Page 10 of Truce Of The Matter

“I will after my game.”

He takes a swig from his beer and I stand and leave him to the game. I’m recording it and will watch it when I get to the crib. Before heading back into the kitchen, I go upstairs. Lyra and Aryel are in the open area we call the game room to the left of the stairs. It’s really a small living room. Lyra is on the sofa and Aryel is laying across her lap, knocked out. Her head is wrapped in a scarf so I can’t see her braids.

“She’s out,” Lyra says, lowly. “You can let her stay; I’ll be here. I don’t feel like driving back home tonight. Them oxtails got me sleepy too.”

“She has Girl Scouts in the morning.”

“What time?”

“Ten-thirty.”

“Then she can stay. Just come get her in the morning or I’ll bring her to you. Shit, go get a drink or something. You look stressed,” she teases.

“I’m good, sis, but I’ll let her stay. Momma wants her to anyway but I’ll come get her in the morning at nine-thirty. You don’t have to bring her and thanks again for doing her hair.”

“Stop thanking me, Rex. For real.” She presses the power button on the remote and turns the TV off. “Carry her in the room for me though. Her little ass is heavy,” she says, while smiling. Nothing about Aryel is heavy; she’s little just like her aunt and Yaya.

When I grab Aryel, with her eyes still closed, she wraps her arms around my neck and I carry her into my old room. It has been gutted and converted for Aryel. My mom went all out too, even getting one of the walls painted pink. As I lay her in the bed, I notice she’s dressed in pajamas. I wasn’t taking Aryel home tonight even if I wanted to.

“Good night, Daddy,” she utters as I turn on her TV.

“Good night, baby.”

After kissing her cheek, I lift the comforter to cover her then ease out of the room and close the door. When I head back downstairs, I wash my hands then open the fridge for a bottle of water. My mom walks in as I open my bottle.

“You ready to eat?” she asks.

“So Aryel already took a bath?” I counter and she smirks.

“It was getting late and she wanted to get comfortable.”

“Well, she’s going to stay. I’ll pick her up at around nine-thirty.”

“Was that so hard?” she asks as she walks to the stove.

She motions for me to sit and I walk over to the kitchen dining table. We are not allowed in my momma’s pots so I sit back as she prepares my plate of mashed potatoes and stew.

After nine, I leave my parents’ and head home to Chandler Heights. I’m good and full and planned on going straight to the crib but when I’m midway to my house, I change my mind. Instead of going home, I turn on Main and head toward the northside location of Flavor, a cigar bar and lounge. There are four in the city but the northside location is closest to me. I actually went to school with the owner, Krew.

Like always, it’s filled to capacity and the bar is jumping. I start to make my way to a small, empty booth but something at the bar catches my eye. Truce is there, sitting on a stool at the end.

Chapter 5

This Hennessy Sidecar is the highlight of my long ass day and this bartender has perfected the recipe. The smooth Cognac, mixed with Cointreau and fresh lemon is liquid heaven on my lips. I need this. Hell, I need this one, another one, and more than likely a third. The objective tonight is to drink until I feel better.

Checking my mom into a nursing home did something to me. The severity of her condition hit me like a ton of bricks and while I tried to hold it together for my dad and Daija, I started crumbling as her care team evaluated her with small physical tasks and cognitive skills tests. Her hands visibly trembled a lot and she did not do too well on spatial awareness, visual processing, and short-term recall. It broke my heart, all of it, and my mom was getting visibly anxious. They had to give her a mild sedative.

While she rested, Daija and I left my dad there with her. While Daija went to the house to unpack and settle in, I grabbed some of my mom’s must haves and took them back to her. Although her room at Golden Age looks more like a suite at The Metropolitan, I wanted to make sure she was comfortable so I grabbed her favorite quilt, a few of her crossword puzzle books,some of her Light My Flames plugins, and toiletries. My mom can’t live without her Vaseline with cocoa butter.

As if seeing my mother weak and watching her struggle through those tests wasn’t hard enough, I had to witness my dad get teary eyed when I had to practically drag him away from her. Golden Age has a strict policy on the medically-assisted side. Overnight guests are not allowed. So as soon as I took my dad home, I cried myself to sleep.

Today was even worse. As soon as visitation began at nine, my dad was at the facility. I showed up an hour after him with my latte and his coffee. Daija slept in and stayed at the house. I’m sure she was tired but I know yesterday was hard on her too. It was emotionally rough and draining for us all so I didn’t bother to call and wake her.

My dad and I met with her doctors and the two to three weeks of rehab is being extended to six to eight. Yesterday’s evaluations and her blood work warrants the additional time. When we heard the news, the look on my dad’s face broke my heart a little more. He looked as weak as my mom and I wanted to cry. However, for both of their sakes, I held my tears in until I left the facility.

I drove home, cried in my shower as the hot water tried to soothe my body. Once I dressed, I realized I couldn’t stay home. The walls of my condo were closing in on me. So I ordered an iDrive and got my ass here. My best friend, Monae, invited me over to her place but I declined because I wanted to be alone. Well, as alone as I could be at a crowded ass bar, but at least here, I could fade into the crowd and not talk about my mom.

I down my drink, too fast, then lift my head to motion for the bartender. That’s when I see him; good looking ass Rex is sliding onto the empty stool on my left. If I didn’t see him, I definitely would have smelled him. His scent is the perfect cocktail of woodsy, fruity, and freshness.

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