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It was a peaceful Sunday afternoon in early autumn, the sun overhead warm but not hot. Sonny and Rico sat relaxing on the patio, enjoying the good life they'd earned but paid a high price to attain.
Rico sipped a glass of iced tea, watching the grands play in the yard. "It's a good thing there's a breeze coming in off the gulf," he remarked, tugging his hat a bit lower on his eyes to shade the changing angle of the sun.
"Of Mexico," Sonny grumbled pointedly.
"Preaching to the choir, baby," Rico answered, although it was an old topic of conversation. Sonny always got inordinately tetchy when he read the news, but insisted on keeping his subscription, claiming nothing compared to the rustle of paper in your hands. He really hadn't changed that much; even when he was young, Sonny had had a few old-fashioned idiosyncrasies that earned him teasing from his hipper partner.
Sonny tossed the paper down on the table abruptly. "Jesus, Rico."
"What's happening in crazy town now?"
"Get this – a guy fell in love with his computer. Beat up a couple of his family members when they tried to get him away from it for a while."
Tubbs, who'd just been taking a sip of his drink, nearly spit it out. "What?!"
"Yeah, that AI 'companion' crap they're on about these days. Can you believe it? Lonely people being lured into substituting an artificial friend for real-life connections."
"Generative AI is bad for the environment, too, but all they care about is the money."
"Could we ever have imagined back in the day that things would turn out like this?" Sonny asked, his eyes meeting Rico's over his sunglasses, their gaze sharing memories of a different time.
"What's depressing is what hasn't changed, partner. It's always the same game, just different players and tools."
"Tell me about it. Maybe we were all better off when we had those bricks with the green text scrolling down the black background."
Sonny had never developed much of a proficiency with computers, but he always owned the latest and best cell phone. Rico was the opposite; he hated cell phones with a passion (only reluctantly using them), while a high-end computer with a blazing fast processor sat on his desk in the den, the newest upgrade a Birthday gift from Rico Jr.
"Watch out, you're starting to sound like an old man," Rico teased with a grin.
"Oh, like I don't know you had Ricky help you install that new app on your cell phone last weekend," Sonny retorted.
"He was strictly consulting."
"Whatever you have to tell yourself," Sonny informed him with a chuckle.
Rico's hair, beard, and mustache were all white now, but his warm smile and expressive eyes were the same. Sonny sported more than a little five o'clock shadow and had gotten a new knee a decade ago yet never lost the boyish charm that drew people to him. The outsides had changed, the insides ageless.
Billy Crockett joined them on the patio after a long hour of playing with his grandkids and collapsed dramatically into the closest empty chair. "I'm getting too old for this stuff!" he proclaimed tiredly.
Sonny and Rico looked at each other and burst out laughing.