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Pow!
Pow!
Pow!
Three shots outside of her bedroom caused Remedy’s exhausted body to jolt from the bed she was hoping to be in for the next couple of hours, to the floor. Another round of shots fired off before she heard the weathered voice of her next door neighbor.
“I’ll put something hot in your ass, muhfucka! Leave you stankin’!”
Typically a threat like that, followed by fire, would mean the two gangs were duking it out over asphalt that didn’t belong to them. But the words coming from Mr. Ernie’s mouth meant he was having an episode.
She grumbled into the sweatpants she kicked off before falling into the bed. “Dammit, Ernie.”
Remedy pushed herself to her bare feet, haphazardly grabbing the pants from the floor. As she rushed through the old house, she pulled the pants over her bare legs and slid her feet into a pair of slides.
“Keep your ass from around here!” Mr. Ernie shouted again.
Remedy took in the scene, finding nothing but parked cars, trees, and a few shot out streetlights. “Mr. Ernie, what’s going on?”
“Them niggas trying to come in my shit! You don’t see them? Get behind me,” he protested.
Mr. Ernie had to be in his mid-seventies, silky salt and pepper hair, skin like onyx. Upon first look, anyone could see he was hell back in his day and heknewit. The problem with being hell in the prime of your life was when you got like this – you were indeed still hell.
Remedy squinted, thinking quickly on her feet before he killed someone. “Point them out.”
“Right fucking there! Staring at me, trying to take my shit!” Mr. Ernie fussed, pointing to the tree line.
Remedy took the shotgun out of his hand and fired two shots into the wooded area. “Did I get them?”
He darted his eyes around before looking down at her. Faint realization flashing in his eyes. “You a good shot, little Remedy.”
Remedy gave him a faint smile of her own. She studied him further. He was still in the sweatpants and t-shirt she talked him into earlier this morning. Now, the sun was getting ready to set and the stain on the front of his pants proved he’d peed himself without knowing. For a moment, her heart sank and the morbidness of it all rushed back in. For as long as she lived next door, she’d never seen anyone come and check on him. It wasn’t until the last couple of months that she’d really started checking on him. Making sure he ate before her shifts, amongst other things but as of late, his sundowning was getting harder for her to watch.
Last night, she’d found him roaming down the middle of the street, naked and frantically searching for a woman named Cherie. It took her hours to get him calm, and down to sleep. She slipped out an hour after he started snoring and was hoping he’d been too tired from all of that to be out here like this.
“Have you ate?” she asked, looking up into his gray-rimmed eyes.
Mr. Ernie focused on her, taking a little longer to register her question. “Nah.”
“How about you let me help you shower, get dressed in one of those suits I saw last night and I’ll take you with me tonight,” Remedy posed.
“You gon’ take me to see ass and titties?” Mr. Ernie asked, immediately coming back to his fresh self.
Remedy stifled a laugh and eye roll. Considering that’s how she’d really met him, she knew what he liked to get him to sit stillfor hours. And at least having him in the club meant she could ensure he wasn’t shooting up the block or wandering around naked. He’d be fed, entertained and too tired to cause ruckus when she needed to be sleeping. That, and her heart wouldn’t be able to take anything happening to him.
“I ever told you I used to pimp hoes?” Mr. Ernie asked ,walking back toward the steps of his house. The paint had chipped away years ago. The steps were rotting and the front door either got stuck or wouldn’t shut. This was no way for anyone to live.
Remedy walked in behind him, happy he hadn’t messed up the house much from her deep clean last week. “Yeah, I remember you telling me about that.”
“Poppi wasn’t letting me get too carried away though. She had me treating them hoes like real employees until I got my hands on sweet, sweet Cherie,” Mr. Ernie shared.
“You were looking for her last night,” Remedy shared as he roamed down the hall to tuck his shotgun away and grab the things necessary for him to take a shower. Mr. Ernie, used to the level of care Remedy offered him, followed her into the hall bathroom.
“I fucked up. Poor pussy management. You know back in my day, the hoes used to give daddy a taste. I had a taste of Cherie, never let her out my sight. She was here, all up and through my house before running off with my boy.”
This was the first she’d ever heard of him having children. Her brows fused as she pulled the nitrile gloves over her hands. “You have a son?”
