As soon as he rolled into the common room at Whispering Oaks, I knew it was DJ Skillz. First, I saw the boombox\u2014JVC RC-M90, chrome like a Cadillac bumper\u2014then the man behind it. He set it down, groaned, and grabbed the back brace under a faded Knicks warm-up. Rope chain. Orthopedic kicks. Same old smirk.<\/p>\n
I was in my good cardigan and Velcro sneakers, visor crooked. They call me Randall here, a retired accountant. Once I was MC Assassin.<\/p>\n
Skillz spotted me at the card table, playing bridge with Grace, Otto, and Jeanne. We froze like mannequins.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat are you doing here, Simon?\u201d I said, pushing upright, wincing from the ache in my hip.<\/p>\n
\u201cAssassin,\u201d he said, low. \u201cYou\u2019ve been dodging me for thirty years. Today\u2019s your reckoning.\u201d<\/p>\n
I swatted the air. \u201cYou gonna have to wait thirty more.\u201d<\/p>\n
The room perked up. Wheelchairs rolled closer, forming a lopsided ring. Hearing aids clicked on in a wave. Someone killed the TV and silence felt electric. Nurse Sarah wheeled past with the meds cart.<\/p>\n
Skillz raised the boombox like a stone tablet. \u201cYou owe me a rematch. You went personal. My girl. My kid.\u201d The last word hung there.<\/p>\n
\u201cI retired the champ,\u201d I said, quiet.<\/p>\n
\u201cRematch!\u201d Skillz roared.<\/p>\n
The residents tapped their canes, banged the card tables, clapped their hands. \u201cRE-MATCH! RE-MATCH!\u201d<\/p>\n
I\u2019d never seen the place so animated.<\/p>\n
Skillz pressed PLAY. Nothing. He smacked the lid. Nothing. He squinted.
\n\u201cWhen did I change \u2019em last?\u201d he wondered aloud.<\/p>\n
\u201cDon\u2019t tell me 1993.\u201d<\/p>\n
Skillz nodded. \u201cYeah.\u201d<\/p>\n
We both laughed.<\/p>\n
\u201cListen,\u201d I said, low enough for just him. \u201cBack then I broke the unwritten rules\u2014went for family. I was scared of you, so I punched down. Then I hid from you. I\u2019m sorry, bro.\u201d<\/p>\n
He looked at his reflection in the chrome, then at me. \u201cI been hiding, too, man. My son. The call.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen was the last time you spoke to Andre?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cTwenty years.\u201d<\/p>\n
I squeezed my rival\u2019s shoulder. \u201cIt\u2019s not too late.\u201d<\/p>\n
He looked around. \u201cThis is nice.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNancy and I moved in four years ago,\u201d I said. \u201cShe passed last winter.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cSorry.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve been burying grief with bridge and video poker. And a colonoscopy. Four years overdue. I\u2019m scared.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cTruth,\u201d Sarah said, steering a resident out of a three-point turn.<\/p>\n
Skillz scratched the RC-M90\u2019s handle with his thumb. \u201cI still demand my rematch,\u201d he said with a crooked smile.<\/p>\n
\u201cAfter Jeopardy,\u201d I said.<\/p>\n
The TV came back on. The blue board lit the faces around us; hearing aids hummed in unison.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo, you think I should call \u2019Dre?\u201d he asked.<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat do I say?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cStart with \u2018hey,\u2019\u201d I said.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou gonna get that colonoscopy?\u201d Skillz asked. \u201cI\u2019ll pick you up.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s a bet.\u201d We fist-bumped as the Jeopardy theme played.<\/p>\n
We faced the screen like two old gladiators, truce declared, boombox shining on the table between us like an offering of peace.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
They call me Randall here, a retired accountant. Once I was MC Assassin.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":182,"featured_media":25357,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3530],"tags":[4946,4945,4947],"class_list":["post-24355","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-flash-fiction","tag-boombox-culture","tag-hip-hop","tag-old-school","writer-aaron-f-schnore"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mrbullbull.com\/newbull\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24355","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mrbullbull.com\/newbull\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mrbullbull.com\/newbull\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mrbullbull.com\/newbull\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/182"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mrbullbull.com\/newbull\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=24355"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/mrbullbull.com\/newbull\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24355\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":25358,"href":"https:\/\/mrbullbull.com\/newbull\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24355\/revisions\/25358"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mrbullbull.com\/newbull\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/25357"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mrbullbull.com\/newbull\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=24355"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mrbullbull.com\/newbull\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=24355"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mrbullbull.com\/newbull\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=24355"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}