REMY

REMY

Remy loved early mornings. The type of morning where the sun was nowhere close to being out and the day seemed late rather than early. He and his Pops had a thing: getting up before the ass crack of dawn and just talking. Talking about dreams, aspirations and their feelings. Something the both of them had been deprived of. You see, Pops never had anyone ask him how he was feeling; if he was ok, if he needed someone. So, every time something bad happened, he kept it inside. He never spoke to anyone about it. But he turned out all right. He met a girl, married her, and started a family. And for a long time, his life, his family’s life, was more than he could have ever asked for. Until, his wife got sick. The type of sick, that has no fix. He stood by his wife’s side until time was up. When it was, his life was ripped to shreds. And for a while, things stayed like this; nothing getting better… till there was no use in trying anymore.

One day shortly after Ma had passed, Pops woke up, the sun, nowhere close to being out. He figured it was still just late, but he couldn’t go back to sleep. Laying in his bed, alone, starring at the ceiling, he heard distant cluttering. He slid into his slippers and made his way downstairs to the kitchen. Remy was cooking food. Confused, he asked why he was cooking at such a late hour. Remy responded, “It’s 5 in the morning.”

Pops rubbed his tired eyes, making sure his eyes weren’t playing tricks on him. He walked over and took a seat. “Why are you up this early?”

Remy flipped his pancakes, “I have trouble sleeping; so, I just get up early now.” He flipped he stove off and served the pancakes onto a plate, making his way to the table, “It’s peaceful.” He served Pops two pancakes and handed him the syrup. Pops began to realize, he hadn’t spoken to his son since his wife, Remy’s mother, had passed. He felt ashamed. Remy began eating, but Pops was slowly losing appetite.

He put his silverware down, “Remy, how have you been?”

Remy chewed softly, staying silent for a moment. But couldn’t hold back his tears. Pops knew then and there; he couldn’t deprive Remy of what he had been deprived of, for most of his life. From that moment, the two developed a relationship like no other. They would be there for each other, always and forever.

SIX YEARS LATER…

Remy was graduating college. The last two years had been nothing short of difficult. Pops was battling stage 3 colon cancer. Which if caught in time, and treated, has about a 40% survival rate. Both of them were optimistic of this. After the death of the most important woman in their lives, they had a different outlook on life. You see, there are two types of people in this world: the glass half full or the glass half empty. Translated to percentages, people could either say, “Oh my god, there’s a 60% chance of death!” Or like Remy and Pops would said, “40% chance of survival? Better than 0, so what are we waiting for?” Despite their optimism, times were tough. Pops had been let go from his 20-year corporate job a year prior to his diagnosis. Remy had no choice but to look for ways to make money and make it fast. Between his new occupation and being there for Pops’ treatments, Remy was being torn in multiple different directions. Remy was having to come-up with enough to make rent, and most importantly, the hospital bills. One night, Remy was sitting by his fathers’ bed. He was writing inside a little notebook. His father turned to him,” Remy, why don’t you read me one of those stories you write. It’s been a while, no?”

Remy chuckled, he didn’t like reading his stories out loud, more so, he had never fully finished a story. He put the notebook down, “That might be hard.”

Pops scoffed, “How so?”.

Remy got up and began to pace around, “I don’t finish my stories. I kind of just leave them up in the air.”

Pops looked at Remy confused, “What does that matter?”

Remy stopped pacing, “People don’t like that. Hell, I don’t even like that.” He sat back down, “I wanna finish them, I just can’t right now. I don’t know why.”

Pops reached over to grab Remy’s hand, “I don’t care, just read to me.” Remy smiled softly and opened his notebook back up.

Things were beginning to get more complicated for Pops, and bills were beginning to increase more and more. Like before, Remy needed more money, and he needed it fast. His father would need surgery soon, the chances of survival drop drastically to about 30% when colon cancer reaches stage 4. While their optimism remained high, these statistics made their mouth go dry. Both increasingly getting nervous. However, Pops was beginning to surrender the situation to God. Remy, on the other hand, wanted nothing more than to have the procedure and treatment fast before things got more complicated for Pops. Seeing as he had no other options, Remy made a phone call. To his boss, Tucker Ogborn. A strange and extremely sketchy kid he had met his freshman year. Tucker moved… product. His whole family did. That was their business. Tucker had offered Remy a job when they got to know each other, and that had been Remy’s saving grace to pay for everything he and Pops needed. All the while, he would never mention a word of it to Pops. He didn’t want to let him down.

Despite his hard work and persistence, Remy was falling behind on his payments. He had run out of options. So, he made a decision. The kind that could get him killed, and his father too. He took more product than he was supposed to; with the plan to keep every last dime he would make. He’d been working this job for over three years now, and he knew a few clients that would be down to meet up and buy from him personally. After a few calls, he had a buyer. He left the hospital room while Pops was sleeping, optimistic that he had found a way to get Pops his surgery. During the meetup, Pops called him. Remy let the call go and focused on finishing the job. He made the sale, and a large sum of money. And after, he sat in his car, happy and excited to share the news with Pops. He started his car and headed for the hospital. He was over an hour away, but he rushed, trying to cut down time wherever he could.

Finally, he pulled in, parked his car, and made his way into the hospital. He checked in at the front, the nurses and front desk ladies knew him well. But even they didn’t know what was happening three stories up. He got in the elevator and waited happily as the elevator music made him sway around. He reached the third floor and walked into a flurry of madness. Nurses and doctors moving fast, as they strolled Pops away. Shouting and speaking fast in complicated hospital terms, Remy rushed towards his father but was quickly pulled back. The doctors needed to get to work, and fast. Remy could do nothing but wait. So, he waited for hours for someone to tell him something, anything, as long as it was good news.

Three hours later, the head surgeon walked towards Remy who was waiting anxiously in the hall. Remy was tired but he ran up and met the doctor before he could make it halfway. What followed was… well, let’s just say that by the time the doctor removed his cap and glasses, Remy knew what the news would be. Doctor Montoya gently placed his hand on Remy’s shoulder, “We tried everything we could Remy.” Remy stumbled back as tears poured out his eyes. Doctor Montoya offered him peace of mind, “I know it may be difficult to believe, but he didn’t suffer. He was at peace.”

Remy sat in his father’s hospital room. A small present laid on the bed, wrapped in a soft yellow wrapping paper. Suddenly, a nurse appeared in the doorway, “He wanted you to have that. Said to make sure you got it.” She smiled softly and left. Remy got up slowly and grabbed the package, he began to open it when his phone began buzzing. He set the package down and checked his phone. It was Tucker calling.

Remy answered, “Yea?”. Nothing but silence for a moment. He spoke again, “Hello?”

Suddenly Tucker said, “Either you give me my money, or I hope for your own sake, you’ve booked the next flight out of this town. We’re coming for you, and well, let’s just say, your pops is gonna meet the big man sooner than expected, and then you’ll be joining him soon after. We will find you Remy.” Remy stayed silent, but Tucker continued, “I told you to never cross us. You should have listened.” Remy hung up and picked up the wrapped gift. He held it for a moment and then slammed it into the trash can and bolted out of the room. He made it to his car and sat in silence; tears streaming down his face in agony and frustration. He started the car, and booked it, planning to never come back. At a red light soon after, he suddenly checked his phone and noticed one unheard voice message. It was from Pops.

Remy hit a hard U-turn and rushed back to the hospital. Running to his father’s room and diving back into the trash can. He pulled the gift out and sat down. He took a deep breath and ripped the paper to open the gift. Inside, a small black notebook. He opened it and a small folded paper fell out with a small note written in the corner of one of the pages. It read, “My time was coming Remy. There was no fighting it. Don’t wait around and miss out on the world because of me. I did that when your mother passed, but I was fortunate to have you. Go, be strong, and finish your stories. Here’s a little something to help out. I’ll always be by your side. Love pops.” Remy unfolded the piece of paper. The information to a bank account, in his name, with 20,000 dollars and another note from Pops, “don’t spend it all at once…”

Remy chuckled as a few tears glided down his cheek. He then closed the book and began to head out. Suddenly, a nurse stopped him, “What do you think you’ll do now Remy?”

Remy stopped and turned to her, “I have flight to catch, I gotta go finish a story.” He smiled and headed out.