8. Cool Grey 11s (Marlon Craft)
“If you’re worried, you have to call him,” Valeria said. We were driving home from a friend’s St. Patrick’s Day party. I was driving because Valeria had had a few too many, and she was in a very talkative mood. The party had been a lot of fun, though I spent a lot of time talking with my father-in-law, Hugo, about my concerns for my uncle Thomas.
“Come to think it, I haven’t talked to him in a while,” Hugo said. “I’m going to New York soon, though, and the last time I talked to him, we made plans to spend some time together. I’m going to stay at his apartment for a few days. If you haven’t talked to him before I’m back in town, I’ll let you know if I notice anything off. But you know your uncle, sometimes he falls off the map for a while. When I lived in New York, I could go months without seeing him, one time it was over a year. I think when he’s processing stuff, he likes to do it alone, and from what you said about Thanksgiving, it sounds like he might be in one of those times.”
He was right. My uncle Thomas was an introverted person, though that’s not to say that he didn’t have close friends. But he had lived alone for a long time and there had been long stretches where I didn’t hear from him before, but usually I didn’t witness the event or news he’d received that made him feel the need to take time away. I wasn’t worried that he was hurt or hurting himself, I knew that he was a grown man and capable of processing hi feelings in a healthy way, but I wanted resolution of the story.
“So what?” Valeria said as we drove and I explained that to her. “You have selfish reasons for wanting to know what happened with his friend, it doesn’t make your concern illegitimate or something.”
I knew she was right, but it felt selfish to try and force him to deal with something with me if he didn’t want to, which is what I thought I’d be doing if I just called him and asked him directly what had happened.
When we got home, Valeria opened a bottle of wine and we sat out on the front porch.
“I’ll try to forget about it,” I told her as I drained my glass and outed myself another. Valeria played jazz infused hip-hop
“I can’t wait to spend time with uncle Thomas again,” she said. “I’ve been building this playlist, I think it’s midway between both our tastes. I wonder what he thinks about jazz and hip-hop together.”
“I’m sure he’d like this,” I said. I loved hip-hop over jazz beats. Digable Planets was my favorite old school hip-hop and I was a fan of anything that gave me that vibe. Valeria’s playlist was full of that type of music and I could imagine it filling the house along with the smells of uncle Thomas ‘s food.
“When you talk to him next time, make sure you invite him to stay for a few days.”
“Maybe you should invite him,” I said. “I’m sure he likes you better than me.”
About a month later, my father-in-law Hugo invited Valeria and I over for an Easter brunch. The meal was amazing, and when we were done, we sipped mimosas on the patio of his backyard. His younger children were there as well, but they left to spend time with friends after the meal.
“It’s always good to have the kids,” Hugo said. “I’m glad they were older when I split from their mom, I know they enjoy the excuse to travel back and forth between here and New York. They’re old enough to appreciate it. But on another topic, I talked to Thomas while I was in the city, Wes. I told him you were asking about him and he said that he’d get in touch with you soon.”
“Did he mention his friend, Chuck?” I asked.
“I met Chuck while I was at Thomas’s apartment. He’s a really nice guy.”
“So everything’s ok between them? That’s a relief to hear.”
“I don’t really know what was going on between them, but Chuck showed up with some paperwork for your uncle to look at but he wasn’t home at the time. It had something to do with a community garden, but I looked like some court papers. When I gave it to Thomas, he seemed kind of upset. Wouldn’t really talk about it, I didn’t want to push.”
Was Chuck suing my uncle over his garden idea? We left Hugo’s house a few hours later and I regretted roping him into it. No information was better than bits and pieces that were undoubtedly taken out of context. I didn’t know how much longer I could resist calling my uncle and asking what was going on.
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