A listless headshake this time.
When I made for the exit, he spoke up, stopping me at the door. “Tell Josie I’m coming. I just can’t quite manage yet. Okay? You’ll tell her?”
“I will,” I said nice and slow.
“Duffy,” Carl said, warning in his voice. “Without her, I think I’m . . . I’m lost. Make sure she stays.”
I turned to him, though I regretted it instantly. He seemed small and wilting except for his wide eyes, which made him look crazy as a bullbat. And maybe he was, asking me to risk everything like this for a stranger. I hated the request, and I hated him for making it. The kind of hate that makes the ends of your fingers numb.
He said, “Please promise me.”
I stared without answering until he went out of focus and the room appeared oddly empty. It was just me in the hollow of the space, alone—the lights too bright, the floor like quicksand. It took a dozen blinks before he reappeared, before the world was right again, and it’s then I realized only one answer would do.
“I promise,” I said.
He drew a deep breath of relief and closed his eyes. “Bless you, Duffy. Thank you.”
I straightened and tapped the bedroom wall. “Rest up, friend.”
“Just a quick nap,” he agreed, hands on his walker so he could stand and go on his way.
Meanwhile, with plenty of reluctance, I went on mine.
5
As commanded, Josie hadn’t moved, and this would have thrilled me if not for the crowd that had grown around her while I’d been gone. I’d taken a calculated risk by leaving her alone, but all I’d done was give her time to dock and unload her baggage for whoever might want to help with it. And she had plenty of takers.
I was still suffering the side effects of my talk with Carl, but there was no time to recuperate. I loosed my collar and pushed my way into the mob, elbowing through the soft, shapeless bodies of all those senior citizens.
I nudged past Big Charles, who’d driven his scooter over so he could spend one of his few waking hours in Josie’s company. Past Alice, who smelled as nice as ever. Past Valencia, who was rubbernecking again like when I’d choked, though since then she’d added rhinestone glasses to her fake-fur getup. And there was Reginald too, the mighty windbag, who I disliked more than anyone here. He was a close talker who thought anyone who didn’t graduate from Howard University like him was an ignoramus, and when he wasn’t running his mouth an inch from your face, he was smacking his lips, which is exactly how he bided his time now while lurking behind Josie’s chair.
Josie sat at the epicenter of this crowd, dining on fresh orange slices. When she saw me, she set down her snack. “How’s Peepaw?”
“Not so great.” I glanced around at all the expectant cloudy eyes. Here, saying someone wasn’t well had heavy implications. “He’s having a rest is all,” I clarified.
The raised eyebrows settled. Reginald waved his hand in agitation at the false alarm.
Alice wiggled her delicate fingers at me as a hello, a cute crinkle around her eyes. “Join us. We’re enjoying Josie here. It’s such a treat to have company.”
“Valencia invited her to Walmart,” Charles croaked.
“I did,” Valencia said, “but only because nobody had done it already. That’s what I told her. I said, ‘You shouldn’t have to wait to be invited by me.’”
Josie flashed me a shit-eating grin.
I sneered back and sat. With everything going on, I’d forgotten about the planned outing. We’d signed up for it a week ago because I was running low on toothpaste and Carl was running low on Preparation H, though we didn’t need a shopping list for an excuse to go out on the town.
“Won’t that be nice to have her along?” Valencia prodded. “Tell her that would be nice.”
“No room on the bus,” I grumbled.
“Don’t be a putz,” Reginald said. “She can take Carl’s spot.”
“He’s expecting her here when