His eyes slowly opened and he looked around. “Where are we?”
“My house. I’ll get everything, let me show y’all the rooms,” Erys said, getting out and opening her door and then moving to his dad’s.
Remedy wiggled her tired body out of the truck, counting down the seconds when she could pull her stage outfit off of her body. With Ernie in tow, she followed Erys inside.
“There ain’t enough room in the garage for my Cadillac,” Ernie stated.
“There’s an empty garage on the other side. With enough space for that big ass car, Erys said, turning on the lights as he walked through the house.
Remedy took in the size of the house and the view of the lake in the back of the house from the foyer. She was back in Cashmere Lakes. She pulled in a deep breath and quietly pushed it out to settle the quake happening inside of her. Her eyes were back on the cleanliness of the house. The sharpness of the white walls against the black baseboards and trimming. Erys started up the black stairs to the second floor.
Ernie climbed them behind his son and Remedy spotted him from behind.
“This is my room,” Erys pointed to the neatly-made room, with not a sight of warmth inside. “Pops, you’re going to be right next to Remedy. Every room has its own bathroom.”
Ernie left the two and shuffled into his room. He took it in and sounded off. “What you said you did down there at Fort Wraith?”
Remedy watched Erys’ jaw tighten. There was definitely a story there. One she was going to avoid at all costs.
“You’re right here,” Erys said, walking into a room that was larger than she thought it would be. “Walk-in closet. Your own balcony. I had my housekeeper put towels in the bathroom. I’ll bring you something to sleep in.”
“Thanks. I’ll get Ernie ready for bed.”
He bowed his head and stepped aside so she could walk past him. Remedy sauntered into the room where Ernie sat on the edge of the bed taking it all in.
“What you thinkin’ about?” Remedy asked, her hand on his shoulder.
Ernie shook his head, quickly swiping a tear from his cheek. “He turned out better than me.”
“You’re proud?”
“More than he’ll ever know.”
10
“Don’t wake her up,” Erys grumbled. “You were up and down all night. Let her sleep.”
“Well, you gon’ have to do something, nigga. I’m not eating this shit. What the fuck is this?” Ernie asked, dipping his spoon in the bowl and watching the chunky liquid slide off of it. “How you eat this? Nigga, you know you not in the military no more? You don’t have to keep eating like this.”
“It’s oatmeal, Pops, it’s healthy,” Erys stated.
“Let me tell you something, muhfucka, I’m seventy-six almost seventy-seven, if you don’t kill me before them. I’ve lived my damn life. Can a nigga get some bacon? Some coffee. Something else besides this?” Ernie complained, smelling the oatmeal. “Yeah, I wouldn’t even eat this if you served it to me with some pussy. Your mama didn’t teach you how to burn?”
“Again, my mother worked three jobs after she ran away from your cokehead ass,” Erys shot back.
“I wasn’t no damn cokehead. I occasionally had a snort or two to keep me up. Nigga wasn’t just pimpin’ and snorting. Get your fucking story straight,” Ernie fussed.
“What is all of this noise?” Remedy asked, eyes squinted, bed head due to her not having a bonnet and the t-shirt and shorts he gave her swallowing her up.
“That nigga over there is trying to kill me!” Ernie roared.
“Nobody is trying to kill him,” Erys’ protested. “He won’t eat the oatmeal.”
“He hates oatmeal. Everyone who is sane hates oatmeal,” Remedy replied.
“He is out his fuckin’ mind,” Erys grumbled.
“Like father like son,” Remedy grumbled back. “Don’t be talking about my friend like that. How are you going to give him something you won’t eat?”
