“Yeah, I just locked up. I’m going to head out to Mama and Daddy’s house.”
“So everything is going well? You’re not overwhelmed?”
“No, I’m good. I haven’t had any problems yet. Things are going smoothly. I’m glad you found someone to help out before I got to Galena. That guy you interviewed is perfect.”
“What guy?”
“The guy you interviewed before I got here. I hired him.”
“What guy are you talking about?”
“He came in. He said you talked. He’s the tall White guy. His name is Jason, Jason Smith.”
“I never interviewed any men to work at the store. I interviewed two women.”
“Really?”
“You told me you hired a guy a few weeks ago.”
“I did but I only hired him because I thought he was the person you interviewed.”
“No honey, I didn’t interview any men.”
“Shit!”
“You said it’s working out. So what’s the problem?”
“There’s no problem. I just thought. He must’ve seen the sign and just walked in. I don’t know.”
“If he’s working out—”
“He is. He’s been working here for three weeks.”
“I know you’re counting down the days until I come back. You hate it in Galena.”
“No, I’m not. I’m good. I don’t hate it here. You just have fun. I can handle everything at Sweet Treats.”
“Of course you can. You’re the overachiever in the family. I expect some improvements when I get back. You sis, you just can’t help yourself. You are the Queen of doing the most.”
She was right. I was thinking the store needed a fresh coat of interior paint.
“Don’t worry about the store,” I said.
“I’m not worried. I will call you in a few days. Love you. Give Mama and Daddy my love.”
“I will. Love you too. Bye.” I ended the call.
I double-checked the locks and the alarm system. I grabbed my purse and hopped in my car. As soon as I turned the radio on, Stevie Wonder’s voice came through the speakers. It wasn’t My Cherie Amour, it was These Three Words and I smiled as I drove. I hadn’t heard that song in years. I wondered if Jason knew this song. Why was I wondering about him? I’m sure he wasn’t thinking about me.
My childhood home was only a few miles away. I made it there within record time. There wasn’t much traffic Sunday evening. I pulled into the driveway and I parked as far as I could from my brother’s old gray Cadillac Seville. The car used to belong to my father and now it belonged to my trifling ass brother.
I wished my brother wasn’t here. He always had some smart ass shit to say and I wasn’t in the mood. I’d had a pretty good day at work. Cherise could deal with him but I couldn’t. He was always high and always lying about something irrelevant.
I walked up the porch steps and was happy that Cherise had made sure they were rebuilt. Last year they were on the verge of collapse. I used my key to get in the front door. I called my mother in advance and told her I was coming. I walked inside the door and Robert was loitering around in the entryway. He was dressed in a white wife-beater t-shirt, Nike slides with white tube socks, and long worn out khaki shorts. His shorts were so long they looked like culottes. I don’t know why he walked around looking like this. I still can’t figure out why women dealt with him and his bullshit. Actually, I did know. He used to be attractive and if you were into tall, light skin Black man. He was both.
“They give any ole body a key.” He grumbled.
“I’ve always had a key. Why are you here? You begging for money?”
Robert ignored my question and walked away from me and toward the family room. I took my shoes off at the door and placed them in the welcome mat. I walked into the dining room and placed my purse and my bag on the dining table. The house was relatively quiet.
I ventured into the family room hoping to see my mother and father but it was just Robert sitting on the couch staring into the big screen TV— some reality show.
“What are you doing here?” He asked with an entire unlit cigarette dangling from his purple crusty lips. If he lit that cigarette inside this house I already know I was going act a whole fool. Dad has bronchitis.
I decided to ignore my brother’s question. He knew I came over to visit with our parents every Sunday after I closed up the shop. Robert had been into the store once to see me since I took over. I couldn’t lie. It kind of hurt my feelings. I only had one brother and we used to be close. Now I hardly recognized him. He was so trifling. He looked like a drug addict. But that didn’t stop women from putting up with him and taking care of him.
“Where’s Mama and Daddy?” I asked, hoping he wouldn’t have anything smart to say.
“In they skin.”
Nope, I was wrong. My brother was still an immature idiot.
“Mama!” I yelled out close enough to his ears to irritate the shit out of him.
“In the kitchen.” I heard our mother say.
“Wait. Did you bring my kids some candy?”
Which ones? “Yes, it’s on the dining room table.” I shook my head and walked around him to get to our mother.
“Mama got a surprise for you.” My lazy brother sang as I was exiting the room.
I had no idea what he meant. My brother was one to always talk in riddles. I think it had something to do with him being the youngest. I found it better to ignore all his immaturity while I was in Galena. I swear I didn’t know how our parents dealt with him. I also didn’t get how his baby mama’s dealt with him. He only had kids with two women that I knew about. There could be a third baby mama but
