1965-05-09 - Amelie Calls the Pay Phone
Summary: Yes, JP just threatened a man over a tea party, and Elmo exacts revenge for his nerves by taunting his partner when new stereo cabinets. Welcome to Thursday where everyone or no one is in trouble. It's too soon to tell
Related: None
Theme Song: None
vitale elmo jp 


JP was in his usual spot for the afternoon, downstairs in the garage with the front and back bay doors open to get a nice cross breeze. THe dino was safely tucked away in the back with a tarp on her. Good dino. He was having a Coke sitting on a flipped over crate cleaning some pieces with his cig hanging out of the corner of his mouth, waiting for that payphone outside to ring and scaring anyone off that tries to use it. The radio was playing something that sounded Spanish in origin, but it was closer to the blusey rock he knew best from home. And there he was singing along even though he didn't know the words. What was that to stop him?


Elmo pulls up outside, in Daisy, and gets something out of the back. It's a portable record player, the kind that lives in its own suitcase. This he brings in, and, without saying a word to JP, finds a place to start setting it up. Plugs it in, opens it up, fusses over it a minute. Back outside, and next what he hauls in is a milk crate full of vinyls.


JP was bopping his head back and forth and arched an eyebrow as Elmo walked in quietly. He watched curiously as he walked back out, scrubbie pad still doing its job against the steel part to work on descaling it. When Elmo passed by again JP stopped singing and watched the curious parade. Finally he said, "Hi?" withthe cig bobbing between his lips. Hie took one more drag before he pulled the rolled stub from his lips and tapped the ash on the ground. "You gon' tell me what i'm in trouble for now or I gotta guess?"


Elmo flashes JP an inscrutable look, accompanied by a tiny smile, and goes back out again. When he comes back in this time, it's with a dolly. On that dolly is a handsome wooden speaker cabinet, a little battered and scratched, like it's been around the block a few times and knows where you can get the cheapest smokes. The dolly tipped back on its wheels, Elmo says to JP, "Where you want this, boss?" Now that expression has a description and it's 'smug'.


JP stopped polishing the handle he was referbing and just watched. He squinted -SQUINTED- at Elmo scowling because…really he couldn't tell if he was in trouble for some new mystical reason or know what was going on. He blinked at the question and considered, "Weeeeell I dunno, do I wasn' it upstairs or downstairs? We jes make it super loud upstairs it won' matter would it?"


Elmo can't resist and grins back at JP's scowl, utterly pleased with himself. Operation 'mess with JP for a change' is a rousing success. He pats the speaker cabinet affectionately. "I got another one. I had a great day at the junkyard. We could split 'em, one upstairs and one downstairs."


JP considered this and pointed, "We could hang speakers down here and run a switch. Wire it through the floor into the cabinet… could be real nice actually. Hell might have t'get around to refeltin the table. Maybe even make the windows open. Put in a ceiling fan…" He paused and squint back to Elmo, "You sure I ain' in trouble?"


Elmo sets the dolly to rest, one hand on the cabinet to keep it steady. "You know tu maman would be lightin' out after you with a spoon right now, because you musta done somethin'." He goes over to JP, wraps an arm around his head and kisses his forehead. "So I dunno, maybe you are in trouble. But not by me."


JP was so confused, like a scolded grown child, complete with dirt smudged on his face. His shoulders slumped and he accepted Elmo's amnesty. His heavy brows furrowed together looking up and finally accepting, okay he's not in trouble here. It was a nice start. "Tu vas me donner un ulcere, Sparkplug." There was a lazy grin that formed with nothing but affection there that snapped into the look of a stormcloud when he chided someone trying to use the payphone. "Out of Order. I'm waitin for a call."


"Only fair. You gave me one first." Elmo thwacks JP's shoulder and goes back to unload the second speaker cabinet. The two don't match; one is on sleek angled legs, like a television, and one is the type that sits on the floor. Both look like they've had long and fulfilling lives before they landed where he could grab them. He's amused, when JP chases off some hapless pedestrian. "Who you waitin' on? …wait, dumb question, ain't it." He leans next to JP and lights up a cigarette himself.


The pay phone rang and the pedestrian looked confused and went to reach for it and like a bolt of lightning JP was halfway to the phone, "Fella, I will cut you if you touch that phone. I don't get this tea party update I'm takin it out on you. Kick some rocks." Gearhead was something else when he got going, but he didn't seem to want to waste any more time than he had to. A look over his shoulder to Elmo with that raised eyebrow indicated he was right.

The phone was picked up and he asked, "Allo?" There was a pause and whatever war JP was going to start melted af if everything was right in the world for the next three minutes. His tone shifted drastically, "Oui c'est papa. Parlez-moi de votre journee, mon petite." He turned crossing one ankle over the other and just listened for a while as the story was relayed to him, the grin hanging. This was everything good in life


Elmo smiles, watching for a moment, then glancing down, flicking the ash from his cigarette. Like the team had done before, instinctively he lets JP have as much privacy as can be with his little girl. JP talks to nobody else in the world like that. It makes Elmo pretty happy himself to see it, even it's for just a minute.


JP had that look of a grown man that took tiny tea parties for the serious business they were. And he let her talk and there in he poked at the concrete with a toe and murmured in assurance, "Ton pere se comporte. Oui vraiment." Your daddy is behaving himself. Yes really, Amelie… mostly. Enough. He only got three minutes though and at the end of too short a time he murmured, "tu es mon monde, mon petite." He was silent when the phone went dead on the other end. It hurt, but he was smiling and just stood there another second before his fingers put the receiver back. He took that moment to compose himself like he did in the car when the lil girl gave VItale her doll, Miss Madeline that still rode shotgun. He just needed a minute to put the world back in place. Rejoining Elmo that easy lopsided smile stayed put, and a hand reached out to squeeze his shoulder in that silent: thank you. "I tol' her you said hi."


Elmo slings an arm around JP's waist for a quick squeeze. Anybody who doesn't like it can eat a few thousand volts. He's looking up at his partner, gauging his status. "Thanks, pal. Hell of a tea party, huh?" He nudges him. "Hey. I got wiring. You wanna fish a drop to run the stereo?" He cocks his eyebrows up, like that's an offer JP would be out of his mind to refuse.


Vitale was on his way down to the shops, having missed his friends. At least this time he doesn't seem to want to kidnap anyone this time, he doesn't arrive frazzled like he has the last two times, which must be a relief to poor Elmo who's been kidnapped the last two times that Vitale showed up to the garage. He doesn't even knock upon entering, arriving in his usual dress of a suit that looks like this is the first time it's ever been worn, complete with cuff links with his initials on them, fancy and shiny new shoes, way overdressed for walking into a garage, but he also arrives with a bag full of what smells like fresh burgers and fries. "You guys hungry?" Is how he announces himself.


JP chuckled to Elmo with a smile, still grateful, in teh afterglow of a great moment that ended all too soon. "Yeah, she punched a little boy that tried to pull her hair. I'm so proud of her." His expression shifted to a different level of excitement, "yeah I wanna go fishin for hte stereo." Hearing the familiar voice JP turned to greet V, but paused and gave him an up-down look and a low whistle, "Damn, son, someone came from work. Lookin Sharp, V. Tres chic, mon ami. An' yeah we always hungry. You met us?"


Elmo grins, proud uncle. One of many. "Good for her!" V comes in and while he doesn't give him that once-over like JP, he does admire the suit. "Vushka, that is a fine damn suit. You're makin me jealous." He finally lets go of JP and goes back out to his truck for the speaker wire.


Vitale actually blushes when JP gives him that once over as he sets down his bag of offered lunch on a box that he overturns. "You like it? I think Ignacio has one similar, if you want to hit up his apartment next. How's your Beefcake, by the way? I've been sneaking in and refilling his refrigerator, you know." With money, of course. He says pulling at the grey suit as if it wasn't that impressive. "I'm telling you, Elmo, we can go get you one made. I'd let you just steal one from my brothers like JP did but well…" None of his brothers are quite so short. "I brought you something to eat, just some burgers, didn't know how many would be here so I brought way too much."


JP eyebrow waggled at Vitale with a grin. Hell yeah he'll throw him that compliment. What's a friend for? "Oooh yeah I got that one from your brother. Which is in time too cause I'll need to wear that f'er my court hearin'/" Other people wear them to work or on dates. Newp. JP wears his to appeal to the authorities. "No burger will go to waste man." He took the bag and made to follow Elmo handing him one. "You restockin my Lobster Guy's fridge?" He looked bewildered. "That throws the rules of the game off a bit… cool. Seaky. Clint' be so confused I swear." He turned to Elmo and Vitale, "Oh, Amelie said t'say hit'you too. I promised her I would." God he's such a sucker for this stuff.


"Well, I might have to take you up on it," Elmo says to V, because how long is he going to be able to resist, really. He's checking to see if this burger has cheese on it when JP mentions Clint. Then he glances up, frowning. "Clint. Yeah. You mentioned he's got great shoulders?"


"You got a court hearing over what I bailed you out over? Shit, JP." Vitale pinches the bridge of his nose and sighs. "You know that my father and the police have an interesting relationship, I could probably get you out of all that, if you wanted. Or, I can get you a really, really good lawyer." If JP wants nothing to do with being associated with Vitale's family. "And, he probably just thinks you've been stealing it from someone. I don't leave any notes, he still thinks it's you too."

He seems shellshocked when JP says his daughter said to say hi to him. He gestures at himself in confusion. "Me? That's real sweet. How's the little princess doing?" All the guys love that little girl it seems. He takes the burger Elmo's holding and puts it back in the bag handing him one marked with a 'no cheese' sticker and winks.


JP looked to Elmo with that warning look like, Let's not get into this discussion again-again right now please. "Oui. He do." and JP left it at that. MAN that burger was damn tasty! When VItale asked abotu Amelie the answer came out in French muffled by chewing the burger: entirely indecipherable. The gist from teh body language was: She's doing great, there was something small, maybe hopping, and someone got punched, and he was over the moon he got to talk to his kid. The actual specific details were likely not world ending, but this arrangement to let them talk for 3-5 minutes every couple weeks when Mozelle could sneak them over to a pay phone? It was something.


Elmo doesn't seem likely to get into it, but he does seem thoughtful. He keeps it to himself. "Hey," he says to Vitale, only half joking, "at least we'll get to see him in a suit."


"JP, I can get you a good lawyer." Vitale insists again, more forcefully, adding heat to his tone, a voice he might have used on jobs. "You're not going to jail again." He smiles when JP vaguely talks about his daughter, his whole face seeming to light up. It was sweet and relaxes the lines from Vitale's face as he absentmindedly squeezes Elmo's shoulder.


JP swallowed his burger and shook his head with a wry grin, "They pushin f'more likely, but all they got me on is disturbin the peace. Well…" He considered wobbling his head around, "Less they get me on that deflation of character thing. But nah, I ain' goin back over no ugly lil sign. They got too many groups invested in this one. The city'd flip upside dow. They can' do it without shootin themself in they' foot man."


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