Chapter 4
“Where you at?” Tone asked through the phone pressed to Erys’ ear.
“Laundromat off a Piedmont. The one my pops used to run hoes out of,” Erys grumbled, his attention balanced between his father talking to an old drunk and Remedy folding his first load of laundry. The headphones still in her ears.
“Fuck you doing over there?” Tone asked.
“Apparently it’s laundry day. Ay, Ms. May, you ever remember her having a granddaughter?” Erys quizzed, trying to jog his memory.
“Uh, not that I can remember. You know her son runs the hospital. Married some bougie bitch from Cashmere Lakes. So if she had a granddaughter, they never had her uppity ass in the hood with niggas like us,” Tone shared.
“Well, her granddaughter has been looking after pops. And she’s definitely been around niggas like us. She got a mouth like a serpent.”
“Shorty in the red? He ain’t making no money off her?” Tone mused. “Damn, he losing his touch.”
“Not a dime. From the look of it, they’re friends. Furthermore, I don’t even know if the nigga remembers where his shit is. He’s in and out of it. He went off on me four times since last night. And she waltzes her ass in and he immediately calms down.”
“You tellin’ me her fine ass is fuckin’ yo daddy, nigga?” Tone posed. “Sound like pimpin’ to me. He got her dancing to pay the bills and she’s sliding her pussy over his face.”
The thought repulsed and pissed him off in the same token.
Why it pissed him off, he had no clue. Up until last night, a woman’s disdain with him didn’t mean shit.
He almost found himself apologizing to her for his behavior.
That was a type of chaos he had never embarked on and was sure, at thirty-five, he didn’t have space for it.
Although coming back to Waynesville came without a plan, it was evident it was needed.
Tone’s ignorant rapper nephew needed managing, his mother left him shells of businesses that needed to be handled.
And then there was the matter of the house.
Apparently, at some point when his father was in his right mind, he transferred the deed to his mother’s name.
Now, there was a mess of court paperwork he needed to sift through.
Piles of mail Ernie hadn’t opened and a very feisty woman blocking him from anything that would deter his father.
“First of all, shut the fuck up with that shit. She ain’t fuckin’ that nigga.
They really are friends. Which is wild that someone like her is friends with someone like him,” Erys stated, observing how she roamed out of the laundromat in her oversized Waynesville Nursing College sweatshirt and biker shorts.
She sat on the bench next to Ernie and handed him a pack of trail mix and a bottle of water.
While she spoke to him, she gently held on to his wrist.
Summer hadn’t fully settled into Waynesville yet which allowed Ernie not to overheat in that ridiculous suit he wore.
“You sound possessive, nigga. And what you mean someone like her? She a stripper. You know how they get down behind old men. Watch her, the bitch might be your stepmom for real,” Tone joked.
Erys swayed his head. “Nah, I don’t think that’s her motive. I’ll figure it out though. Anyway, I saw your dumbass nephew’s text after them boys dropped my truck off. What the fuck does IBAS@9 mean? Does he know English or am I going to be left guessing all damn day?”
“I’ll be at the studio at nine. Didn’t you military niggas abbreviate everything?” Tone shot back.
“Yeah and the shit made sense. This don’t make sense.
Tell him I’ll be there. I should be done riding around Thelma and Joe by then,” Erys huffed, as if the decision to drive them around was one they forced upon him.
When really, it was Erys trying to sort through all of these things happening within him.
He was searching for something and had no guide to uncovering what it was.
He had unexplained heaviness resting on him.
And then, when he looked at Remedy, there was a tinge of something that made his body quake.
He damn near levitated the night before when her hand came into contact with his face.
All of these feelings he didn’t invite in were overwhelming at best. Being angry and staying angry was easier than sorting out whatever this was
Pulling himself out of the sun, he walked over to the pair, stopping a safe distance so he wouldn’t spark another cuss out from either. Remedy didn’t look at him, only muttered, “I’m going to switch out loads. Don’t get excited,” before standing and walking back inside.
“Well, you gon’ stand there and block my view with your big ass or are you going to sit down and talk?” Ernie asked, shaking a few nuts in his hand like dice.
“You gon start the hollering shit?” Erys posed, one foot on the curb.
Ernie cut his son a look and threw the nuts into his mouth. “You keep your hands off of my shit and we won’t have no issues.”
Erys conceded and sat down.
“Who told you it was okay to steal? I know it wasn’t your momma. Her ass too timid for that.”
The fact Ernie was still talking about Cherie in the present tense proved he wasn’t playing being crazy. His mind was leaving him and dare Erys say, it hurt to witness. Especially when Ernie was one of the sharpest men he knew. It was a characteristic he shared that made him as lethal as he was.
“My mother was working three dead-end jobs,” Erys shared.
That irritated Ernie, because there was nothing more he wanted than to take care of them. It showed in his eyes. She wouldn’t allow him to do it. Erys remembered her threatening him with court every time he attempted to come around and be a father.
“Her stubborn ass could’ve asked me for help. I’ve been trying. I’ve been fuckin’ trying,” Ernie grumbled. “She don’t want shit from me. What can I do?”
The question didn’t need an answer, Ernie stood to his feet and started inside. From his spot by the door, Ernie shuffled inside and handed Remedy the remainder of the trail mix.
“Eat something,” he muttered. “I got to piss.”
Remedy took the bag and kept a close eye on him as he shuffled away. Erys’ question came out before he could tell himself to leave her alone.
“He has Alzheimer's?" Erys’ questioned.
She nodded. “Some form of it. I can’t say which, I’m no medical professional.”
Erys’ eyes dropped down to the sweatshirt covering her ample breasts. He felt her intense glare. “Shirt says different.”
“Past life. What I do know is that he needs a full work up. He refuses to go to the doctor, he has no insurance and while I’m graciously covering the bills I know about, I can’t front a doctor’s bill,” she shared honestly. “Don’t you have some military benefits or something that can help him.”
“He’d have to be my dependent.”
“He’s your father. I don’t know the in’s and out’s of you two and I really don’t care to know. But he needs more help than I can give him. Unfortunately, my best just isn’t enough.” There was defeat in her voice but strength in her eyes.
“Why you doing all this for him?” Erys quizzed.
“Because when my granny was sick, he looked out for her. When I moved in after she died, he looked out for me. Your father is my only friend. And this is what friends do. They take care of each other,” Remedy replied, turning her eyes to the task of folding.
“You don’t have any family?” Erys continued his line of questioning.
“And that’s where I stop you from getting up in my business.
Since you insisted on crashing our day, those bags are folded.
We’re going to the diner and the movies after this, I’m only paying for him.
You’re on your own,” she stated, dropping a stack of clothes in a bag and roaming away to a nearby dryer.
He found himself watching her switch away, the bag of trail mix Ernie handed her earlier, still in her hand. Minutes later, Ernie drifted out of the bathroom, a wet stain on the front of his shiny pants. Erys started to approach him but Remedy blocked him.
“Don’t call him out, just redirect. And since neither of us like you, I got this one,” she commented, grabbing a set of clothes she placed to the side and her bag.
Erys found use with himself and finished folding the pile of clothes, bagged them, and carried them back out to his truck. When he trekked back inside, his father and Remedy were walking out of the bathroom in another outfit, just as flashy as the first.
“Rem, hand that to my thieving ass son. He can pay his dues,” Ernie spoke, gliding past Erys. “Meet us across the street when you’re done.”
Remedy watched Ernie walk to the door and shooed Erys off. “Help him across the street, his sense of direction is that of a six year old.”
Erys wasn’t going to do the back and forth with her because every passing moment he spent trying to figure her out, his father was gallivanting deeper through the parking lot trying to figure out what way to go. Jogging toward his wayward father, he reached out for him.
“The diner is this way,” Erys stated.
“I know where the gotdamn diner is, nigga. I met your momma there,” Ernie huffed, snatching away. “Where is Remedy?”
“She’s coming,” Erys stated, staying close to him.
“Uh huh. What you around me for?” Ernie asked, barely stopping for a passing car. “You said I wasn’t shit to you and now you here, ‘causing all this ruckus.”
“Man you need to watch where you stepping,” Erys fussed.
“Man, these niggas know who the fuck I am.”
“Yeah, Sweet Lick Ernie,” Erys grumbled. “Yeah I know. I heard it all my damn life.”
“Hear it some more then,” Ernie huffed. “No one else got a problem with who the fuck I am but you!”
“Who wants their pops to be a pimp?!”
“You got some fuckin’ nerve looking down your nose at me.
All that blood on your hands,” Ernie grumbled, as the men walked into the diner, both with a scowl.
Ernie found his booth and sat down, turning his back to his son, looking for Remedy.
“Where the fuck is Remedy? I don’t want to sit here with you. ”
Erys groaned in frustration. The waitress roamed over after a few minutes of silence and Erys’ attention back on his phone.
Studio times and arranging an appraisal for his father’s home.
It was clear he couldn’t live on his own anymore and he needed far more help than he’d assumed.
At some point, he was going to have to break it to Ernie and Remedy that an assisted living home was in his near future.
“What can I get you two handsome men,” she flirted, taping the ballpoint pin against the notepad.
“Only one of us look like something,” Ernie muttered. “And then there’s his ugly ass.”
The waitress giggled, looking over Erys. “He’s not that bad. I think he’s handsome. Just like you.”
“Eh, even if you threw your pussy at him, he wouldn’t know what to do with it. Look at him, he probably don’t even know his way around it,” Ernie stated as Remedy walked in.
“I can show him,” the waitress replied.
Erys wasn’t giving her the attention she was vying for. “We’ll take three waters.”
“And an orange juice with ice,” Ernie spoke. “Extra pulp. He’s paying.”
Remedy walked in with a noticeable scowl. The moment Ernie spotted her, he stood, allowing her to slide into the booth.
“You don’t even like orange juice,” Erys responded.
“You right about something. She does,” Ernie spoke as Remedy stared at the phone screen. “While you here, get me an Around the Way platter, with biscuits and gravy. For my friend, the Piedmont.”
The waitress nodded, jotted down the order and then looked at Erys who hadn’t given her anything to cling to. “What about you, handsome?”
“I’ll take the egg whites and wheat toast,” he answered, his attention attempting to be stolen by Remedy’s presence. The waitress switched away hoping he was paying attention.
Ernie and Remedy shared a look of disgust. But Ernie voiced what Remedy was thinking.
“Egg whites? You don’t eat meat, nigga? What has your mama done to you?”
“This is what I’ve ate for fifteen years. Or oatmeal,” Erys said.
Ernie grumbled. “Or oatmeal. You ain’t had a nigga breakfast in fifteen years. What the hell you eat for dinner?”
“Something lean and green,” Erys answered, prompting Remedy to comment.
“That’s why you’re like that.”
He cut his eyes to her. “Like what?”
“Up tight,” she said and Ernie chimed.
“Dick up the ass.”
“Wound up,” Remedy buzzed.
“Drawls tight as hell,” Ernie shot back. “Y’all young niggas wearing them tight ass colorful tighties not letting your nuts breathe and it fuckin’ shows. This why a woman can’t raise no man. Call yo’ mama so I can tell her about her bullshit.”
Remedy shook her head before saying, “Ernie, here, play something nice for me.”
She handed him five dollars and he smirked, grunting as he stood and started his walk to the jukebox the owners kept just for him. The two sat there in silence until Remedy broke it.
“I don’t like you staring at me. Stop it.”
The thing was, Erys didn’t know he was staring. He refocused. “You don’t ever want something else to do other than being around him all day?”
“No. He makes the days better. Even when he’s tripping,” Remedy shared, looking at Ernie work his way around the jukebox. “You just got to live in his world with him. It’s that simple.”
“That’s not logical.”
“It’s not about being logical anymore. It’s about making the time he has left here enjoyable.”