Outlawed Ink by Jason Starr

Author:Jason Starr
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Fiction, Thriller
Publisher: Jason Starr
Published: 2020-06-12T00:00:00+00:00

THE LAST BACHELOR OF NORTH MIAMI

I was in the kitchen, looking into the dining room through the pass through at Tessie, who was sitting at the dining room, watching a soap opera—she called it “her show”—on the little black-and-white set. I was thinking how, even with her teeth in, she looked like hell and how I couldn’t stand the sight of her anymore.

“I’m going to the club,” I said.

She was staring at the set and didn’t hear a word I said. How many times did I have to turn up her goddamn hearing aid?

“I’m going to the club!” I shouted.

Her head started to turn, like she thought she heard something, maybe a little birdie tweeting outside, but she kept staring at the TV.

I had to limp into the living room with my bad hip and my bad leg and lean right in front of her and say, “I’m going to the club,” and she said, “What?”

“The club,” I said. “I’m going to the club.”

“Again?” she said.

“What again?” I said. “It’s morning. I didn’t go yet today.”

“So? You went yesterday.”

“What, I can’t go two days in a row?”

“Stop yelling.”

“I have to yell. I talk, you can’t hear a goddamn word I say!”

“You want to go to the club, go to the club.”

“I am going. I wasn’t asking you, I was telling you!”

I started toward the door then stopped, said, “Aw, Christ,” realizing I’d forgotten my Marlin’s cap. It was supposed to be a scorcher today and I couldn’t go outside without it. So I had to go all the way across the condo into the bedroom to get it. By the time I got the cap and made it back to the front door I was exhausted and felt like I needed a rest. But like hell I would. I just wanted to get out of there as fast as possible.

* * *

I wasn’t going far anyway. I just had to get to the elevator in the middle of the condo, take it down one level, and then go about twenty more yards to Pearl’s apartment. It took me about ten minutes to get there.

I rang the bell, knowing it would take her awhile to get to the door. She’d had two hip replacements and needed a walker. She also had stomach cancer that kept coming back and a lot of other crap wrong with her. Didn’t we all? I had so many pills I was supposed to take I didn’t know what the hell I was treating anymore. And the doctors down here, they didn’t care if we lived or died. They just gave out pills and collected money. They weren’t doctors; they were drug dealers.

Sometimes Pearl had a home attendant come over, but I knew she didn’t have one today, Wednesday. Or was today Thursday? I had no idea and you know what, my dear Scarlett? I didn’t give a damn.

Finally, Pearl opened the door.

“How’s it going, baby?” I said and laid a big one on her.

I didn’t know what it was about women—why some did it for me and some didn’t.

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