Free The Loves of Ruby Dee by Curtiss Ann Matlock

even been thinking of their mama; he’d been scared to death by the old man.
    When he peeked into the bedroom, he thought at first that his dad was asleep. But then the old man raised his head and said, “I ain’t dead yet, so you can quit flyin’ over me like a lazy buzzard.”
    “I came in here to see if you needed or wanted anything,” Lonnie said hotly. He might not have answered so smartly, but the old man was stove up in the bed, and Lonnie was a safe distance away.
    “Aw...you ain’t never cared what I might need or want. What—you tryin’ to impress the hussy?”
    “I sure didn’t come in here because I wanted to. She sent me to see if you might need to get up and go to the bathroom. And there’s no call to go insultin’ her. She’s not done anything but be good to you."
    “Uhh! I’ll tell you a few things, boy....” He leaned forward. “I ain’t noticed you havin’ truck with no woman that ain’t a hussy, and I can say whatever I want in my own house...and when the time comes that I need you or anybody else to get me to the bathroom, I’ll blow my brains out.”
    Lonnie swallowed and made a fist. The old man looked at him with pure hatred, eyes glittering like he’d gone mad. A chill swept through Lonnie, because he knew the old man meant exactly what he said.
    Then the old man, who hadn’t wanted anything, said, “Before you go on back to your sparkin’, get me your crutches we keep handy in the closet underneath the stairs.”
    “They’ll be too tall for you,” Lonnie said, bringing the crutches. He adjusted them the best he could.
    Next the old man had him shift the roll underneath his hurt ankle and open the window.
    “The air conditioning is on,” Lonnie said and immediately wished he hadn’t.
    The old man barked that he didn’t care one iota, he wanted the window open. “And go get me that pee bottle I got in the hospital the last time I was there.”
    Lonnie found the plastic bottle in the bathroom closet, brought it back and thrust it at him. “Is that all?”
    ‘‘Get on back to that woman."
    Back in the kitchen, Lonnie strode over to the back door. “He won’t take any help,” he said. He reached up and got the shotgun that hung above the door. It was the only gun left in the house. He grabbed the box of shells kept atop the refrigerator, took the shotgun and shells onto the back porch and stuck them in the cupboard behind an assortment of seldom-used household things. The old man would have to do some looking to find them.
    Good God, Lonnie fervently hoped Will came back in soon.
    Ruby Dee cast him a thoughtful look, but she didn’t question him. He sure was glad, because he didn’t want to think about any of it.
    She had taken the turban off her head, and her hair tumbled against her pale skin. Lonnie liked pale-skinned women.
    She had the old man’s stock of medicines in front of her on the table. She was reading the typed pages of instructions from the doctors and writing in a spiral notebook.
    That wasn’t exactly what Lonnie had hoped would happen; he’d been hoping she would talk with him. Instead she asked him questions about the old man.
    “How long has he been taking this blood pressure medicine?”
    “For a few years now. Is D’Angelo your maiden name?”
    Her eyes lit on his for a second. “Yes.” She looked at the vials. “The date on this arthritis prescription is only two months old. Has he been taking it as long as his blood pressure medicine?”
    Lonnie couldn’t say. He couldn’t tell her much about the old man’s health, because he had never paid much attention to it. He did tell her the old man had had his stroke back in February.
    “Me and Will came back from checking the cows—they were calvin’ then. Will found the old man passed out. He seemed okay after a few days, but the doctors said he’d had a stroke.”
    “Has he seemed confused once in a while since then?”
    Lonnie shrugged. “He’s old.”
    “He’s eighty-five,