It's been weeks since Benjamin's death and his funeral. He was laid to rest at St. James Cemetery on a cold and rainy day. It was now getting close to Christmas break and I spent more and more time in the house. Earl did his usual thing, working at his juke joint Mondays thru Saturdays and working til 3 in the afternoon on Sundays at the Auto Repair garage with his friend Rhett. I went to school enough after Thanksgiving break just so Social Services wouldn't get suspicious. I think Earl was getting tired of me not going to school half of the time, but I didn't care. I stayed in contact with Kelly and Adrian through the phone. I learned from Kelly that her parents were gonna sell the trailer they lived in and move to Hot Springs, Arkansas, perhaps by the beginning of year '99. It was three days before Christmas, it was in the 30's and the grass was covered in a thin dusting of snow. Earl put up a Christmas tree in the front room and put a Holiday reef on the front door. On most nights when he came home from work, he looked at me with a look of exasperation. For me, most days were spent binge watching TV. Tonight was no different from any other night when he came home early. He pulled up in front of the trailer around 11:00.
"You're home early", I said.
"Bidness was slow, decided to close early", he replied as he took off his heavy leather jacket. Whatchu do all day?
"Nothing much", I replied. Where's your girlfriend Callie?
"She decided she gonna move on back to Tallahassee and work thangs out wit a ex-boyfriend", he replied as he walked towards the kitchen.
"Oh sorry to hear that", I replied.
"Ah, it's okay", Earl said. Ain't no skin off my ass, was fun while it lasted.
"You're not hurting?", I asked.
"Girl, not a whole lotta women worth cryin' over", he replied as he opened a bottle of beer. My motto, break 'em off sump'n proper and go on 'bout my bidness.
"That's kinda wrong, don't you think?", I asked.
He shrugged his shoulders.
"Can't love, can't hurt, right?!", he said, as he sat down in the recliner with his beer bottle and ham and cheese sandwich.
"Who knows, you might find a lady that really loves you for you and won't hurt you", I said.
YOU ARE READING
Mr. Tan
Teen FictionTeenage Alexis Bethany Hathaway who is reunited with her nonchalant mother and her verbally abusive husband after her loving grandmother's death. Once she discovers that she is pregnant, her mother tells her she has a certain amount of time to get a...
