Leaving: A Novel

by Richard Dry

  “Our housekeeper comes on Thursdays and my father won’t be back until Saturday, so we have the whole place to ourselves. What do you think?” She threw her keys onto the center of the polished wooden table in the dining room.

  “It’s awright,” Love said. He swaggered into the living room with his hand on his thigh near his crotch and threw himself on the couch. Li’l Pit joined him. The two girls went into the kitchen. “What’s for breakfast, honey?” Love yelled, and gave Li’l Pit a tap on the fist. The house wasn’t any larger than Ruby’s on Cranston, but it was newer and more sterile. The hardwood floors were shiny, the Persian carpet perfectly placed, the tables bare. On the wall, there was only a single black-and-white photograph of a long-stemmed rose lying on a polished black grand piano, exactly like the actual piano below it. Li’l Pit went up to the big-screen TV and played with the remote until he got a music-video station.

  LaTanya and Joyce came out of the kitchen every so often to put a bowl or box of cereal on the table. Love couldn’t wait to eat, and he went to see what was sizzling on the stove, leaving Li’l Pit to explore on his own.

  “Where’s your daddy?” he asked Joyce.

  “He’s in Knoxville, looking at something they want him to build down there.”

  “Where’s your mother at?”

  “She lives in Tyler. It’s about an hour and a half from here.” Joyce stirred the eggs in the Teflon frying pan. LaTanya buttered toast on the kitchen counter, stealing quick glances at her friend.

  “They divorced?”

  “Yeah. She cheated on him with a photographer. She works on makeup ads, and they’d do it in the bus waiting for the lights to get set up. Then he started with all his girlfriends.”

  “Damn. How you know all that?”

  “I heard my parents fighting.” The eggs started to burn, and she stirred them. The smell was potent and Joyce frowned, but she continued to speak, trying to inhale as little as possible.

  “Now it’s just me and him. Just me, really. He’s never around. If he’s not on some trip, he’s with his girlfriend. It’s kind of like I live alone.” She picked up the spatula and scraped the eggs onto four plates. When she brought them to the table, Li’l Pit was banging on the piano in the living room.

  “Get off a that, dog, and come get your breakfast,” Love yelled. Li’l Pit ran over to the table.

  “What do you want to drink? We have orange juice,” Joyce said. “I could mix some up. I’ll be right back. You go ahead and eat.”

  LaTanya and Love sat down and picked up the heavy silver forks. Li’l Pit poured Cap’n Crunch into a bowl and scooped it into his mouth.

  “Aren’t you going to use milk?” LaTanya asked. He just looked up at her and, still chewing and scooping, grabbed the milk carton with the other hand and poured it in.

  “Your brother seems like he was raised in a zoo.”

  Li’l Pit spat wads of mushy yellow corn balls and milk at her, and she screamed. Joyce ran in from the kitchen holding a pitcher of orange juice and saw LaTanya out of her chair, wiping off her face and shirt while Li’l Pit laughed. LaTanya grabbed the juice from Joyce’s hand and walked over and held it over Li’l Pit. Love shook his head.

  “Don’t do it, girl,” Joyce said. LaTanya tipped the pitcher enough to splatter some on Li’l Pit. He just laughed even more. He reached across the table, grabbed a handful of eggs from Love’s plate, and smashed them into LaTanya’s chest.

  “Boys against girls,” Li’l Pit screamed. “Boys against girls.”

  LaTanya chased him into the living room. Love stayed in his seat. He shoveled the rest of his eggs into his mouth and swallowed. When he finished, Li’l Pit had a pillow in his hand and had climbed onto the top of the grand piano, swinging at the girls as they tried to pull him off.

  Love went straight for Joyce. He grabbed her by the shoulders and threw her onto the couch so that she lay on her back. She didn’t try to get up, but instead smiled at him and put her hands up in the air as if he were going to jump on her.

  “Careful. Careful,” she said. Empty-handed and unsure of what to do next, Love straddled her waist.

  “Get off of me.” She laughed.

  He grabbed her wrists and held them firmly over her chest as she struggled.

  Taking his cue from Love, Li’l Pit jumped off the piano with his pillow and chased LaTanya into the dining room, where he picked up a fork and brandished it at her. She ran screaming into the kitchen and tried to push the door shut, but Li’l Pit got his foot inside and she closed it on him.

  He shrieked at the top of his lungs. “My foot. You’re breaking my foot!”

  LaTanya opened the door in fear, and he burst into the kitchen, laughing at her.

  “So what are you going to do now?” Joyce asked Love. Her sweat smelled like musky wood.

  He lay himself down onto her, his hands still holding her arms apart. He could feel the buttons of her pants pushing into his stomach. Her legs opened slightly, and he rested his cheek on her breasts.

  “Now what?” she said. He felt himself getting excited, and he looked at her face. She was smiling.

  “What you mean?”

  She pressed into him and he hardened more. “Now that you got me, what you going to do?”

  “Whatever I want.”

  “Oh yeah, big G? So let me see what you’ve got.” She pushed up against him and he pushed into her a little. It felt good and he pushed into her again, but then it seemed that he wasn’t in control of his own body.

  “You a tease,” he said.

  “Maybe.” She wrapped her legs around his butt and squeezed him into her. He didn’t move for a second, then he pulled his pelvis away a little.

  “Let go,” he said. She smiled and squeezed him again. Without warning, he felt himself spasm. He was losing control and he hadn’t even taken off his pants.

  “Let go!” He pulled himself off her and ran to the door, facing away from her.

  “Where you going?” She laughed. He turned his head toward her, his eyes wide, but she didn’t seem to know. “What’s the matter?”

  “We got to go.” He put his hands in his pockets.

  “It’s only ten.”

  “So?” He turned to the kitchen and yelled: “Come on, bro, we got to go!”

  Joyce sat up and folded her arms. “What’s wrong? I thought you were a man.” She smiled at him, but he didn’t smile back.

  LaTanya came screaming through the living room with Li’l Pit in pursuit.

  “Come on, blood,” Love said. “We’re leaving.” Li’l Pit immediately stopped his chase and went to the door.

  Joyce stood up. “Where are you going?”

  “We got to get back to the bus.”

  “It’s only ten. You still got an hour, at least.” She approached him, but he grabbed the handle and opened the door. She took another step toward him and he walked outside. Li’l Pit followed.

  “Thanks for the food,” Love said without turning around.

  “But you don’t know how to get back.”

  “We’ll figure it outf.”

  “You can stay the night if you want,” she said. But Love kept walking.

  THEY CHECKED ON the bus to Atlanta and the driver said they still had about half an hour, so they rapped to get money for the next stop. They set up just inside the entrance to the lobby, a plastic cup in front of each of them. This time Love started by giving a back beat, covering his mouth with both hands like he was cradling a microphone. Li’l Pit rapped the opening lines about being the LeRoy Boys from Oaktown and then went into the new verses they’d written on the bus.

  Comin to you like prime time

  With the bomb of a land mine

  Playin words with a whack rhyme—

  A smiling security guard came up to them and applauded, though they weren’t done.

  “Wonderful stuff, guys. Unfortunately, you’re going to have to take it outside. And I don’t mean in front of the doors. You’ve got to go down
the block.”

  “But all the people are here,” Li’l Pit said.

  “Yes. That’s true. That’s true enough. And that’s why you have to take it outside. You can’t solicit. In case you don’t know what that means it means ‘so’ ‘lick’ ‘it.’”

  “That ain’t how it’s spelled,” Love whispered.

  They picked up their cups and walked out on the street and down the block, the security guard looking after them. They stopped just at the corner by an alley and set down their cups again. The security guard nodded and waved, and Li’l Pit gave him the finger.

  “Come on, dog,” Love said. “Let’s get us some change.”

  Li’l Pit danced while Love read the words from a sheet of paper.

  This is the story

  ’Bout Bigger and Minor

  Catchin the bus

  To South Caroliner

  Got the Poh-Poh on their trail

  Got the dope up for sale

  Left it all behind

  To try to free they mind

  But don’t mess with the Bigger

  ’Cause he’s a crazy nigger

  And Minor got the hands

  Like lethal Jackie Chan’s.

  The few people who passed looked away quickly. The only time a man put his hand in his pocket was to grip his keys. A few younger girls walked by and laughed, and Love thought about Joyce. It had been going so well. He wished he had just run into her bathroom.

  Two White kids came from the other direction and stopped to listen. They were older teenagers, one with a flattop and a flat face, like he’d been walking into walls, and the other with terrible acne. They both wore white undershirts with skulls and guns hand-drawn on them with red and black markers. They looked at each other and held back laughter as they listened to Love rap. When he was done, the two kids walked away.

  “What’s so funny?” Li’l Pit yelled at them.

  “Nothing. We was just enjoying the show.”

  “Well then, pay us some money in our cup.” He picked up the cup and held it out. The one with acne laughed again.

  “What’s so funny, volcano face?”

  “I didn’t know no nigger could read.” His flat-faced friend burst out laughing and held out his fist for a tap, and they walked away.

  A cab drove up and stopped in front of them. Joyce paid the driver, and he kept the car running as Joyce got out and approached them.

  “Why are you outside?” she asked.

  “None a your business!” Li’l Pit yelled.

  “Whatever,” she said. “I’m just glad you didn’t get on the bus already. I called and they said that any ticket is good the whole week, till Saturday. So if you want, you can stay over.”

  Love didn’t say anything, so Li’l Pit did. “We supposed to be in South Carolina.”

  Joyce shivered, crossed her arms over her chest, and held her hands over her bare shoulders. She ignored Li’l Pit and looked at Love. “I just thought it could be fun. We got the house to ourselves.”

  She wasn’t afraid to meet Love’s eyes, and he was frozen by how real she looked, how a separate person was looking back at him and showing that she wanted him, not dropping her eyes. It made him want to laugh. He wanted to turn around and see if she was maybe looking at someone behind him.

  “He ain’t got no time,” Li’l Pit said.

  Love looked at him. “We could stay just till Saturday.”

  “Naw. Naw.” Li’l Pit stomped his foot. “I ain’t goin back there.”

  “Let’s go get some of your clothes and I’ll go tell someone to put your trunk in storage,” Joyce said, and walked toward the station.

  “Naw!” Li’l Pit whined. “We got to get on the bus.”

  “We can stay just a few days,” Love said.

  “But we got a plan. Naw!” Li’l Pit took off running past Joyce, toward the terminal. Love ran after him and chased him through the lobby to the bus platform. Li’l Pit stepped up onto the bus.

  “They ain’t gonna let you on without your ticket,” Love yelled.

  “Well, give me my ticket. It’s mine.”

  “We’re stayin here.”

  “We got to get on the bus,” he yelled from the steps.

  Joyce walked onto the platform, and Li’l Pit spotted her.

  “Come on, hurry up!” he yelled at Love. He ran down the stairs and grabbed his brother’s hand. “Come on. Please.” He pulled on Love’s arm, but Love didn’t move.

  “We got a new plan,” Love said.

  “Naw. What do you mean? Naw. We got to get on the bus.” He let go of Love’s arm and ran to the door. “Gimme my ticket!”

  “Just calm down, dog.”

  Joyce walked up to Love’s side and smiled at Li’l Pit, who looked back and forth between the two of them. They stood next to each other, both of them facing him like they’d decided already, together.

  He ran down the bus stairs and passed them, across the concrete platform and back toward the lobby. Love chased him and caught him just outside the front doors of the terminal.

  “Let go of me.” Li’l Pit squirmed in his brother’s arms.

  “Listen. Just listen to me.”

  “We suppose to be on it. We suppose to be leaving.”

  “I know. We’re still gonna go to Norma. We’re still gonna go. We’re just gonna stay here a few more days, until Saturday. We’ll have a good time, like a vacation before we start over.”

  “I don’t want to.”

  “Just think about it. We’re gonna have all that good food and maybe earn some money and we’ll have everything so we can show up in South Carolina in style.”

  “You just want to be with that bitch ho.”

  “So what if I do? That ain’t nothin to you. We still gonna hang together. We still brothers.”

  “But we suppose to be a team. Not a three-people.”

  “We is a team, bro. But a team player got to let his man have his bitches sometimes, right?” He shook Li’l Pit, who wasn’t struggling anymore. “Right?”

  “Yeah.”

  “Awright then.”

  Joyce came out of the terminal and stopped at a distance. She watched Love with his arms around his little brother and smiled. Li’l Pit saw her and barked loudly: “Rah, rah!”

  He pulled free of Love and ran up the block. Love felt tired out already and just watched him go. He’d turn back any minute when he realized Love wasn’t chasing him. Joyce came up and stood by his side.

  “The cab is waiting,” she said.

  Love watched Li’l Pit run. He didn’t stop. He crossed the street and then turned up another block.

  “I’ve got to wait for him here,” Love said.

  “Let’s follow in the cab.” They got in and told the driver to turn where they’d seen Li’l Pit run.

  The street was full of motels with unlit neon signs, each one rundown in its own fashion, parts of the names missing, some with boarded-up windows. There were a few people on the sidewalk, but Love didn’t see his brother. Knowing Li’l Pit, he’d circle back to the station again.

  They drove around the block but didn’t see him outside the terminal either.

  “Shit,” Love yelled.

  “Don’t worry,” Joyce said. “He’s just going to wait here for you. He can’t go anywhere without the tickets. Maybe he’s on his way to my house already.”

  “I’ve got to wait,” Love said.

  The bus for Atlanta pulled out of the alley behind the station and turned.

  “Well, now he’s got nowhere to go,” Joyce said. “Why don’t you come back to my place and wait for him.”

  Love opened the door and got out of the cab. “We’ll meet you there. You should just go on. I’m gonna wait. There’s nothing else to do.”

  The cabdriver sighed. “You’re racking up your time. You sure you got enough money?” he asked.

  Love closed the door, and Joyce told the cabdriver to leave. Love saw her watching through the back window until they turned
the corner.

  Love waited by the entrance, scanning the street and crowds of people. He stood to the side of a newsstand next to a man who sat on the ground with a sign that read: SPARE CHANGE FOR BEER, GOD BLESS AND HAVE A SAFE JOURNEY.

  “Have you seen a kid with a red sweater on?”

  “There a lot of people with red sweaters on around here.” The man lifted his cup.

  “You a grown man. You ought to work for a living. At least do something.”

  “Well, I seen somebody like you’re talking about.”

  “Never mind.” Love looked back out to the street, where a convention of Japanese men dressed in suits with sunflower ties got off a city bus, and each in their turn thanked the bus driver by tipping his cowboy hat. He waited out in front of the terminal. An old woman carried her small black dog in a white cage, and it barked incessantly. She admonished it just as incessantly in a soft voice: “That’s not the way I taught you to act in public, now is it? No, that’s not how we say thank you. If you don’t behave yourself, Mommy’s going to give you a tranquilizer.” One man at the newsstand looked at a Playboy magazine by putting it inside a Time magazine, and the lady selling the magazines saw him do it but didn’t say anything to him.

  By four o’clock, Li’l Pit still hadn’t shown up. Love did one last check. He ran through the terminal looking for his brother, then out to the front of the station. When he didn’t see him, he began to walk up the block. By the time he reached the cemetery, he was running, and the street blurred under him as he passed the statue of a bronze cowboy herding in his cattle.

  * * *

  LOVE WAITED FOR Li’l Pit at Joyce’s house that night. He made spaghetti, the meal he’d always cooked at Los Aspirantes. They sat around the big table eating in silence, except for when LaTanya couldn’t stand it anymore and began to slurp her food and giggle. Love knew Li’l Pit could handle himself on the streets of Oakland, but these were different, unknown streets, and now it was dark outside.

  “I should have never taken him,” he said.

  “It’s not your fault he ran away,” Joyce said.

  “It’s my fault we even had to come out here.”

  They finished and Joyce convinced LaTanya to do the dishes while she and Love went into the living room. They sat at either end of the couch in silence, the room lit by the crystal chandelier above. Joyce took off her shoes and folded her feet under her legs.