“Been waiting on you to come home. You know I can’t do shit without you,” Ernie shared.
Erys’ watched on, seeing how much his mother’s detachment broke him. He also saw how Remedy lived up to her name. This was, without question, undoing him.
“Yeah, I know. Come on, let’s get you home and in a nice bed,” she offered, reaching for his hand.
Remedy helped him in the car while Erys’ loaded everything back up. Once Ernie was secure, Remedy started to help, earning her a grunt from Erys.
“Get in. I got this. Figure out where we’re stopping to get you something to eat.”
“I don’t need to eat, I’m fine,” she replied.
“Remedy, I haven’t slept in two days. Figure it out or I’ll figure it out and I’ll force feed you.”
“You wouldn’t.”
“Force feeding and water boarding gotta have the same technique, I’m sure. Figure it out.”
She huffed, pulled the door open, climbed in and shut it.
Erys allowed the smile to float over his lips. “The woman listens.”
9
Burgers, Grills, and Chills was quiet this time of night. Everyone was either at Wild Flame or the other various clubs throughout the city, making this an easy night. In a crowd of people, Ernie got agitated and this just wasn’t the night for added chaos. Remedy slid out of the truck and opened Ernie’s door while Erys pulled his gun from the spot he stashed it and placed it in the back of his pants.
She noticed how vigilant he was but it wasn’t anything to harp on. He wasn’t anything to harp on. And quite frankly, she didn’t like her thoughts being consumed with possibilities and what ifs. Life had taught her in the harshest way that this wasn’t any fairytale.
“I could use a good ol’ cheesy cheese,” Ernie crooned, rubbing his stomach. “All that regulating, I done worked up an appetite.”
“I bet you have. You know what kind of ass whopping you got to deliver to make them give me all my money back?” Erys spoke up.
“I beat him like he stole something from me. I beat him like I should’ve beat your ass,” Ernie stated, finding a table out the way where he could see everything.
Like father, like son. They stood the same, moved the same and at times when Ernie wasn’t reliant on his cane, they even walked the same. If Remedy didn’t know any better, she would have assumed he’d been an active father for as long as Erys had been alive.
Ignoring his father’s statement, Erys looked over at Remedy. She’d placed herself at a safe distance where she wouldn’t be touched. He was getting too comfortable interrupting the safety of her space. If they were going to take care of Ernie, there needed to be boundaries.
“Boundaries,” she thought with a roll of her eyes. “Stop thinking too deep into this.”
“What do you want to eat?” Erys’ baritone broke through her thoughts.
“Hm?” she asked, looking up at him.
“What do you want to eat?” he repeated.
“Oh I can order it,” she answered and started toward the order window. A quick grab of her hand, that felt electric, a gentle tug back that didn’t feel like a threat to her being accompanied by the intensity of his glare sent her body into a frenzy. Butterflies swirling in her stomach, alerting every nerve ending and shocking her brain into reminding her how things like this ended.
Remedy stepped back, closing herself off. “I just want a Trae Way Chicken Sandie with everything on it and side of the East Side Tots. A bottle of water is fine. Your dad wants the cheesy cheese but his blood pressure is still high so get him a chicken sandwich with cheese, a small West Side Fry and water with lemon.”
Erys nodded, pushing his hands in his pocket. “I’ll get him to the doctor so we can know exactly what’s going on with him.”
Remedy returned his nod.
“Go sit down. I got this.”
With her hands still folded over her chest, she walked back to the table. Sitting by Ernie, she nudged him softly. “You alright?”
“Yeah,” he said with a sigh. “Still mad though. You should’ve told me you were leaving. Had me tearing that shit up looking for you.”
