Chapter 10: So You're Trying To Guilt Trip Me
Scott's parents had both been gone since before he got out of jail. They were mowed down by a crazy speeder on a motorcycle and he didn't find out until after he was released. They had been so ashamed of him and what he had been involved in that they weren't in contact with him the whole time he was in there. At the time, he hadn't thought anything of it.
When he got out, he wanted to turn things around and try to make amends so he went looking for them and that was when he found out. They hadn't been the greatest parents but he was oddly devastated all the same.
The closest thing he had to a parent now was Richie. He still called regularly to check in on him. It was more than his parents had ever done.
"Scotty! What's new, kid?" Richie asked cheerfully.
He called less than thirty minutes after Scott left the arcade. He had barely made it back home and was in the middle of heating up some leftovers from takeout he got two days ago. He didn't have the time or energy to cook and it wasn't like he couldn't afford to live off of takeout.
There was a lot that was new but he wasn't sure he wanted to let Richie know what was going on at the club. He would feel like he was doing a bad job with what his mentor had left him if he said anything. It was embarrassing.
Scott didn't have to clue him in on that part. It would be enough to tell him about what was going on with Sherry.
"Not much. I ended up helping this kid beat Ms. Pac-Man though."
"Oh? How did that end up happening?"
"I accidentally knocked her over the other day so when I ran into her in the arcade while helping this other lost kid, I felt like I had to," Scott said as he pulled his food out of the microwave and tested to see if it was warm enough. It wasn't. Back into the microwave it went.
"She?" Richie asked curiously.
"Yep. Her name's Sherry and she's this feisty little redhead. Probably about eleven. Cute kid but I can't help but wonder about her parents. I've seen her a few times now but have never seen them."
"You're a real softy, you know that? Worrying about other people's kids."
"The world can be a terrible place. Someone has to."
"You've got that right! But if you like kids so much, you should really consider settling down and having some of your own," Richie said.
Scott pulled a face as he took his food and sat down at the table. "I don't like kids! Or I don't have enough experience with them to say whether I do or don't. You know that settling down in our line of work is difficult."
Richie had never married or had kids of his own, which was probably part of why he had taken Scott under his wing. When you had odd hours, it was hard to get involved with anyone.
It didn't help that the sort of women who hung out in clubs usually weren't looking to settle down either. He was never around any others so when would he have the chance even if he was interested in that sort of thing? And he wasn't! Getting a girlfriend seemed like a major hassle.
"That's exactly why you should make more of an effort. Don't end up like me, Scotty. Enjoying a lonely retirement where I have no grandkids to visit the way everyone else in the senior community I live in does."
So that was what this was about. That sly old fox wanted to have pseudo-grandchildren to fit in with his new buddies.
Scott sighed. "So you're trying to guilt trip me."
Richie let out a booming laugh. "Always a sharp one, aren't you? Yes and no. I do want some grandchildren to spoil but I'm more concerned about you. All you ever do is work."
He couldn't refute that. Going out to the arcade the past two days had been the only time he hadn't gone out solely for work or errands in months. What was so wrong with that though? He enjoyed his work!
Scott wasn't really the type to get lonely either. He had spent most of his life without having any meaningful connections. He had no desire to get screwed over by anyone else again so getting involved with people was too much of a gamble.
Richie was the only person he knew who never let him down. He was definitely an odd one.
"I'm fine. I don't need a girlfriend to be happy," he said with confidence.
"At the very least, you need to get out more. I'm sending you a ticket to a show and, rest assured, I'll know whether you actually use it or not!"
Scott grimaced. Richie totally would. He had his methods and living in Florida didn't change that. Scott was going to have to go to that show whether he liked it or not.
"Fine. Go on and send me the ticket."
"Excellent! I knew you'd come around. Who knows? Maybe you'll meet someone special at the show."
Scott seriously doubted that. How was he of all people supposed to meet someone special given his past? He might be successful now but no one wanted to date an ex-con. No one that wasn't serious trouble anyway.
He had already had more than enough trouble for a lifetime. He didn't need any more.
"Sure," he said dryly. "Whatever you say."
"And I expect a full report about how the show was! Just to be sure you actually went," Richie laughed.
"You got it."
Gifts
-- Gift
received Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone