by Lereyn
He was Charles D'Alessandro now. That name was no more real than the ones he'd used as a young man, but he had been using it for the last fifteen years; it was the man he had become. After all, one could not enter the world of business using only the name 'Actor'. That had been a fine moniker while he'd needed it, but it belonged to another person and another time. Although he'd stopped being 'Actor' long ago, he still looked back in fondness at what had been some great times.
Unfortunately, there had also been some rotten times. Those he conveniently pushed to the darker crevices of his mind, seldom to be taken out and examined or shared with the important people in his life. There was nothing to be gained by dwelling on the misery and pain, and what had been some very bad mistakes. He knew now that life was just too short to waste it with regrets, not when there was the shining moment that he could look on with pride. That time was a turning point in his life, and he would be forever grateful that when the opportunity came he had grasped the hand that reached out to redirect his path.
He'd come early to this spot so he would have time to dust off the memories of that time. As tragic, dark and powerful as it had been in the history of the world, it was the beginning of the best part of his life.
* * * * * * * *
"I'm telling you, this is the place." Nicholas Coletti stood in front of the small boutique that faced one of the busiest streets on the very edge of London. He looked up and down the street again, picking out familiar landmarks. "This is the place, and they'll be here. I'm sure of it." With a final look at the storefront, he took the arm of the woman with him, steered her to a short wall a few steps away and boosted her up. "We can wait here. It shouldn't be too long."
Bethany Coletti sat on the wall and watched her husband first lean back against the it, then walk a few paces away and then back again, all the while softly rapping his fingers against his leg. He was nervous. Imagine that. The man who could stare down a whole gang of would-be muggers back in New York City was nervous about meeting some friends. To her he was "Nick", her husband, best friend and the man who had surprised the heck out of her when, after a year of dating, he had finally told her about his past. She'd discovered then that to the rest of the world, and even his family, he was "Casino"--a man who'd been into just about every crime imaginable, except violence. Not that he hadn't enjoyed a good fight now and then, he just hadn't perpetrated violent crimes against innocent people. At least that's what he told her. And she believed him...she wanted to believe him...she couldn't possibly believe anything else. She just knew that she loved the person he had become and pretended that she didn't notice his pointed use of the word 'innocent' when he said he had never used violence against others.
Nick paced and Beth watched with a soft smile. They'd been together now for twelve years, counting the year they'd dated. They had an eight-year-old son who was the very image of his daddy and a four-year-old little girl who had her daddy's dark hair but her mama's big blue eyes. She also had her daddy's heart wrapped around her little finger--and he wouldn't have it any other way. Some days Beth would look at Nick with the children and try to imagine him as the rough, always-ready-for-a-fight convict that he swears he had been. She just couldn't see it. Oh, well.
So she sat and reflected on the stories he had told her about this city as it had been in another lifetime. That was hard to imagine, too. Looking around her now, she thought that the war might as well have taken place on another planet, because she couldn't imagine it touching this spot. People moved through the streets laughing and talking, carrying shopping bags, and getting on with the business of life. It was a place to re-live old memories and to make new ones, and she hoped Nick could do both today. She could hardly wait to meet the others. She'd say 'hello' and stay for a few minutes and then, when she was sure Nick was surrounded by his friends, she would return to the hotel and the children who were being watched by her sister. She never thought that she would be the protective one, but she just wanted to be there to share his disappointment if the others didn't show up.
* * * * * *
It was a funny thing about this city. No matter how much it changed, it still stayed the same. Twenty years ago it was strewn with the rubble of demolished buildings. It was beaten and scorched, and it lay in a broken heap looking like it was ready to die. At least that's what it looked like if you didn't look very closely, because even then amid the dust and gravel beat the resilient spirit and the undefeated hearts of its populace. The city was so much more than bricks, stone, wood and plaster. It was the strength and unceasing determination of the people who raised this phoenix from the ashes and built a city that was bigger, stronger and more powerful than it had been before. It was his city--at least off and on--and he hadn't really noticed the changes when he'd been back over the last twenty years until now when he was preparing to see it through the eyes of the men who hadn't seen it for a long time. They were certainly in for a surprise...if they came...they had to come...they'd promised.
Goniff had other names that he used, including his real one, but in this town he was always "Goniff". It was here, in London, where he got his start--lifting wallets and entering buildings through what should have been inaccessible windows well above the street level. With the silence of a cat, Goniff had happily plied his trade all over the better sections of town before a near miss at getting caught had convinced him to head for the States and the new pigeons to be plucked there. At least that's what he thought at the time. He'd even managed to get away with it for a while. But, as all good things must come to an end, so had his luck. He'd ended up in a Federal prison, having had the unfortunate lack of good sense to have practiced his livelihood on one of the sites under the protection of the United States Government. Uncle Sam had not been amused. The silver lining to that cloud (although he had been a long time deciding there was one) was that his time in the prison had opened up a door that changed his life forever, and, amazingly, for the better.
The change that had taken place in him wasn't just one of opportunity, it was in his heart. After that short time twenty years earlier --which at the time had seemed to last forever--he found he could never go back to his previous way of life. Not that he didn't try. He tried...he tried hard...he tried it all. His heart just wasn't in it anymore, so he found himself looking around for some way to support himself without reaching into other people's pockets or liberating their prized possessions through a second story window. The solution came from out of the blue, and he'd never looked back--until now.
* * * * * * * *
The dark-haired man was surprised at how many happy feelings he had as the moment approached. He'd always thought of that time as unsettled and fraught with imminent injury or death. He had been at the complete mercy of Fate, and of the decisions made by a bunch of men he didn't know--and he'd never been comfortable when someone else was in control of his destiny. He'd never taken orders easily. Fortunately, the person who had been assigned to give him the orders turned out to be someone he could, and did, trust with his life.
Over the last twenty years Rainey had allowed himself to put his war experiences away, and he very seldom allowed himself to reflect on those days. The only part of that time that he carried out in the open was the fact that it had made such a huge difference in his life. He had talked to a lot of men who had gone away to war and then returned to the same life they'd had before. Sure, the war had had its effect on them in various ways. They'd seen sights and committed acts they would never have dreamed of if they hadn't been pulled into the violence and destruction of the war. Some had lost friends and family, but, in the end, they'd returned to the homes and lives they'd had before. Many of them married their old sweethearts and made their homes in the same towns where they'd grown up.
Rainey returned from the war a completely different man from the one he had been when he'd entered it. He'd gone into it a kid with no sense of loyalty to anyone or anything but himself, and he'd come out of it a man who knew what it meant to be able to trust, support, and really care about someone else. That was the beginning of a new way of life for him. His soul had been freed and his heart had been opened to all the possibilities he'd missed before.
These last twenty years had gone amazingly fast. When he'd landed back in civilian life, the times had been good, and his skills--at least some of them--had been in demand. He'd felt that he had something to offer someone that would make both of their lives better, and it hadn't taken long for him to find that someone. When he met her he'd known immediately that she was the one he wanted to build his future with. The hard part had been convincing her. Oddly, not because she'd had doubts about him, but because she'd had doubts about herself.
"Really, Rainey, you don't want me here for this." Emily walked next to her husband, searching the street ahead as if she might be the one who would spot his friends before he did. "I'll just be in the way when you guys start telling your old war stories." She was losing her breath trying to keep up with him.
"You won't be in the way." Rainey adjusted his stride when he became aware that in his excitement about the upcoming reunion he'd unconsciously sped up. "They'll want to meet you."
Emily looked down at herself, and she was fully aware that he'd had to slow down for her. In the beginning it had embarrassed her that she hadn't been able to keep up with other people. She hadn't even tried; she would just make excuses to not walk with them at all. If they were really friends she wanted to spend time with, then she would say she had something else to do and would meet them later. They either believed it, or didn't want to embarrass her by saying they didn't. She'd tried that ruse on Rainey when he'd first shown an interest in her, but he refused to accept it. He'd just easily matched his stride to hers, and for the first time in her life she knew what it was like to walk with someone, not just try to keep up. She was used to it now, and she tried to recall just when she had become so comfortable with him; she knew it hadn't taken long. He was the first person she could remember meeting who made her feel like there was nothing different about her.
In fact, one of the things that excited Rainey the most was the thought of introducing his friends to his wife. He wanted to see the looks on their faces when they saw the woman he'd found, and who had agreed to share his life. Knowing the old "Chief" as they did, they would be amazed. He never saw the polio-crippled leg she walked on anymore, or the small foot that had never grown beyond the size it was when she had been stricken. He never noticed the limp or the length of her stride--except to match his own to it. The brace on her leg was as much a part of her as her eyes or her shiny brown hair. What he saw was a beautiful woman who glowed with life and from whom poured compassion, strength and total trusting honesty. And she was his. That fact amazed him as much today as it had on that day sixteen years ago when she'd agreed to marry him.
* * * * * * * * * *
Where had the years gone? Craig Garrison looked around the streets of London and picked out the building where he'd received a briefing for a mission, and another one where he'd stood trial for cowardice and desertion. He'd been exonerated, but only because the men who believed in him had gone to extraordinary lengths to prove his innocence.
He was on his way to meet those men for the first time in a long time. They'd kept in touch the way men do...an occasional post card, a note at Christmas. He'd even seen them each a couple of times in the last twenty years, but this was the first time they would all be together since they went their separate ways all those years ago when, as Casino had put it, "peace broke out".
The months and years immediately following the victory in Europe had been busy. Garrison was career military and there had been no shortage of tasks needing to be done to aid in the clean-up and reorganization that follows any war. He was also frequently called upon to brief various units on his own special part in the war, and about the men who had worked with him. He was often met with looks of disbelief and occasionally accused of exaggerating his stories about their missions. But he knew he hadn't; there had been files detailing exactly what happened --whether the mission had been successful or a miserable failure. He knew what he and his men had accomplished and, looking back, even he was amazed.
* * * * * * * * * *
Casino looked one more time at his watch, then turned to pace back to where his wife sat on the stone wall. He didn't make it that far, though. He'd stopped and turned so abruptly, he plowed into a man who had been walking behind him, knocking the man off his feet and laying him out on the ground like the loser in a prize fight.
"Oh, hey, man, I'm really sorry. You all right?" Casino knelt down and started brushing off the man who lay on the ground. "Here let me help you..." Then he actually got a good look at the man. The smile that spread across Casino's face was as sudden as it was unplanned. A wave of happiness spread through him, lifting his spirits as a million memories cam flooding back to him.
Goniff lay on the ground trying to regain the breath that had been knocked out of him. But the momentary panic that had set in when he found he couldn't draw a breath was forgotten--as was breathing--when he realized who had flattened him. He'd thought he was ready for this reunion, but he was surprised by the amount of emotion that surged through him. Then, before they could sort themselves out, Casino and Goniff were joined by another man.
"Hey, are you all right?" The newcomer knelt down on the other side of Goniff and a moment later realized who he was looking at. With a gasp of delight, he reached down to lift Goniff to his feet.
"Be careful, man, he might be hurt." Casino laid his hands against Goniff's chest to stop the other man from lifting him. Then he looked up into Chief's startled eyes. In an instant the two of them were on their feet and Chief found himself embraced in a strong hug, complete with a couple of good, strong "pats" on the back.
"You're here," Casino said as he pulled back from the hug and looked at the man in front of him. "You really came; no one was sure you would."
Chief just smiled. "Of course I came. You guys always got into trouble when I wasn't with you. I had to be here."
Goniff continued to lie on the ground slowly recovering his breath and looking up at the two men who stood there. At the moment, they formed a bridge over him as Casino continued to hold Chief by the shoulders. "Um...excuse me, fellas. Maybe you could give me a hand up? "
* * * * * * * * * *
When the collision between Goniff and Casino had first occurred Beth jumped down from the wall and started over to help. Casino had really knocked the poor man off his feet. Before she'd taken more than a couple of steps, however, another man rushed past her to help. So she stood back and watched in case she needed to send for a doctor. A moment later she was joined by a woman who stopped next to her.
"Oh, dear, do you suppose he's all right?" Emily was gasping a little from hurrying after her husband. "Should we go for help?"
On hearing the other voice, Beth tore her eyes away from the men who appeared to have the situation in hand. "You're an American?"
"Yes. You, too?" Emily also turned to look at the other woman. "Does one of those men belong to you?"
Beth smiled at the phrase. "Um-hmm, Nick, the "brick wall" who knocked that other man down, is my husband."
"Nick?" Emily was slightly disappointed at hearing the name. She'd been hoping that they'd found one of Rainey's friends. When she noticed Beth's puzzled look at her obvious disappointment she thought she should explain. "I was hoping to hear a more colorful name like 'Goniff' or 'Warden'..."
"Or 'Casino'?"
Emily drew a startled breath and looked quickly back at the men just in time to see her husband drawn into an almost violent bear hug. "Yeah, like 'Casino'." She now smiled brightly at the other woman. "My name's Emily; the man your husband is squeezing the life out of is my husband Rainey."
This time it was Beth's turn to be puzzled. "Rainey? I don't recall Nick mentioning a 'Rainey'."
"Chief."
A delighted laugh escaped from Beth when she realized who her husband was in the process of greeting. "Oh, that's wonderful! Nick was afraid Chief wouldn't be here. I didn't think any of them heard from him."
Emily walked over to the wall where Beth had been sitting and leaned against it. "Unfortunately, the messages kept missing him." She looked again at the men who were now lifting the third man to his feet. "We've been on the road for the last couple of months, and the messages didn't catch up with us until a week ago." Then she fell silent as she watched the man who had just been lifted to his feet was, himself, greeted by Casino. The poor scrawny guy didn't look like he could necessarily survive that much enthusiasm. "I do believe they've found another one."
Beth turned to look and saw that the man Casino had flattened was in danger of being, at the very least, crippled by one of the exuberant hugs her husband suddenly seemed to be handing out. Becoming a bit worried, she took a step forward thinking that perhaps she needed to try to rein Casino in a bit, but before she took the second step, the third man had disentangled himself and began straightening his now-wrinkled clothes.
"What're ya tryin' to do, mate, take up where the Jerries left off twenty years ago?" He said it seriously, but it was followed by a grin that belied his words.
Beth and Emily looked at each other with a smile and said simultaneously: "Goniff."
This was just too much fun, so the two women leaned back against the wall to watch the entertainment. They weren't disappointed.
* * * * * * * * * *
As it turned out, the two women weren't the only ones being entertained. From the park bench which sat in solitary splendor on the green across the road, rose a man who had been watching the goings-on. At first he'd been so caught up in his own memories and in absorbing the changing face of the city that he hadn't noticed the other man pacing there. But, when the collision had occurred, his attention was immediately drawn to the very familiar picture presented by the man sprawled on the pavement. He'd seen a man in that particular position many times before--albeit a long time ago. Poor Goniff had seemed to spend as much time flattened on the ground, for one reason or another, as he did on his feet. He'd know that sprawl anywhere. At first Goniff was the only one Actor noticed, and as he rose slowly to his feet, he decided that the wiry little guy was probably no worse off now than when he'd taken similar falls before. Then, before he could make his way across the road, a third man joined the other two and Charles watched as the two men kneeling at Goniff's sides suddenly rose to their feet and embraced. Now that they had his attention, he recognized them too. Chief had come; it looked like they would be complete. It was time to join the reunion.