Previously on Old Man Young:
Detective Paul Young has seen a lot of things in his storied career, but discovering that children were kept like slaves in a small house and used for sex was a lot for him to handle. It was the case that made him a local celebrity when the story made national news. Young watched it on CNN at a local restaurant and bar with friends and family, even his daughters and ex wife were there, and he drank way too much at no expense to himself, even made his daughters and ex wife sorry that they decided to come. His tolerance wasn’t what it had been and he couldn’t keep up with his colleagues who were happy to have a reason to indulge; especially the local Deputy Sheriff whose wife was pressuring him to quit altogether, and he seemed to be goading Young on for the excuse he could use for stumbling home without his car when the festivities were over. Young wanted to take in the moment with his family, imagine that everything in his life was exactly the way he wanted it to be, but the boys of the Knoxville Police Department know how to have a good time and Young couldn’t help but get caught up.
His daughters left together before Young even realized and his ex-wife offered to drive him home at the end of the night. Young was so touched, and drunk, that he teared up; “Thank you, Darlene, I’m glad you don’t hate me as much anymore.”
Darlene didn’t resist when Young flung an arm over her shoulder as they walked to her car. It all felt so good, the one woman he had loved the most on his arm and a national reputation as a damn good investigator. It was easy to imagine that it was all real.
Darlene’s car was small and Young was uncomfortable, his knee caps rested hard against the dashboard. Young tried to ignore it.
“I’ve got some bad news for you Paul,” she said, just when Young was forgetting that there had to be a reason she was willing to brave time alone with his drunk and repentant self, who only wanted to apologize and get that old life back even though it was crystal clear that Darlene had moved on years ago. He waited silent for the shoe to drop.
“Its kind of good news really, but it comes with a lot of really heavy stuff. You’re gonna be a grandfather…” Darlene stopped like she could go on, but when she glanced over at Young he looked like he needed a minute. His oldest daughter was just sixteen, his youngest thirteen. Needless to say, Old Man Young was pissed.
This Week, Old Man Young, The Reluctant Grandfather:
His youngest daughter Sabine got pregnant when she was just thirteen years old and even though he hated himself for letting it happen, Old Man Young was proud of his grandson. The little boy had a lot of energy. His grandson’s skin was brown like a caramel but Young could see his own face in the little boy’s. There was something strange about comparing pictures from his youth to his grandson, almost like he was in an episode of the twilight zone where he had been born as a black man and he was watching his own life from the start. Already there were stark differences. When Young was born, his parents had been married for three years and both of his parents were in their twenties then. His father was more than proud to have a son and he remembers stories that his parents had told him about how hard they tried and how agonizing it was before they got pregnant. He’d known love every day of his life. His father had worked as a police officer and Young used to hold his badge in his hands like it was a priceless relic, and even when Young was his grandson’s age, he knew that he wanted to follow in his father’s footsteps. His grandson would never know his father, even if he did meet the man-boy, who Young knew would probably never become a man no matter how old he got. Young came to understand that his father and his grandson’s father had absolutely nothing in common and maybe it was unfair to even compare the lives of the two. All Young knows is that he loves his grandson and he would always be there for him.
Sabine still lived with her mother around the time that Young met the woman Sandra who was helping him with the case against Yuri, the local half-Russian drug dealer who employed many of the young black boys in neighborhoods all across the city of Knoxville. And by that time, Young’s relationship with his ex-wife was cordial enough that she did not mind him stopping by to visit with his grandson who was six years old by that time. Darlene was happy that the boy had a father-figure since his actual father, his name was Jojo, had disappeared when he found out he had a baby on the way (some people think he was so afraid of what Old Man Young would do to him that he left the city, and in fact he had left the state completely, though Young and his daughter had no idea where he had gone).
At his ex-wife’s house, Young sits on the porch with his grandson, Linus and the two read a book. The house has a sizable yard and his ex-wife pays a local boy to keep the grass short and neat.
“So you the one got eyes out in the street for me?” Young hears from the sidewalk and when he looks up he knows that it is Yuri. The boy is tallish, he he has a light complexion, and his eyebrows are thick; Young can see them from the porch. “You do know Sandra right? Y’all pretty close?”
Young stands and sends his grandson into the house. He walks slowly out to the sidewalk to meet the boy and he is happy to be a few inches taller Yuri, it reinforces Young’s superiority, moral or otherwise. “Don’t tell me you comin’ around tossin’ out idle threats, little boy.” Young tilts the shades he wears to stare over the rims.
“Why officer, I got nothin’ but respect for the law. I just want you to know, everything you know about me, everything your little snitch tells you, is everything I want you to know. You have a fine day sir. Say hello to the family for me.” Yuri walks off down the street with a smile on his face. and when he reaches the end of the sidewalk, he waits for car to pull up. When he gets in, Young is still watching as Yuri waves through open the window.
When he is gone, Young reaches for his phone to call Sandra.
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