Joey sat silently on the mattress, sipping a beer through his swollen lips. He was a little shocked at how the conversation turned so quickly from fun-loving Mexican cartel gunplay to serious family issues. He tilted the beer can to his mouth one last time, finishing its contents. He tossed the can into the trash and focused his swollen eyes at Seven.
“Here’s the thing, Seven. I was really good at my job, and I miss doing it. I really loved my family and I miss them all very much. The choices I’ve made led me to where I am today. I don’t regret anything I’ve done. I sleep well at night knowing I did the right thing. The problem is that doing the right thing can sometimes cost you the things that you love most. That’s what happened to me. Like I said, I’ve lived my life guarding secrets and restricting information. My friends need to know that they can trust me with their secrets. I know a lot of things that I’ll never repeat to anyone; for example, I know that you didn’t crash your helicopter in a training accident in the desert. I know you were in a place you weren’t supposed to be, doing something that probably wasn’t officially recognized or sanctioned by the government. Now that’s all I was able to dig up, but I am sure there’s more out there if I looked long enough. We all have secrets, Seven, things that are best kept to ourselves.”
Seven froze. He just looked into Joey’s face and smiled.
“I will give you this, my friend. If you haven’t noticed, there are only a select few people that refer to me as Bunny. That name is reserved for people who I’ve worked with in the most dangerous of situations. Real life-and-death shit. The people who call me Bunny are the people I trust with my life. Seven, after these last few days, it would make me happy if you called me Bunny,” Joey said.
Seven finished his beer and tossed it in the trash can. He looked over at his friend with a smile. “Good night, Bunny,” he said while turning out the lights.