Chapter 24
Chapter Twenty-Four
“Everything all good?” John asked as they stepped into a storage room that had a few odds and ends.
John looked at some of the rolling leather office chairs and Marco grabbed a couple. Their wheels rolled loudly across the floor until he stopped at the door and waited for John, who was pushing one, too.
“How am I doing?” Marco asked.
The other man’s smile was reassuring. “Just fine. You were a Daddy before you met Kelsey, right?”
“Absolutely.”
“So you’re not faking it.”
“Not at all.”
“Then what’s the issue?”
Wanting to give a thoughtful answer, Marco reflected for a moment. “Do you think it’s what she needs? Is it authentic to her?”
John sat in the chair he’d been pushing. Taking that as a sign that the conversation might last a few minutes, Marco did the same.
“Let me take a stab at this,” John began.
A grim smile tugged at Marco’s lips. Stab was a poor choice of words, given what he did for a living, but he wasn’t about to point that out to John.
“You come from a different world,” John began. “Don’t get me wrong, man, I’m not ripping you. But ball pits and all the shenanigans that come with Littles maybe don’t come as natural to you, given what you’re used to.”
Now John’s hint of a smile boomed into a full one. “You make it sound like I’m some wild species. But yeah, that’s the gist of it.”
John chuckled. “Again, not ripping you. I’ve found most things in life aren’t black and white. Yeah, there are people who are truly evil. But I believe they’re few and far between. A lot of folks exist in a shade of gray.”
“Hmm.” Marco leaned back. “I suspect you’re one of the truly good ones. Breaker too, even though he doesn’t like me much. How do you stay on the right side of things?”
A shrug met the question and Marco watched as John scratched his jaw, the five o’clock shadow scraping audibly against his fingers.
Finally, after some thought, he answered, “I don’t know, to be honest. You know, life’s circumstances haven’t forced me to even consider the dark side, so to speak.
I’m grateful, too. There but for the grace of God and all that.
I never had to choose between going hungry or stealing.
Inflicting violence or being harmed. Some people don’t have it so easy.
Life forces them to make those choices daily.
And, after choosing what they feel they have to in order to survive, it just gets a little easier and easier. ”
Marco was shocked at how much he related to what John was saying. Had Kelsey had time to share his story with John? Or perhaps she’d told Trixie about his childhood and she relayed the story.
But a moment later, John said, “I don’t know your story, Marco. I don’t know what led to you joining the mob or whatever you’d call it. But I believe there is goodness in you.
“Now, as far as the Daddy stuff… let it spring from that goodness. You’re used to an uglier world. Right?”
Again, John was surprised at just how well it seemed the man knew him.
“I am,” he admitted.
John shook his head. “That crap has no part in your life with that cutie in the other room.”
“I couldn’t agree more,” Marco told him.
John leaned forward and pointed at Marco’s chest. “Find that goodness inside. That’s where all this—” He circled his index finger around, indicating the building and so much more “—comes from. That’s one of the things, I believe, that draws people to this lifestyle.
The real world can be a cruel and dark place.
But we don’t give in to it. We refuse to let go of the wonder and magic that disappears for so many people.
I believe you have that in you. So, make a choice.
You can’t change your past, but you can decide to go a different direction.
” He stood. “Let the goodness define you. Not that other garbage.”
Marco rose from his chair, too, and extended his hand. “You’re a good man, John. Thank you.”
As they shook, John said, “You’re a good man, too, Marco. I firmly believe that.”
As they left the room, Marco thought about it all.
Hmm. Maybe, for the first time, he sort of believed that too.