“Shouldn’t take that long, but us old men, we like to tell stories now and again.”
Mose took a sip of his lemonade as he organized his thoughts.
“Not too long ago, before you were born, there was an election year, and the local authorities really decided to clamp down on the ‘unsavory’ types around here. They went around busting every grifter, bum, con, whore, and lowlife they could find. This was when I was still an employee of this fine organization, not its boss. Before I classed the place up some. And I got picked up doing three-card monte.”
Mose checked Griffen’s reaction; he seemed perfectly content to listen, even though he clearly didn’t see where this was going.
“People got crammed into cages built for a third of what got shoved in, and it was days before anyone even thought to start draggin’ people up to get judged. Now, me, I didn’t mind. A few others who worked in our ring got nabbed, too, so I wasn’t alone. Others weren’t so lucky.”
“You met Jerome, didn’t you?”
“You’re quick, now shut up. No going and ruining a fella’s story by cutting in.”
Griffen smiled and nodded.
“You kinda ruined the punch line, but yep, there was this snot-nosed little urchin, skinny as a snake, and all alone. But that didn’t faze him. Watched that lad go from person to person, looking them over, and moving on. He would chat with a few for a moment, move on again. Never approached anyone likely to rough him up just ’cause he was in arm’s reach. By the end of the first day he had four guys, myself included, lookin’ out for him with nothing expected back. Just ’cause we were the sort to look out for thems that needed it. When they let us out, he looked over the judge, and said, ‘He’s all right,’ and I knew to trust it.”
Mose shook his head and chuckled.
“He’s lost some of his openness with it, learned to keep a button on his lip, not tell everything he sees. But I tell you, Griffen, he may not be as powerful as me, but I never did meet a better judge of character.”
“And he was up in Ann Arbor feeling me out for more than a year,” Griffen said.
“Hell, no, he had you sussed out after the first night. He spent a year getting you ready in case we had the opportunity to pull you down here. Trust is hard to build.”
“But, Mose, that doesn’t tell me why you are backing out now. I still need your advice, but when I thought you were just pushing me away I wasn’t worried. Now Jerome tells me you are pulling yourself more and more out of the loop, and Valerie confirmed it. So what gives?”
“Griffen, you don’t need my advice. In fact, I probably set you back every time I give it. Oh, I help you in the short term, but you have got to stand on your own feet sooner rather than later.”
“So by holding back you are what, forcing me to grow?”
“Something like that, or I would if you weren’t running off to find a replacement for me. You need to be figuring things out yourself, not letting other dragons run you.”
“Flynn helped when you wouldn’t.”
“I choose my own replacements. I chose you!”
Mose stopped and calmed himself. Yelling at him was counterproductive. Even though Griffen got on the defensive about Flynn, it was a good thing. Defensive was better than meek.
“Griffen, you are destined to be a great force in this world. A force of nature practically. If you get it in your head that you need some mentor figure, it will be years before you learn otherwise.”
Griffen got up and paced. Mose watched him, saw that he wasn’t satisfied with these answers. He didn’t want to go the last step, but he owed it to Griffen. Still, to get through to him fully, Mose would have to be blunt.
“Griffen, I’m dying,” Mose said.
Griffen stopped and stared.
“We dragons age funny, but something you’ll hear from all the old-timers is that you feel when your clock is running down. Maybe it’s just in our head, maybe it’s a self-fulfilling prophecy. But on my clock the ticks are getting slower, and there is no way to wind it back up again.”
“How long?”
“I don’t know, but I’ve been feeling it for a while now.”
“I… I don’t know enough to ask if you are sure. You wouldn’t say it if you weren’t sure.”
Mose considered his next comment for the longest time yet, rolling it around in his head, tasting it on his tongue.
“Griffen, I know you think well of me, but you have to remember, low blood or not, I am a dragon,” Mose said.
“And?”
“And dragons can be some of the most selfish bastards you ever did run into when it suits us. You ask why am I backing off. Would you really want to spend your last few years chained to a job, an office? Even as nice an office as this?”
Mose waved to his courtyard, to his house. He picked up his glass and lifted it to the sky.
“So, I think you don’t need me, and I haven’t figured out what I need. So you must forgive an old, selfish dragon and let me try to find the peace I may. Knowing that what I have poured my life into is in good hands.”
Griffen started to say something, and Mose cut him off.
“And, I’d appreciate it if you told Jerome something else, or nothing. He and the others here, they will make a big fuss. I don’t want a big fuss. I’m telling you ’cause you need, and deserve, to know. And ’cause I’ve grown to love you in a real short time, son. But when I do slip away, one way or the other, I want to go quiet. I say, live big, and leave them remembering your living, not your dying.”
“That’s a lot to bear, Mose.”
“You’ve got the shoulders to do it, lad. Jerome saw it, and I’ve seen it. Stop doubting yourself.”
“Well… all I can promise is that I’ll try.”
Griffen started to leave, but stopped as Mose stood up. He walked over to Griffen, and wrapped his arms around him tight. Griffen stood stiffly for a moment, then hugged the older dragon back.
“You’ll do more than try,” Mose said, and smacked Griffen on the back.
Griffen nodded and left, locking the gate behind him. Mose smiled and went back into his house. Inside, he picked up his phone and dialed a number he hadn’t touched in years.
“Hello?”
“Hello, Danielle,” Mose said.
“Papa!”
“I just wanted to say, it looks like pretty soon I’ll be coming for a visit. Time to see my grandchildren and all.”
“Oh, that’s wonderful. Will you be staying long?”
Mose looked out into the sky.
“Might be I will,” he said, “just might be.”
Twenty-nine
Sometimes, Griffen felt his life had just gotten too… complex.
The day had started normal enough, for the French Quarter anyway. The sun was bright. The tourists were out keeping the lifeblood of the area pumping and green. A quick stop by the Royal Mail had shown a surprise package in, a backordered series of books he had forgotten buying. So far, the day had been nothing but pleasant. He found his spirits high, his troubles somehow distant.
Such a state of mind is not meant to last.
Valerie had gotten him hooked on splurging on beignets and coffee at Cafe Du Monde when his mood was high. At their prices it couldn’t really be thought of as a splurge. Yet something about the atmosphere and sugary confections always made Griffen feel slightly decadent. More so, he imagined, than any of the five-star restaurants in the Quarter would. Though to be honest, he had yet to be truly tempted by the outrageous prices when the area
