Leaving

I stand outside on the corner of the shop, smoking a cigarette and reflecting on this morning's events.

Trixie is leaving in the Fall; she got accepted into Howard's medical school after her appeal to admissions. She told us during breakfast, in an attempt to surprise us. It worked.

I have roughly 5 months to spend with Trixie before her big move to Washington D.C.

I don't know how to feel about that.

On one hand, I'm proud of my girl making strides to live out her dream of being a doctor, on the other hand I feel she's leaving me and Spud behind again; it's been five years since we last spoke and now I have to deal with her leaving for an extra four-to-six years in medical schools. To top it all off, five months is so little time; we have so much to catch up on, so much to talk about and explore, so many memories we have to make before she's gone.

Spud suggests throwing a going away party while I suggest doing a road trip to Washington to get a feel of the campus. I wanted to be aware of the surroundings, people, and culture in case of emergencies I can come running and ensure her safety. After researching and seeing all of the horror stories of racism, crime, and government conspiracies, your boy is real nervous about Homegirl leaving the safety of New York for Washington. But after talking, she put my worries to rest by explaining the demographic, location, alumni and strict no tolerance policy around the campus.

But still, I'm not going to be seeing her for a while.

Trixie went shopping with her family while Spud and I spend time at his skateboard shop; I'm painting the design while Spud polishes the wood of the latest piece.

"So," he starts, "you hear from Rose lately?"

I almost mess up my stroke on the paint.

"No, I haven't. Why do you want to know?"

"Cause you're a little more…calmer than usual. A little more mellow compared to the last few weeks after your divorce."

"Huh?"

"Yeah, bro. You're all moping and you have this killer energy that bums out the ambiance whenever we go to Kitten. Even Fu Dog mentioned it from time to time."

"Oh. Well, I guess since Trix came and took me out for a night on the town it did wonders. I needed to get out of that stuffy apartment anyway."

"About that apartment…" Spud puts down his sandpaper, "did you remove that little shrine devoted to Rose yet? It's a little creepy, even for me."

"It's not a shrine, Spud. It's my bedroom."

"With photos of your wedding everywhere on the walls and all of Rose's stuff decorating the corner in the living room?"

"I took that part down; it got real awkward bringing a girl home and she saw it. She'd think I'm some kind of stalker and leave my apartment running."

"Vivica told me about that too!"

"Stop setting me up on dates with strippers, Spud."

"Can't help it if they're charming."

"Whatever."

I finish the design. It was a red dragon shrouded in fire with the Chinese characters that said 'bravery'. Spud looked over my shoulder and nodded.

"Nice work, as always. I don't know why you don't want to just work with me. We have an excuse to hang out and I can use the extra eye in art."

"Because I have Gramps' shop to run and you know how I am about accepting favors."

"It's not a favor; it's an offer for us to be best buds again. We never even hang out like we used to after high school; it's like you and Trix left me behind while I'm here trying to make it. It gets real lonely, bro."

"Spud, we never left you behind. Life happens, people grow. You have a business where you can be yourself and make skateboards. You won a fanbase of strippers waiting for you every time you enter Kitten. I got married and Trix wanted to live her dream of being a doctor. We all have to move forward." I look over to him.

"How about we hang out later on? Just you and me."

"Can't. Nana's 103rd birthday."

"Oh."

"We'll talk about it over Trixie's party. I'm craving some of Trixie's grandma's soul food."

"Alright. Just remember to not get the itis again."

We laugh and bump fists.

That night, I came over to Mom's crib to check up on ol' girl. She's in my old room, cross-legged and typing on her laptop. I make my wav over to the bed and plop down next to her. She jumps with a yelp, yanking her headphones from her ears and glaring at me.

"Boy, don't you ever knock?"

"It's my room."

"Old room."

"Still my room."

"Whatever. What do you need? I'm polishing my medical terminology right now and I can't afford to lose focus."

"Well, you're leaving in five months, Trix. Why not do it the night before and not worry about it?"

"Because I have to be on top of it now. This is Howard; it's the big leagues of HBCU's and I can't afford to come in unprepared and…"

She pinches the bridge of her nose.

"I'm exhausted," she sighs.

"Then sit on the Ol' Mac Daddy's lap and I can take the ease off." I wag my eyebrows at her.

"Shut up." She rolls over so I could get comfortable.

"I'm proud of you, you know." I begin, "graduated high school with Top Honors, graduated Voorhees with a Bachelors in Medicine, and you're going to Howard for medicine so you can be the Miss Doctor Carter you've been talking about ever since you were old enough to pronounce bronchial tubes."

She chuckles.

"I couldn't have done it without you, Jake. You and Spud, you've been there for me since forever. We been through everything together; making it as a doctor and being able to help you guys and the magical world means a lot to me."

"Is that why you've been carrying that clunky first aid kit whenever we went on a mission?"

"Yeah. I always thought that whenever you fought Rose-" I flinch "—I can become prepared to patch you back up, or keep you conscious enough to get real help if the wounds got too bad. I wouldn't forgive myself if you died and I couldn't do anything to help."

I look over at her. She's biting her lip and squeezing her eyes shut.

"Hey," I say softly, "look at me."

I grab her chin and we lock eyes.

"I'm not going to die by anyone's hand but the Big Man Himself. Don't you ever carry that fear or guilt on your shoulders. If I did die, it wouldn't have been your fault. At all. You hear me?"

"That doesn't stop me from worrying about you, Jake! Every time you fought Rose, every time she cut you or shot at you, every time you and her were on the brink of killing each other, I watched. I was afraid that every fight would've been the last. I was scared for you, so scared."

The tears finally fell. I held her close to me, letting her sob into my chest.

"Trix, it's okay. I'm here, aren't I? I'm not going anywhere, I promise." I place a kiss in her mass of hair.

"I'm never leaving you behind, I've done enough of that five years ago."

"How's Trixie settling in?" Fu Dog asks me as I sip on my cup of joe. The store doesn't open for another hour; Fu Dog and I had to sort out the affairs of the Leprechauns and the Pixies when Haley got confused over dialect and customs. Again.

"She's doing good. I shit you not; she's purchasing Howard merch as we speak. My room looks like Howard itself vomited in it. Homegirl's obsessed."

"Be happy for her; at least she's not spending her entire paycheck on porn."

"It was my 20th birthday! Give me a break!"

"I never thought I'd see Gramps turn so many colors when he opened up your laptop…"

"He couldn't look at me with a straight face for a week without mumbling 'Beaver Fever Part 6: The Chocolate Exploration'. He'd cuss me out and call me pervert, dumbass, buffoon after…all in so many ways that was uniquely Gramps."

"That was funny as hell," Fu Dog cackles, "Best believe I'll never let you live that down."

"Never put it past you."

The air got thick.

"I miss him, you know," Fu Dog confesses.

"I do too. He was always there when I needed him."

Before the mood could get more somber, the tinny ring of the door opened and in comes Spud.

Should've locked the door.

"'Sup, Spud."

"'Sup. Need a hand? I have no traffic comin' at my place, so you want me to make myself useful and be the muscle?"

"Spud, just because you opened that jar of pickles for me that one time doesn't mean you're the muscle of the group."

"Jealous?"

"Shut up and help me lift this damn television out back. The Cartwrights want this thing up and ready around 10."