Da Ace…

Nick called me up on a Friday night and said he needed a ride to Newburgh Toyota, Saturday morning.

A little confused, I asked, “What car do you have at Newburgh Toyota?”

He said, “I got no car there. They have free donuts and coffee and papers and TV. You just walk in and sit down like you belong there. Nobody says a word. What are they going to do, throw us out? Me, and Frankie Boy were there this morning. Good coffee!”

We were at the new Yankee Stadium about a year after it opened. The new stadium is designed so that you can go to the concession stands near your seat and still see the game live, unlike the old ballpark. Tables and chairs face the field with a great unobstructed view.

Nick would often have these moments of complete brilliance. His face lit up, literally like a light bulb went off in his brain.

Eying the surroundings, eating a hotdog, and seizing on an opportunity, he looked at me, “We can buy cheap seats, like the bleachers, sit there for an inning, and then move around to these free seats in front of the food. Best seats in the joint. What are going to do, throw us out?”

The little victories were the best victories.

Driving through Boston, during a hot pennant race, in a Yankee blue van, with Yankee colors and decals on the sides and back, we were wondering why everyone – everyone – was flipping us the finger and yelling “Yankees suck!” Nick, looking out the passenger window wondering what their problem was…

He got us a job once building a deck for this nice, widowed woman in Newburgh. He told her it would be about five-hundred dollars in labor. The deck was on the second floor, as ass-breaking job. It took the better part of the summer.

I think I may have made a dollar an hour, but Da Ace thought it was a good deal. She made us lunch and brought us iced tea almost every day. When we were finally done, he said and I was bitching about the summer wasted he said, “Yeah, but now you know how to build a deck! Besides now I can get us other jobs like that…”

All my crimes committed with Da Ace seemed innocent and forgivable crimes, we ran under the radar and laughing, maybe never fully aware of how much fun we had, until now, looking back. I was pissed off at him at least half the time, but what was I going to do, throw him out?”

It ain’t never going to be the same again, man…