Ernie begrudgingly got weighed, vitals taken, and when he was left alone in the room with Erys and Remedy, he started fussing all over again.
“Why the hell am I here at a quack? How many different ways do you want to prove that I’m crazy? I ran a few niggas down in the Cadillac. Do we need to go back further than that? Huh? I was born and raised in a whore house? I’m out my fuckin’ mind. That ain’t a secret. Ernest Moore is crazy, whoopty doo!” Ernie yelled, flailing his arms.
Erys stood and placed his hands on his father’s shoulders. “Pop. It’s the neurologist. They’re going to look at your brain.”
“They’re going to cut my head open?” Ernie’s eyes showed terror and Erys felt that in his chest. “You gon’ let these muhfuckas cut my head open?”
“No,” Remedy spoke up. “You’re going to lay down on a bed and they’re going to take images of your brain.”
Ernie whispered. “You’re going to let them put a hole in my head?”
Erys watched as she held his face in her hands and spoke to him softly and evenly. Love suddenly, love at first sight and all the things he swore was something made up so people could act on impulse. It was real. He knew it was because he’d felt it from his toes to the top of his head from the second he laid eyes on her.
“I’m going to let them look at your brain so we know what’s happening on the inside. I’m going to stand right outside the door. If you want to take a nap, you can okay? No one is going to tell you that you’re crazy and no one is going to look down on you for how you came into this world and how you had tosurvive it. You did what you had to do, okay?” Remedy soothed his paranoia.
“Okay,” Ernie buzzed. “No hole in my head?”
“No one is going to harm a silk gray coil on that head. Have I ever lied to you?” Remedy posed.
“Never.”
“Okay, relax. You’re working yourself up and you’re safe and sound okay? Sit down by your son.”
Ernie, in a calmer state, sat down next to Erys and asked. “What’s going to happen after they look into my head?”
“They’re going to do some blood work and an echo,” Remedy replied.
Ernie looked at Erys. “Why are you paying for all of this if I’m gonna end up dying anyway? I’ve fucked, I’ve snorted, I’ve drank, and I lost your mama. Yes, I’m losing my mind. And I deserve that shit. I pimped bitches since I was old enough to tell my dick to stand up. That house you took me from was the same house I was born in.”
Remedy raised her brows.
“We all got more days behind us than ahead but while I got you, I want to make sure I’m taking the best care of you. Is that so bad? Part of it is me trying to make up for the time we wasted. All the times I could’ve tapped in and didn’t. I know you think this is a waste of time but can you do this for me?” Erys asked, wrapping his hand around Remedy’s. “For us?”
Ernie muttered. “I’ll do anything for you two.”
Remedy smiled softly at him. “Then do this for us so for as long as we have you, you’re good.”
“Alright, alright. Shut up with all that soft shit.”
When the nurse came back for Ernie, he left with her without a fight. The nurse being young and attractive didn’t hurt.
“Rem, you stay with my face-stealing son. I’m gon’ be just fine,” Ernie buzzed, striding out the room behind her.
“You old dog,” Erys joked, watching Ernie put a dip into his walk. When the door closed, he looked over at Remedy, who was studying a text on her phone. “You good?”
She slowly nodded. “I met Eden Sage-Burton. She wants me to come to a photoshoot and test out my artistic direction.”
“Why you thinkin’ about it so hard? You know that shit is yours,” Erys encouraged. “Your gifts are making room for you. Eden is a big name on the fashion scene and she’s not on none of that bullshit.”
Remedy blew a curl out of her face and groaned. “You got two new artists to develop and Ernie is used to his day-to-day.”
“We can get Ernie an aide. Preferably someone that fits his tastes to help out. You can live your dreams, care for Ernie, build with me. We can have it all, we just have to have a balance,” Erys suggested. “I will not let you give up your dream. You’ve done enough of that. You’re going to go to that photoshoot. You’re going to direct the shit out of it and when it’s over, I’m going to take you out to dinner so you can tell me every detail.”
Remedy smiled. “You like me.”
He kissed the top of her head. “You better know it. And I’m not letting you go.”
She rested her head on his shoulder. “This is going to take a few hours, there’s a coffee shop in the shopping center over there. Walk with me?”
