The Siege by Alexie Aaron Read Free Book Online

He’d just give her a call in the morning.
     
    ~
     
    Mike savored the pasta forkful by forkful.  He didn’t even count the calories he was ingesting.  The red wine Cid found in the cellar wasn’t bad.  Mia didn’t drink wine, and Ted seemed to buy the bottles with the funniest names or labels.  This one identified with a forgotten sibling.  It warmed his stomach and went well with the marinara-based sauce on the dish.  Dave had taken his plate to the living room where he had turned on a late show after grunting his appreciation.
    “I know it wasn’t that long ago, but I don’t remember being that young,” Mike confessed.
    Cid, who’d had enough of Dave’s attitude, just shrugged his shoulders. He sat down and took a long sip of the wine before starting on his meal.
    “Your body language tells me that you’re not appreciating the kid right now.”
    Cid looked around Mike to make sure Dave was out of earshot before speaking, “He just rubs me the wrong way.  We butt heads.”
    “You’re no different from Mia.  When she and Dave were working on saving our asses in that school we were trapped in, she told me she almost broke a rule and killed Dave.  I wonder about Mia’s rules sometimes…”
    “She makes them up as she goes along,” Cid commented.  “She’s really a good person at heart.  However, I’m so glad she’s over that overly hormonal stage.  I thought for sure that I’d wake up hogtied and castrated one morning.  That’s when I started locking my outside door.”
    “Ted gets along with Dave, doesn’t he?”
    “Yes, and so does Murphy.  I think they are more accepting than myself.  I didn’t realize I was a snob until Dave showed up,” Cid confessed.  “You know what he calls me?”
    “Saint Cid,” Mike answered and poured himself another glass of wine.
    Cid looked at him amazed.  “I never thought of myself that way.”
    “You wouldn’t.  You see, Cid, you’re a natural nurturer, and everyone that meets you loves you.  Before you say it, I know it wasn’t that way when you were residing behind coke-bottle lenses.  But now, you’ve taught Mia how to cook, you built them the house extension; and you’re one hundred percent loyal to Ted.  You’re a saint.  Don’t change, I confess to liking even the pedantic side of you.  My mother wants to trade sons, and I suspect Bernard and Ralph want to adopt you.”
    Cid blushed.  “I’m not perfect.”
    “No one is, but you’re pretty damn close.  Enjoy the attention while you get it.  Us has-beens sure wish we did.”
    “I don’t think you’re a has-been.”
    “Tell my agent that.  Anyway, the kid probably feels a bit jealous and so is picking on you,” Mike observed.
    “I don’t think it’s that.  He called me a narc.”
    “That’s an old term.”
    “Still means the same.”
    “True.”
    “Want to give me what brought on that comment?” Mike asked, reaching for the grated parmesan.  He spooned it over his second serving of pasta while Cid told him about the beer and the pot.  “Burt’s beer does suck.  The man is so cheap that he buys generic beer.  Who the fuck makes it?  I bet there isn’t a hop in the brew.”
    “The kid’s not twenty-one. He shouldn’t be drinking…”
    “I get your point.  How old is he?”
    “Nineteen, twenty soon.”
    “Jesus, I thought he was older.  I think there is some loophole that the kid can drink at home…”
    “With his parents,” Cid chimed in.
    “Oh, you’re right.  Personally I think it’s stupid, the age thing, but we can’t have third graders running around with vodka-spiked fruit punch, can we?”
    “I’m not a goody-two-shoes.  I rebelled.  I ran away from summer camp,” Cid said proudly.
    Mike laughed and waved his fork as he spoke, “You don’t have to tell me.  If you hung around with Ted, then you were breaking the law on a regular basis.”
    “It’s just, being referred to that way rankles me.”
    “I’d ignore