4 - Jimmy

He's not sure what lurched him from his sleep: Tommy's laughing, the sizzling bacon in the pan, or his half-finished nightmare. He had to muster all his strength and take a hard look around to make sure he was not in France anymore. Am I home now? He looked to the figure in front of the stove, busy tending to their breakfast and the little boy. At least Tommy's home now.
It took him another 5 minutes to get a firm grasp of himself and this reality he was in. This is Atlantic City. I'm with Tommy and Angela now. Then it only took Paddy Ryan 5 seconds to pop into his mind. That sap. He's only my age and I have to work for him?

Fed on grudge, he sat up and began drinking in their apartment for the 100th time. A pale, scaly crack ran through the ceiling and into the wall. Clothes scattered around him. The room smelled of bacon and coffee. A blurry figure - he assumed that was Angela - was still in the living room/kitchen, making breakfast while teasing Tommy, who would burst into laughter every 30 seconds. Neither of them noticed he had just woken up.

Hated to disturb this moment, he tried his best not to make a sound putting his clothes on. He leaned on the door frame when he finished. Then Angela noticed him and gave him a warm smile. "Have some breakfast." Tommy pondered at him for several blinks and called him "Daddy" gingerly, partly because he was too young to be sure exactly who Jimmy was. So this is my first proper family. He returned a smile to Angela and limps towards Tommy to pick him up. Tommy squirmed a little before surrendering to his prickly kiss. There were milk, mashed potato, bacon, and today's newspaper on the table. Angela was now busy frying eggs right behind him. He put down Tommy, laid everything before himself and Tommy, and started eating.

The mashed potato was only warm. Milk, too. Tommy was playing with his mush, something he had been quite fond of doing lately. He helped Tommy with his food when Angela asked him about his job and last night. "Nucky wanted me to work for Paddy Ryan, chief clerk of the fourth ward." Much to his surprise, Angela was amused by this idea. "So you don't have to drive Nucky around anymore, right?" "Yeah. But working for that sap?" It was Tommy's turn to be amused. He repeated "sap" with mush on his lips.

Angela snapped a stern look at Tommy and warned him not to say that word again. What, is sap a cursing word now? Jimmy brushed off Angela's concern by patting Tommy on the shoulder and telling him it was okay. Angela seemed even more agitated now. All of a sudden, he felt like charging into the battlefield on his own. It took him a few seconds to fend off the panic. "Is the egg ready?" He asked almost impatiently.

"Hold your horses!" Angela didn't seem to notice his panic, only his anger.

They finished the meal with Tommy's lip-smacking and occasional laughter. He left the table in silence, ready to go and pick up Nucky. One of the perks of working for Nucky was he got up very late, sometimes even after 3 P.M. The caveat was also clear: he would revel until small hours, sometimes even when the sky is half-lit. This gave Jimmy plenty of time for his family, or, when he was agitated and embarrassed like this, himself. He decided to go and wait for Nucky in the Ritz's lobby, where his jacket would be more than enough to fend off the cold.

I wonder where he plans to go tonight.