The breakfast that morning had taken far too long...
Alvin had found that chatting with a wise old man was truly a pleasant experience...
He could always find some quality in these old men that he had never possessed himself: the distilled essence of a lifetime's experience, gained when a person was nearing the end of their life.
"Seeing through it, then letting go" and "giving up the fight, then letting go" were two completely different states of mind.
Old Judge Capster clearly belonged to the former group, while Old Kent, the local tough who had taken over entertaining the judge from Alvin, belonged to the latter...
Alvin had firmly turned down Nick, who was still scrambling to catch up on his summer homework, and set off alone with little Ginny for Ivan's garage...
On the way, as he passed the Mutant Union, Alvin saw Dahlia driving a luxury car to take John Wick to work...
Watching Dahlia lean against the hood, smoking as she saw John Wick, whose legs looked a little weak, walk into the Mutant Union, Alvin shook his head with amusement...
Who had actually come out on top in last night's bar brawl?
That unlucky guy Christmas had started the fight. His ex-girlfriend had run off with a slick guy in a suit, so last night he'd taken a dislike to every well-dressed man he saw...
When he'd gone into the bar last night, he'd even tried to hit on Dahlia, who was waiting outside. Instead, she'd looked down on him and told him her boyfriend was a hundred times better than a bald guy with a square jaw like him...
So when he saw John Wick, he'd taken a dislike to him, and then started a fight...
The two men had fought to a draw.