Mick soon joined them, and they all drank dark beer and told old stories of their youth. It was a good, slow day and Goldie had him take the tablet to his room that night to look through the drinks.
Everything under the sun was in there, and yes, all colors and drinks that had no color at all, like classic martinis. He’d heard of them, of course, but had never had one and didn’t know what the hell vermouth was.
Still, he remembered the drinks Goldie told him they got orders for most, and he had a few of them memorized before he fell asleep that night.
The next morning, he went to the gym in the basement and got in a workout before heading up to the kitchen to get coffee and something to eat. Just as he was opening the fridge, Eazy came into the room and said, “The eggs and bacon are everyone’s, but I need you to make me a list of what you need today. I’m heading to the store in an hour.”
“What I need?”
“Sure! Personal care like shampoo, deodorant, and make sure it’s good. You really work up a sweat on the weekends. Um, foods you like, fruits, bread, cereal, whatever. You can buy your own once you get your pay, but for now, I’ll get what you need.”
“Thanks. I…I’ll make a list.”
“And come by later. You can see the kids. We like the guys to get to know them, so they aren’t scared of the new people.”
Kids were another thing that brought up terrible memories. But, for the time being…
“Sure. I’ll head up after I eat and shower.”
“Okay, great. Everyone marks their food with these,” Eazy said as he pulled out one of the kitchen drawers in the last cabinet. “Here,” he said as he handed them to Liam.
Liam took them and saw they were circular stickers. Three colors, red, purple, and green. “Goldie told me everything was color coded here.”
“Five or six guys, we had to have some organization,” Eazy said with a laugh. “I hope you don’t hate red. You’ll see it a lot.”
“No, it’s fine.”
“Good. When I bring your stuff for the bathroom and kitchen, stick one of these stickers on it. You guys know what’s yours, sure, but this helps. When you live with a lot of other people, anything that can keep arguments at bay is a good thing.”
That was smart. The entire setup was smart. He admired them, even if he wanted little to do with them. “Okay, I’ll use the stickers.”
Eazy eyed him for a minute, then moved to the stools and waved him over. In no mood for a lecture, he went unwillingly, but he had to keep up good will until he found a way out.
“Listen, Liam, I get it. This is…a lot. Murphy was a kid that got into a lot of trouble. He needs to help others that have lost their way, I guess. And no, it’s not all charity. In fact, it’s not charity at all. He will expect things, hard work being one. But, for now, it’s a lot, and you’re not expected to just jump on board immediately.”
For some reason, that made him feel much better. Eazy’s voice was like his name, easy and calming. “You must be a wonderful dad.”
“I’ve been told that, but I’ve never felt good at it. A lot of times, I’m struggling to do things right.”
Nodding, Liam said, “Take it from me. You likely are a lot better than you think.”
As Eazy watched the dark cloud move over Liam’s handsome face, he was reminded of Lip from Shameless. They had a lot in common looks-wise, but Eazy feared they were even more similar.
As in, having shitty parents.
“Make that list and I’ll stop back by to get it once I get the kids ready to head to the store.”
“Thanks. I’ll do that now.”
When Eazy was back in his own apartment, Katie came running into the living room, complaining about her brother. “Daddy, Micky is lost.”
“Lost? What do you mean?”
“Go see. It’s very unsettling.”
Unsettling. A big word for a little girl, but she paid too much attention to everything from television, to books, to adults speaking. There was always a surprise vocabulary word she threw around like it was normal.
“Unsettling. Got it. Take me.”
She was possibly the prettiest little girl he’d ever seen, and that wasn’t only bias because she was his daughter. She had pretty features from both sides of the two families. Light blue eyes that were haunting, blonde hair that was thick and curly, lighter skin, but all Eazy’s features.
Mick was the opposite, and every bit as beautiful. His hair and skin were darker, his eyes golden, like Eazy’s, but his features were all the Murphy family. Tiny nose, big, oval eyes, and long, thin fingers. He may come from Tally, but he was all Connor Murphy. Their genes were strong, to say the least.
As they ascended the stairs, Eazy asked, “I thought Daddy was up here with you.”
“He is, but you know Daddy, he’s…better doing other stuff.”
Eazy laughed, though he knew he shouldn’t. “Katherine, don’t talk about Daddy like that.”
“Why?”
Eazy wasn’t up for explaining. “Never mind.”
They got to Little Mick’s room, and Murphy was there, laughing while holding his belly. Little Mick was on the floor, struggling to get out of a sweater that Eazy had told Mick to put in the donation basket they kept in the hall closet weeks before.
He was stuck in the too-small sweater.
“Murphy! Why aren’t you helping him?”
Murphy lost his smile and looked totally guilty even as he tried to portray innocence. “He won’t let me!”
Eazy kneeled on the floor and helped Little Mick, but the boy rolled away from him. “Don’t help, Daddy!”
Eazy’s confusion was total. “What do you mean?”
“He knows we’ll take the sweater, and he’ll never see it again, and it’s his favorite,” Murphy explained.
It became clear at last. Eazy fully sat on the carpet and sighed, “He loves that thing.”
“Can’t we…I don’t know, keep it for now?”
“It’s too small for him.”
“Make it into a…security blanket kinda thing. Let him sleep with it.”
Starting that could be a longer-lasting problem, but neither had the heart to take it from him if he loved it so much. “For a very little while, Mick!”
“Help,” the boy finally shouted, though it was muffled by being in the thick blue sweater. That was one reason he loved it. Blue was his favorite color, but he’d sworn his fathers to secrecy, being big Mick wanted him to love Kelly green.
After Murphy and Eazy helped their son out of the sweater, they laughed at his red face and his goofy grin. “I kin have it?”
“For a little while, honey,” Eazy said. “Until you find a new shirt or something to love. Then you can give this to another little boy so he can love it like you do.”
Little Mick looked at him like he was crazy. His short little brows drew hard, and he saw right through his dad’s bullshit. “Nobody like it as much as me do.”
“As much as I do,” he corrected.
“You like it too?”
Katie huffed in exasperation and left the room, but Murphy was giggling again.
“Connor Murphy, I’m about to put you in a timeout.”
Little Mick’s eyes widened as he stared at Murphy. “You in trouble, Daddy.”
“I’m always in trouble, Micky. I’m not a good boy like you. Get another shirt and I’ll help you on with it.”
“Then come to our room. I need to speak with you.”
As he left, he heard Murphy mocking him to Little Mick. “ Speak with you. Oooh , he’s so fancy.”
Eazy laughed to himself as he headed for their room, which was at the end of the hall. Once he entered, he sat on their bed that was covered in a creamy white duvet and waited for his husband to enter.
He’d learned from Tally how to speak properly, wanting to do that for the kids. He wanted them to have every chance in life, so he wanted to start them off right. Slang and gibberish, it was all fine and good, but after they learned to speak the way their future teachers and bosses would expect them to.
When Murphy arrived, he said, “The baby’s ready, so you can go now.”
“Yeah, trying to get out of a lecture?”
“How’d you know?”
“Murphy! I didn’t bring you in here to lecture. At least…not about the kids. It’s about Liam.”
“Cosmo. We need to get used to calling him that as much as he needs to get used to hearing it.”
“Whatever. Listen, did you speak to Mims yet about looking up Liam…Cosmo’s past?”
“No. I didn’t think it was that pressing.”
“It may not be, but…there’s something there. I think his parents were abusive or possibly just shitty. Will you speak to him soon?”
“Sure, babe. I’ll head down while you take the kids. Soon enough?”
Eazy got off the bed and kissed his husband sweetly. “Thank you.”
“I’d do just about anything for a kiss from such a hot man.”
“I know. How do you think I have you wrapped around my finger?”