@kingthorin “Blood on my name”
kingthorin said: Both fighting side by side in the trenches ( can’t remember if that’s a thing though… )
When he was a young man, Arnold killed a friend of his. He didn’t pull the trigger, nor did he order the hit but Herman’s blood was on his hands nonetheless. He’d set into motion the terrible gamble that ended with him sprawled against the Hotel Metropole’s pavement, and Charles Becker himself in the chair. It had given him New York, too, all tidy and neat like a crown he earned. Or took.
And he remembered that Swope had cornered him after Becker was cold in the grave and demanded how could he and Arnold couldn’t understand the surprise.
When he was a gambler- and not this thing he is now- he choked a man to death for no other reason than he could. And Manny had cornered him later, with his dark father eyes angry and Waxey laughing in sheer disbelief and asked why…
He couldn’t answer. At least, not in a way he could make himself believe in.
He had wanted to. It gained himself something. A city or an amusement. Did it matter?
Charlie’s blood is on his hands from where he clawed at Rothstein when the boardwalk exploded beneath them. The kid is currently on the bed across from him being looked at by the doctors. He keeps a steady eye on Rothstein as if he’s afraid to lose sight of him for reasons the Bankroll can’t understand. AR can only assume he wants his gun.
There’s an officer beside Rothstein who keeps asking questions, and it takes a crisp C note from his billfold to make the dub go away. Meyer and Benny are already on the train over. After that, he’ll start making the calls.
Nucky’ll bleed. Rosetti will too, when he’s done with them.
And this time, AR can give an answer why.
