Percival Everett - Erasure

She get up and walk on to the back of the bus. An old black woman who been listenin be starin at me.

“What you lookin at?” I ax.

She look away.

I walks another six blocks after I get off the bus. I guess rich folk don’t like buses comin too close to they houses. Maybe it the fumes they don’t like. Maybe it’s guys like me. Shit, I don’t know. I just walks up the hill past the big driveways and I sees the gardeners starin at me. Most of ‘em is oriental and they givin me the evil eye and I thinks about the gun I’m gone buy and how I’m gone rob that K’rean mutha.

I walk up the driveway and Dalton honk his horn at me as he drive out. I wave and I feel stupid doin it. I put my hands in my pockets. When I gets to the door, Lois is standin there and she be lookin at her watch.

“Well, you ain’t too late,” she say.

“I ain’t got no watch,” I say.

“That ain’t my problem,” she say. “You make yo’self some money, maybe you kin buy you a watch.”

“I ain’t got no need fo’ no watch,” I say. “Time is the white man’s. Time ain’t mine.”

“Nigger, you crazy,” she say.

I laugh, cause I ‘member Mama callin me a nigger at the house that mornin. I laugh and Lois laugh too, but she don’t know why I be laughin.

“Come on in and gets to work,” she say. “First thing you gots to do is wash the cars.” She lead the way into the room off the kitchen. “All the keys be in this here cabinet. They is four cars in the big garage. You takes ‘em out one at a time and washes ‘em.”

“How I s’posed to get ‘em out?” I ax.

“I told you, simple, the keys in this here cabinet,” she say.

“You mean, I drives the cars out?” I say.

“I swear, you is as stupid as you look,” she say.

I think about gettin mad cause she call me stupid, but I’m too excited about drivin them cars, even if it is just out the garage. I takes all the keys and go outside. The doors be open and there’s them cars. I wonder why they needs to be washed. They already be so shiny that they ‘bout to blind my ass. They’s this one little red car, real low down to the ground, one of them F’raris. I gets in behind the wheel and it be like a glove and I wish Tito and Yellow could see my ass now, looking all fine up in there with the leather. I turn the muthafuckin key and the sound damn near make me shit my pants. Varoooom! That engine sound like the army coming through, but smooth as sick shit. I thinks that one day I gots to have me one of them. ‘Cept I wants a black one. Black on black with a red stripe run straight down through the middle of the muthafucker. I put it in gear and roll it out into the yard and my heart be beatin like nobody’s goddamn bizness. Kabamada kabamada kabamada, my heart be poundin. I turn off the engine and get out. I close the door and step away and look at it, tryin to wonder what I look like when I was sittin behind that wheel.

“Nigger, you better get to washin that car and stop yo dreamin,” Lois call at me from the glass door.

I gets the hose and the bucket from the shed and I’m rinsin this muthafucker off when this fine ass bitch come out the house with this bikini on and I think I’m gone die for damn sho. The bitch put her towel on one of the lounge chairs and then she dive into the water. It don’t even look like she make a splash. I’m watchin her, but I can’t see for shit from where I am wif the car. I walk over to the hedge so I can look over at her. She sees me lookin at her and I turn away. I be a long way from the car and I feel kinda stupid. I think shit I better git back on over there and wash that damn car. I go back and I start sloppin suds on the muthafucka and I hear somebody callin to me. I turns around and there that bitch in the bikini, standin at the hedge.

“Yeah you,” she say. “Come over here.”

I walk over to her and I’m feelin kinda scared and then I feels kinda mad cause I hates feelin scared.

“What’s your name?” she ax. Her eyes is bright.

“My name be Van Go,” I says. “Van Go Jenkins. But my friends, they calls me Go.”

“Go,” she says. “I like that.”

“I’m Penelope,” she say. “Penelope Dalton. When did Daddy hire you?”

“Other day,” I say. And I find I cain’t look right at her.

“Well, I hope he’s paying you okay,” she say. “Daddy can be pretty tight.”

“He payin okay,” I say.

“How old are you?” she ax.

“Why you wanna know that?” I say.

“Just a question,” she say.

“Twenty,” I tells her.

“I’m twenty-two,” she say. “I just finished school. Stanford. What about you? You go to school?”

“No.”

“Did you finish high school?” she ax.

“Listen, I gotta get back to washin that car,” I says. I feels sick.

“I didn’t mean to hurt your feelings,” she say. “Maybe we can talk again soon.”

“Sure,” I says.

“Hey, can you drive?” she ax.

“Sho, I can drive,” I say.

“Good,” she say. “I’ll be right back.”

So, I be finishin up wif the car and wonderin what this bitch got in mind fo’ me. I’m gettin all nervous, waitin and wonderin. I gets the car all rinsed off and sits down on the bumper.

Lois yell out at me from the house. “What you doin’? Ain’t nobody payin you to sit round.”

“Mr. Dalton’s daughter told me to wait here,” I say.

Lois come out the house. “Why she tell you that?”

“I don’t know.”

“Boy, you bet be careful now,” she say.

“What you talkin bout, ol’ lady,” I say to her. “I ain’t studyin you.” “You bet be studyin sumpin,” she say.

Penelope Dalton come back out the house then. She wearin this tight, short dress what look mo’ like a slip than anythin else.

“Where you think you goin’,” Lois bark at her.

Penelope laugh it off just as cool as shit. “I’m going to have young Mister—.” She stop and look at me. “What’s your name?”

“Van Go.”

“That’s right,” she say. “I’m going to have Van here drive me down the hill for a little shopping.”

“Lawd, have mercy,” Lois say.

“I’m sure he will,” Penelope say.

Lois give me the evil eye and say, “You mind now.”

And I’m thinkin, shit, I ain’t no dog. I gives her the evil eye back and gets into the car. Penelope surprise me and be gettin in the front seat wif me. Shit if I ain’t sweatin now.

“Drive,” she say.

“Just like that,” I says.

“Just like that,” she say. “Let’s go, Van.”

Ain’t nobody call me Van. Everybody call me Go all the time. But I don’t say nuffin. I kinda like the way it sound when she call me Van. “Where you want me to take you?”

“Take me to Rose’s,” she say. “That’s in Santa Monica. Just drive. I’ll tell you when to turn and which way.” She say that last part real slow and it make me nervous, wondering what she be meanin, cause I know she be signifyin.

We gets to this fancy ass restrant and it just covered wif people. Blond bitches with shades and white dudes with they shirts open showin stomack muscles. But Penelope dont wanna go in, she just wanna pick up this candyass nigger who be waitin outside. She get out the car and hug the guy then they gets in the backseat.

“Okay, Van, let’s go,” she say.

“Where to?” I ax.

“Let’s go to your neighborhood,” she say.

I just look at her in the mirror. Then I looks at the dude in the silk shirt and the shades hangin round his neck.

“We want to see where you live,” she say.

“Yeah, brother,” the guy say.

“Van, this is Roger. Roger, this is Van. He’s working for my father.”

“Cool, brother,” Roger say. “Take us to the hood and we can shoot some hoops and then maybe score some weed and eat some chicken.” They laughs.