Oh won't you walk through
And bust in the door
And take me away
Oh no more mistakes
'Cause in your eyes I'd like to stay... stay.
BEEP. BEEP. BEEP.
Robert Freeman slapped his alarm clock off. But he stayed in bed. He rolled on his side and stroked the right side of his bed. 35 years later and he still finds himself staring at the right side of his bed. 35 years later and he still finds himself missing her warmth.
"Damn," Robert groaned quietly. "Why did I have to wake up today?" He rolled on his back and stared up at the ceiling. "Maybe I can just sleep through the whole day." Robert took a deep breath and shut his eyes. After a few minutes, he starts to slowly slip into drowsiness.
Suddenly, a soaking wet Riley slams Robert's bedroom door open. Robert sits up in his bed abruptly.
"What's…What's going on?!" Robert yelled. Riley had his hands on his knees, gasping for air.
"Granddad!" Riley gasped. "Huey's tryna assassinate me!" Robert glared at his grandson. "What?" he snapped.
"Huey poured cold water on me while I was sleeping for no reason! He's tryna kill me! He's jealous that I get more bitches than him and he's just a hater!"
Huey walks in Robert's room a moment later. He shoves Riley into the doorframe. "Granddad, can you tell this dumb ass to go unclog the toilet?" Huey grumbled. "He took a fat ass dump this morning and now the toilet won't flush."
"See Granddad? Huey's a hater! That's why he tried to kill me!" Riley blurted.
Robert sat in his bed. He rubbed the skin between his eyes. "Boys, boys!" he yelled. "Can't I just have one quiet, peaceful day that doesn't begin in violence? Just one?" he pleaded. The boys looked ashamed. Riley ran his fingers through his braids. And Huey put his hands in the pockets of his joggers.
Robert sighs. He swings his feet from under the covers. He's now sitting on the edge of the bed. "Huey, stop fighting your brother. And Riley, go unclog that toilet." Robert commands.
Huey leaves the room being followed by a muttering Riley. Robert stretches his back and yawns loudly. "I guess this day was just meant to be," he sighs.
After an hour of showering and dressing, Robert goes downstairs in his living room. There he finds Riley lounging on the short sofa using his iPad and Huey sitting in the longer sofa reading a book.
Robert raised his eyebrow? "Why aren't y'all in school?" he asked.
Riley looked up from his iPad. "It's Saturday. And it's 4:50."
Robert put his hands on his head. "It's 4:50!?"
Huey looked up from his book. "Yeah. You've been asleep for a while, Granddad. But at least your awake, right?"
Robert grunts in response to Huey. But if the boys were here, that means he's gonna have to spend the rest of the day with them. And he rather spend time with himself today. Then Robert suddenly gets an idea.
"Hey, boys. The mall is open today, is it?" Robert quipped.
Huey and Riley both look up. They give each other wary glances before looking at Robert. "Yeah…" they spoke.
Robert dug in his pocket for his wallet. He pulled out 2 Hundred-dollar bills. He handed each one to the boys.
"Y'all go have fun at the mall today!" he said.
Huey crossed his arms. "Why are you sending us to the ma-?"
"All right! All right! All ri-ight!" Riley cheered as he hopped off the couch. He ran out the front door of the house. "Huey, hurry your bitch ass up!" he taunts.
Huey gets up off the couch and walks slowly towards the door. Robert's following behind him, but he thinks Huey's walking too slowly. He pushes Huey out the door.
"Granddad! What are you doing!? How are we even gonna get to the mall!?"
"Go ask Tom. He'll take you. Be back by 9. Bring back my change. Be good!"
Robert slams the door in Huey before he has chance to protest. Robert turns around and presses his back against the door. He closes his eyes and takes a deep breath. He takes 5 seconds to relish in the beautiful silence of his home. Then he exhales deeply. "It's time to finally start this day off right." He sighs.
First, Robert takes out a dusty old record and plays it. The sounds of At Last by Etta James fill the air.
"Remember this song, baby?" Robert says aloud. "Remember that lil' dance you did for me that night? Ooh, you looked so sexy that night." He went in to the kitchen and put a bunch of meat in hot water in his sink. The he returned to the living room.
Robert looks around his living room and it was filthy. The couch pillows were all over the floor, crumbs littered the ground, grubby fingerprints on the television. "Damn," Robert cursed. "Them lil' niggas are always dirtying up my house!" Robert rubbed his chin. "Well, I can't start cooking until I clean the living room. I know you don't like it when the house is dirty."
After 1 hour of vacuuming and wiping, Robert's meats finished thawing. As Robert placed a pot of white rice on the stove, Taking A Chance on Love by Dorothy Dandridge came on. Robert grins as he turns the dial on the stove to add heat to his collard greens. "I think you hated this song." Robert spoke aloud. "If I recall correctly, you played this song so often, you got sick of it." Robert chuckles while a stirs the collard greens in the pot. "I remember when we used to fight, I'd play this song over and over again just to get on your nerves." He takes the spoon out of the greens. It puts it to his mouth and tastes the spoon. "Aah, food's ready!" he called.
Robert began to set the dining room table for 2. He filled two plates with rice, fried chicken, cornbread, and collard greens. He got two tall glasses of ice water and placed them next to the plates.
Robert pulls a seat from under the table. "For you, my sweetie-pie." He cooed. The he pulls himself a seat and begins eating. "I almost made a cake, a chocolate one too. But I know you don't like sweets like that. So I made you your favorite meal." He says.
Robert eats in silence while he listens to How Sweet It Is by Marvin Gaye play sweetly on the record player. "I know you never got to meet the boys, if you did you probably love them. They look like an exact combination of Diane and Marcus. Huey's so well spoken and smart, like his ol' Granddaddy. And Riley… uh, I think he got his mannerisms from you."
Robert began to chuckle, but then it turned into a hearty laugh. Seconds later, Robert got quiet. He looked at the second plate he prepared. He inhaled deeply as he took off his glasses. He rubs his hand on his face hard. Robert digs into his pocket and pulls out his wallet again. He takes out an old faded picture. Robert takes an hard look at the picture. It was a picture of a woman smiling seductively. She had long kinky hair that fell over her shoulders like curtains. Her hickory eyes gave warmth to her honey-toned skin. She was dressed as a WWII nurse.
There was black, cursive writing on the picture. It read: Hurry back, Robert. I can't wait to see my favorite dumb ass! I love you! The lower left hand of the picture contained a long-eroded red lipstick kiss mark.
Robert couldn't stop staring at the picture. He scans over the woman's face over and over again. He re-reads the message. Tears begin to well up in his eyes as he reads the last line.
"I love you, too" Robert sniffed. He wipes his eyes with the back of his hand. "Happy birthday, Lucille." He sighed. "I miss you."