Ernie eased into the car and looked up at him. “Get your big ass in the back.”
He caught the smug smirk on the woman’s face as she rounded the hood, threw her bag in, and slid in behind the wheel. She fired the engine up and glared at him.
“I’m not trying to piss him off and leave your big ass out here. So either you getting in or you’re walking. I don’t give a fuck either way.”
“You kiss my daddy with that mouth?” Erys shot back.
“Nigga, get your ass in this car and shut the fuck up!” Ernie bellowed. “I’m tired.”
Erys grumbled to himself and got in. The ride silent outside of the radio playing the hits from the sixties. Erys had several pictures of his mother in this car, posed outside of it, and most of them with him. He was shocked it still ran as good as it did. When they arrived at the house, the woman whose name he hadn’t committed to memory helped his father inside.
Erys took in the house he had no memory of. It was old, slightly cluttered but clean. There was no sign a woman lived here though. His eyes trailed them down the hall and his feet followed. At the door of the hallway bathroom, he watched as she helped him undress, step into the shower, and wash him.
“If you’re going to stand there staring, you can at least hand me the underwear and pants off his bed,” the woman grumbled.
Erys moved across the hall finding the Depends and pants neatly placed on the bed. He returned to the bathroom where she was applying lotion to Ernie’s aged skin. She took the items from him and finished.
“Ready for bed or do you want a snack?” she asked, observing his tired eyes.
“You staying?” Ernie asked.
“I’ll be right next door; if you need me, you know how to get me,” she softly assured. Not like a lover or a woman who needed him but with respect.
Ernie nodded. “We’re still going to the laundromat tomorrow?”
“Yes we are. And the diner between loads. When you wake up, I’ll be ready. Okay?”
“Okay. Thanks, Remedy,” Ernie stated, easing into the room and climbing into the bed. She ensured he was comfortable, night light on, tv on and the blinds closed.
“Don’t mention it. Night, Ernie.” She eased out the room past Erys. “He shouldn’t get up tonight and start wandering. The club tired him out.”
“How long has he been like that?” Erys asked, genuinely concerned.
“He’s your father, you figure it out.”
With that, she walked out the house leaving Erys to sit there with all the changes his absence brought. Slumped on the sectional sofa, he kicked his feet up on the newspaper-covered ottoman, knocking over a stack of them. He huffed and sat up to pick them up. Every paper was an article about him. The military officer who’d really been a killing machine for the last fifteen years. Smoky mirrors and rose-colored glasses sold to the public. Erys looked at a few of them before tossing them on the other end of the couch and letting the faint scent of strawberries lull him to sleep.
3
She pulled her eyes open at noon and huffed.
“I’m never going to sleep a full eight hours again, am I?” she asked, more to herself than anyone else. There was no one here to answer. No one here to care. And there wouldn’t be. That was an unfortunate reality. Especially after almost having everything she swore she wanted. A loving, proud family. A man who adored her. Almost a child. That intrusive thought forced her to pull in a bitter breath because anything after that façade of memories would be the hellish reality she was subjected to.
With a huff, she rolled over to the side and looked at the open door of her bedroom. Unwanted tears fell from her eyes and the blanket of sorrow rested on her. If only she could sleep all of this away. There was no sleeping any of this away. Years of her life, gone. No support system. No friends. Nothing but this old house and all of the old memories that occupied it. Laying here and crying the day away wouldn’t do her any good so she forced herself out of the bed. Remedy started gathering all the things she needed to take to the laundromat, a list of groceries she needed to buy, and the reality was MackLem was deadass about her not coming back.
“Fuck,” she blew to herself as she picked up the property tax bill. “I can’t win for losing.”
Continuing to move around the small house, her phone buzzed on the small table where she’d left it hours ago. Remedy snatched it off of the charger, looked at the name and frowned. Desi, the bartender from Wild Flame. She was the only girl in the club that had her number. Mostly because she kept her in the loop with all the side gigs. From Remedy’s standpoint Desi wanted to be friends but Remedy didn’t trust anyone.
She answered hoping Desi was going to keep the call short and sweet. “Yeah. What’s up Desi?”
“Lem really fired you?” she asked, shock in her voice. “You and Tina bring in the most money. And why the hell were you slapping niggas last night?”
“Why are you in my business?” Remedy asked evenly. “I told you about that.”
“You know, one day you’ll realize you could use a friend,” Desi replied, ignoring Remedy’s tone like she typically did. “You know that nigga you hit was one of the biggest Trae Way Gangstas? Well, until his ass was sent off to the military.”
“I’m assuming you’re going to tell me why I should be concerned about that?” Remedy muttered, stopping at the kitchen window to see him standing in the overgrown yard looking at the condition of the house.
