Page 39 of Pierre
“My son really loves your girl,” smiled Frank.
“I know, brother. He’s a good man, and I can think of no one better for her. It’s just hard watching your little girl grow up before your very eyes. I swear to God, she was only three just yesterday. Now I have to watch it happen with her sister.”
“Aren’t you forgetting that you have a son as well?” grinned Frank.
“I’m not forgetting. But boys are different. He’s been a man since he was seventeen in my eyes. I worry about him, but for different reasons than I worry for the girls. I guess that makes me a sexist pig.”
“No,” laughed Frank. “I don’t think that’s true. I think it makes you a worried father. The good news is you only have two daughters. Think about poor Matthew having six! Can you imagine?”
“No. And I don’t want to imagine that. I’m telling you, Frank, I thought Sadie was a handful, but a handful as your wife is damn sure different than a handful as your daughters.”
“Well, I don’t think you have anything to worry about. You’ve raised good kids, Ham. I think we all have.”
“Yeah. How did we get so damn lucky?” he grinned at Frank. They smiled at one another and, in unison, said it.
“Mama Irene and Matthew.”
As they laughed, taking shelter inside the ship, the others followed. Without risking lives, they needed to sit tight until they had solid intel to follow in the city. Sister Josephina, or whatever her name is, was proving to be a slippery seal to catch.
“Are you guys hungry?” asked Marjorie.
“Always,” smirked Ham. “You’ll find that our team eats pretty much nonstop back home.”
“How do you stay in shape?” frowned Tucker. “I’d be three hundred pounds if I ate all the time.”
“We have a pretty tight routine of training, and we have nurses and dieticians that make sure our diets are balanced, but there’s never a shortage of great food.”
“You guys really do have it all figured out,” said Butch. “I know my day is coming for retirement, and I’m not sure what I want to do.” Pierre looked at his father and Ham, smirking.
“Well,” said Frank, “we always need good men on our team, and the fact that you boys are all Rangers puts you at the head of the class.”
“Seriously?” asked Tucker with an adolescent squeak to his voice. The others just laughed, nodding.
“Seriously,” said Pierre. “We get a lot of our teammates from men who were teammates when we served. It’s why we try to hide our identities for as long as we can. We don’t want teammates that only want a way into the organization.”
“Brother, I’d serve in any capacity for your business but not because of their history. I’d do it because serving with you has been fucking amazing, Pierre. You’re a great leader and a damn fine Ranger,” said Butch. “I’d follow you because of that. Not because your family is a big deal.”
Frank smiled at his son, nodding his approval. He’d always been proud of Pierre and what he’d accomplished in his life. There were times he could have blamed being an orphan on not getting what he wanted or not succeeding at something. But not once did he reach for excuses. Instead, he always tried harder, focused more, and did it all over again.
“Why are you grinning?” asked Ambry, looking at Frank.
“Oh, I’m just thinking about the one major fail that Pierre had as a young man,” he chuckled.
“Oh, shit,” said Pierre, shaking his head.
“Okay, now I have to hear this,” said Ambry. Pierre nodded at his father, shaking his head, remembering the incident.
“He wanted to ask this girl to the eighth-grade dance, and it wasn’t someone from our property. Instead, he chose Eloise Ducote. She was a pretty little thing. Blonde hair, blue eyes, not very smart, but she was pretty.”
“Dad,” laughed Pierre. “She was smart. Just not very book smart.”
“This is getting more interesting by the moment,” grinned Butch.
“Well, she told him yes, and then the next day invited him to meet her parents. So, we showed up at their home, just to make sure everything was kosher. I just had a feeling. You know the one,” he said, rubbing his gut, looking at Ham. Ham nodded.
“What happened?” asked Ambry. Frank nodded at Pierre, who took over the story.
“I didn’t know, nor should I have known as a thirteen-year-old kid, that her father was not only a member of the KKK but also a member of the Nazi party.” Everyone’s eyes went wide, dumbfounded. Pierre laughed. “Dad was at the door when he opened it and introduced himself.”
