History

“He thought I was cheating on Mary with multiple women.” Mr. O’Brien tells you, after asking him why his son was so protective of his daughters.

You and him have been walking for a few minutes now, to buy Mrs. O’Brien’s favorite donuts, which he said was a few blocks away from your apartment. You thought a few meant around three or four blocks, but that was debunked five blocks ago. You actually offered to drive before you left, but Mr. O’Brien said it wasn’t far, and that he liked to keep active in his old age. You’re not complaining though, it has given you an opportunity to talk with him and find out more about Maddy and her relationship with her parents… and now, her Dad’s relationship with his parents.

“He said the first time he saw me with another woman was with one of his friends’ moms. I’m not even sure which of his friends’ moms he was talking about. Most of them were his friends’ moms.” Mr. O’Brien admitted. If it wasn’t for Mrs. O’Brien confirming that he and Mr. O’Brien used to be swingers, you would’ve been horrified at the nonchalance he said that statement. You assumed that’s how he was able to hook up with so many different women that he doesn’t even know which of his son’s friends’ moms he was talking about.

“We used to host key parties back in the day. I think Mary mentioned it when she was shouting at me to grow up.” Mr. O’Brien adds, chuckling to soften the severity of Mrs. O’Brien’s admonishment earlier. “It was easier when Connor was younger. We would send him to one of our friends’ homes who was attending the party. They’d hire a babysitter to look after their kid and ours during their sleepover while we did our thing, and no one was the wiser. It’s how Connor made most of his childhood friends.” Mr. O’Brien explains.

“We found out that he discovered me sleeping with one of his friends’ moms one time he secretly went home during one of our parties. Since I kept the apartment while Mary went with the guy who’s key she got, Connor only saw me doing it. On multiple occasions, based on what he told us later. He kept his discovery to himself for a long time though, not addressing me or telling his mother what he found out so that we could explain to him what was going on. I learned later on that he did talk to one of his friends about it, but his friend knew about his parents’ set-up and kept their secret so he didn’t tell Connor what was going on. When Connor decided to tell us, it was already too late. He—” Mr. O’Brien was explaining before being interrupted by a car horn as we were passing the crosswalk.

It was apparently a taxi who honked his horn at us to speed up crossing the street. Mr. O’Brien was having none of it though. Mr. O’Brien slams the taxi’s hood with his hand and shouts, “I’m walkin’ here! I’m walkin’ here!” to the cab driver, who responds by honking his horn even more obnoxiously. You eventually got Mr. O’Brien to give up his recreation of Midnight Cowboy and cross the street with you and lead the way to the donut shop you and he were going to.

“And they wonder why they’re getting slaughtered by Uber.” Mr. O’Brien says in frustration, and you can’t help but agree with him. Still, that was going off topic.

“You were saying about your son not giving you a chance to explain?” You ask Mr. O’Brien to get him back on track.

“Connor told us after he graduated college that he was joining the army. A slap in the face to Mary and I, since we’ve protested against every war this country’s decided to start since we were teenagers, and he goes and does that. The day he told us that, and that he was moving away from us, was when he told Mary and I that he knew about my... ‘infidelity’, as he put it.” Mr. O’Brien continued to explain after your reminder.

“Mary and I tried to explain to him at that point, but the damage was done. He held onto his anger and resentment for too long. When we explained to him what it was I was doing… what Mary and I were doing, it just made things worse. Us being furious at the time we tried to explain probably didn’t help things, since the conversation that preceded it was him telling us he joined the army. So, you know, we didn’t exactly explain it to him in a calm manner.” Mr. O’Brien says, chuckling at the end to soften the pain that recounting this story might be causing.

You keep silent as Mr. O’Brien recollects himself after explaining to you the situation between them and his son. He finally opens a door to a fancier looking bodega called Back Alley Bodega and Bakery.

“Oh, and being high on coke at the time probably didn’t help either.” Mr. O’Brien adds out of nowhere before walking inside the bodega. Before you could give a proper reaction to that added tidbit, someone from the bodega calls out to Mr. O’Brien.

“Uncle Ricky!” The older heavyset man behind the counter greets Mr. O’Brien upon seeing him enter the bodega. “The usual?” the man asks.

“Just the donuts today, Dante.” Mr. O’Brien answers him.

“You and Auntie MJ had an argument again?” Dante asks him with a chuckle, seemingly familiar with the O’Briens routine at this point.

“Don’t we always nowadays?” Mr. O’Brien answers him with the same smile he gives you.

“Nothing that a bunch of our donuts can’t fix, eh?” Dante says in reaction.

“Oh, make it a triple order.” Mr. O’Brien tells him.

“Woof. That bad, huh?” Dante reacts.

“Nah. Just wanted my new friends to try your donuts. Can’t believe they’ve lived in this part of the city for years and haven’t tried these yet.” Mr. O’Brien answers him.

“This guy?” Dante asks Mr. O’Brien while pointing at you. “Angel Donuts are a neighborhood staple, my guy. What rock have you been living under?” Dante asks you as a good natured tease.

“Dunkin’ Donuts.” You answer jokingly, and Dante just laughs at your response.

“Well, this shit’s different from that mass produced stuff. I’ll be seeing you more regularly now for sure after you get a bite of these.” Dante boasts about his donuts.

“There’s nothing wrong with Dunkin’ Donuts, Big D!” A guy’s voice from the back of the bodega shouted out suddenly.

“I’m not saying there is! Tell me you’d choose Dunkin’ Donuts over our shit though.” Dante shouts back. You all waited silently for his response, but the guy from the back of the bodega didn’t continue the argument anymore. “That’s what I thought!” Dante shouts with finality.

One of Dante’s clerks gives him three paper bags of… fried pastry cubes? At least, that’s how you could best describe it. They didn’t look like any donut you’ve seen before.

“They’re donut-biscuits. Don’t knock ‘em ‘til you try ‘em.” Dante tells you, but it seemed your facial expression signaled that you remained unconvinced and he gets one in stock and places it in parchment paper before trying to hand it to you. “Try it, wise guy. Tell me that doesn’t fuckin’ beat Dunkin’ fuckin’ Donuts.” Dante aggressively tells you to get a free taste, and you didn’t want to offend him so you took the donut he was handing you.

“Ey! Yo! How come I don’t get a freebie, Big D?” The man who interrupted earlier walks up to the counter to show himself, carrying some items from the back.

“I’m already giving you freebies, you bum. I don’t delude myself thinking you’ll ever pay me for the shit you puttin’ on your tab.” Dante tells the other guy. “Let me guess, you’re putting that on your tab too?” Dante asks the other bodega goer, who just nods at his answer. “It’s all love, baby. Just don’t forget about me when that music thing pops off, ayt?” Dante tells him before dapping him up.

“Put his stuff for now on me, Dante.” Mr. O’Brien then says.

“Ey, yo! For real?” the bodega goer asks in happy disbelief.

“Call it an investment. Just don’t forget about Dante when you’re famous.” Mr. O’Brien tells him.

“Yo~! That’s dope. Ey! Is it cool if I get more shit?” the bodega goer then asks, and Dante puts a stop to that immediately.

“You ain’t takin’ advantage of Uncle Ricky. Get the fuck outta here with that shit before he changes his mind.” Dante tells the bodega goer who just awkwardly smiles at Mr. O’Brien and thanks him before walking out of the bodega. “Yo, I didn’t hand that to you so you could just hold it like an idiot. Eat it and tell me that’s not bonkers.” Dante reminds you.

You just give a smile, finding the humor in Dante’s confidence in his product. You take a bite of the beignet-like doughnut-biscuit and you immediately taste the cinnamon sugar and some unique type of honey they used. You’re not going to lie, it tastes like…

“Cinnamon Toast Crunch?” You ask Dante if that’s the flavor profile that they were going for, and his reaction was definitely not pleased with that comparison.

“Get the fuck outta here with that shit! Don’t tell me you don’t taste the hints of citrus, and the tang from the honey, and the…” Dante starts reacting but your dumbfounded expression makes him stop in his tracks. “Get the fuck outta here. Literally. Leave my store, you no-palette-having... Dunkin’-Donuts-eating… basic-bitch-with-no-drip-looking-motherfucker.” Dante tells you, almost menacingly. Maybe the full tattoo sleeves on his arms, bald head, and greying beard contributed to that interpretation. You’re not really sure if he’s being serious or not with that command, since it seems to you that he’s just one of those dudes that plays like that since he knows he looks intimidating.

“Daughterfucker, actually.” Mr. O’Brien corrects Dante with a laugh, breaking the tension.

“What?” Dante reacts, taken by surprise.

“He fucks his daughter, not his mother. Although, I may be getting ahead of myself. I’m not actually sure if he isn’t a literal motherfucker.” Mr. O’Brien explains to Dante.

“Just my daughter.” You awkwardly answer, trying to act like it's not a big deal for you how normal they seem to take the concept of **** when it comes to you.

“Is she hot?” Dante asks you.

“I think so.” You answer him honestly, and you notice Mr. O’Brien gives the ‘OK’ hand signal while nodding his head to Dante, catching you off guard. You forget that Mr. O’Brien, even at his age, is still pretty much just one of the guys.

“She got a sister?” Dante jokingly asks you. “Lemme guess, you fuckin’ her too?” Dante then adds, making him and Mr. O’Brien laugh even louder. At least that confirms that Dante was just playing earlier, and his insults were good natured.

The moment he asked if Stella had a sister though, you immediately thought of Cassie, and you couldn’t help but just smile and laugh at that thought. You really are slowly becoming much more comfortable with this whole idea of them being both your babies.

“Sorry if I insulted you with my palette, Dante. I just had Cinnamon Toast Crunch for breakfast, and that may be playing a role in what I’m tasting. I honestly didn’t mean it as an insult. I love Cinnamon Toast Crunch.” You apologize to Dante, who just gives you a big smile and tells you not to worry about it. He just makes you promise to come back for more, which you do.

“Anyway, we’ll take our leave. Thanks for the donuts... Little D.” Mr. O’Brien thanks him, before throwing a jab at Dante.

“Oh~, come on, Uncle Ricky. Don’t do me like that.” Dante says with a laugh.

“Your dad will always be Big D around this block.” Mr. O’Brien tells him while chuckling, but you and Dante know that he was serious with his sentiment.

“Just trying to continue the legacy.” Dante tells Mr. O’Brien honestly too, and Mr. O’Brien gives him a half-hearted smile. Like it pained him to hear that.

“Like gentrifying Pop Green’s old bodega?” Mr. O’Brien asks teasingly.

“This whole block has been gentrified, Unc. Better us than some hipster couple from buttfuck nowhere. If you wanna survive, you gotta adapt. Every bodega looks like this now. At least ours still has tradition on our walls, despite it not having that classic bodega vibe. Gotta admit though, the internet’s been good for our donuts. We ain’t sellin’ these off of the back alley fire escape of our apartment building no more.” Dante tells Mr. O’Brien proudly of their progress, and Mr. O’Brien daps him up and tells him he’s doing good to keep his family’s legacy alive and well.

“Say hi to your mother, Angel, for me.” Mr. O’Brien tells him as another way to say goodbye.

“Don’t start with that, Unc. Don’t act like I don’t know the freaky shit you and my parents were up to back when we were kids.” Dante tells him, and Mr. O’Brien just laughs it off and waves him goodbye before leaving the bodega. You follow Mr. O’Brien out as well, thanking Dante one last time for the free donut.

“Bring your hot daughter wit’ you next time, you hear me!”