caramel

Tyler opened the front door to his two story house. Reggie stood outside in the early afternoon light with wide shoulders and an even wider smile. He held up a cardboard drink holder with two iced coffees.

“Hey-yyy!” Tyler exclaimed as his infectious laugh transferred over to Reggie.

“Hey, buddy! How’re ya doin’?” Reggie stepped towards him and hugged him with his left arm while holding the coffee with his right hand away from their bodies. Tyler embraced him fondly, patting his back a few times before pulling away.

“Come on in, come on in!” Tyler waved for his dear friend to enter his abode.

Reggie knew Tyler’s house well; they’d been friends for years now and it was finally time to catch up after a long absence from each other.

Reggie walked to the kitchen island and set down the drink holder on top. “Marie’s got the kids?” he asked noticing the silence.

“Yeah, they’re just over at the park right over here,” Tyler pointed with his thumb behind him.

“Oh, great. How is she?” Reggie asked kindly while removing the iced coffees from the cardboard tray.

“She’s well, thank you! She’s started blogging, actually.”

“Oh, really?”

“Yeah, I think she wants to try and – thank you,” Tyler accepted an iced coffee from Reggie’s hand. “She wants to try and… I don’t know, ‘say something?’ You know?”

“Gotcha,” Reggie nodded. “Well, I mean, good for her, right?”

“Oh definitely, definitely.” Tyler lifted his iced coffee to salute her. “As long as she’s happy, am I right?”

Reggie followed suit and raised his iced coffee. They each took a sip.

“Man, it's real good to see you,” he said honestly as a warm smile spread under his curly, black beard. “I missed you, buddy.”

“I know! It's been waaayyy too long,” Tyler finished his sip and smacked his lips. He nodded with surprising approval. “This is good. What’s in it?”

Reggie shrugged his shoulders as if the quality was an accident. “Just an iced caramel latte.”

Tyler was about to speak when he stopped himself. Reggie pronounced the word ‘car-mel.’ “A what?”

“Iced caramel latte.”

Tyler looked up from his drink. “Caramel.” He pronounced it ‘car-a-mel,’ correcting Reggie.

Reggie stared blankly bank. “Hmm?”

“It’s car-a-mel. Not car-mel.”

“It’s both,” he said passively. “But I say car-mel.”

“No, no. No.” Tyler bent down and placed his iced caramel latte on the side table beside him. “No, this isn’t some regional dialect difference here. There’s the way to pronounce that word and it’s car-a-mel.”

“Alright,” Reggie was bothered how long the conversation was already lasting. “You know, po-tay-toes po-tah-toes, I guess.”

Tyler shot his pointer finger at him. “Nu-uh. Reggie, spell the word.”

“Spell car-mel?”

“Spell car-a-mel.”

“C-A-R-A-M—”

Tyler cut him off; he snapped his finger at him triumphantly. “C-A-R… A… M-E-L. There’s a whole other ‘A’ in there.”

“Okay,” Reggie twisted around and set his own iced caramel latte down on the kitchen island. “If you wanna get bougie and say words like quinoa and go shopping on Rodeo Drive, you go right ahead, buddy. But there’s more than one way to say caramel and I say it like normal folk do.”

“There’s a second ‘A’ in that word, Reggie. I’m telling you, don’t test me.” Tyler’s voiced was rising.

Reggie opened his mouth and exaggerated his pronunciation. “Car. Mel. You’re drinking an iced car-mel latte. And I’m having one, too – an iced car-mel latte with a little extra car-mel drizzle in the cup. Together… we’re both drinking on this sunny afternoon an iced car-mel, car-mel, car-mel, latte.”

Tyler seethed inside, he stood motionless. He walked slowly up to Reggie and flexed his pointer finger and pressed it against his chest. He whispered low. “Listen here, you sick, twisted, son of a bitch.” He really popped the ‘B’ letter as he spoke, spitting in Reggie’s eye. “You pronounce that goddamn word right while you’re in my house.”

“The fuck you gonna do if I don’t?” Reggie fired back.

Tyler frowned and clenched his jaw. “It’s car-a-mel, you cheap bastard.”

“Car-mel, elitist motherfucker.”

“Car-a-mel.”

“Car-mel.”

“Car-a-mel.”

“Car-mel.”

“Car-a-mel”

“Car-mel.

“Reggie, I swear to God!!” Tyler exploded, backing away in rage. “Just say it right! Say the word right! Just say the goddamn word right, Reggie! It’s car-a-mel! Spell it, you basic bitch! Say it right while you set foot in my home or we’re going to have a serious problem on our hands, Reggie – do not test me!”

“You think you’re entitled to the way I say my words, boy?!” Reggie retorted in a booming voice. “You gonna welcome me into your home and then degrade me cuz I don’t say somethin’ the same way you do? Is that it? You puttin’ me down cuz I’m not like you, huh? Car-uh-mel, my ass! I’ll say it however I want!”

Just then Tyler reached in the side table and took out a gun, cocked it, and aimed it right at Reggie. “Reggie! Say it right! Say the goddamn word right!”

Reggie reached behind him and pulled out a gun tucked in the back of his pants, cocked it, and pointed it right back at Tyler. “Put down the gun, Tyler!”

“There’s two A’s, Reggie! Don’t make me do it!”

“Put down the gun, Tyler! Not like this! Not like this!”

“I’ll put it down if you say it right!”

“I’m not gonna!”

“Just say it the way it’s supposed to be!” A tear rolled down Tyler’s face.

“I can’t! I can’t do it, buddy. I’m not giving in.” Reggie fought back his own tears.

Tyler sniffed, trying to hold back an explosion of tears. “I’ve always loved you, Reggie. Please don’t let it end like this.”

Reggie breathed slow, finding peace and acceptance in the stand-off. He inhaled deep and shut his eyes. He exhaled long. Reggie opened his eyes and saw his friend across from him. “Never.”

Tyler shouted at the top of his lungs, “Car-a-mel!!”

Reggie shouted back, “Car-mel!!”

“Ahhh!!”

“Gyaahh!!” Shots fired in the living room like a fireworks show; bullets flew around the room. Three shots pierced into Reggie’s body, knocking him to the kitchen floor. Three bullets hit Tyler; he fell to his knees and collapsed beside his fallen friend. Both bled pools of blood that leaked into each other’s wounds, sharing their blood to make one red river of death.

Tyler’s face had turned pale; a sickly green were all that colored his grey cheeks. He gently turned his head on the floor and saw Reggie, who was breathing slowly on his stomach and staring at him with vacant eyes.

“Reggie…” Tyler coughed, wincing as he spoke. “I’m… I’m sorry.”

“I’m sorry, too, buddy,” Reggie apologized quietly.

“I got… carried away.”

“I know. I understand.”

Tyler felt a sharp pain that made him hold his breath. He looked Reggie in the eyes. “Reggie…”

“Yeah, Tyler?” Reggie breathed slowly.

“Will you do something for me?”

“Anything.”

Tyler used the last of his energy to extend his hand towards Reggie and opened it. “Say… car-a-mel. Just for me.”

Reggie dragged his hand towards Tyler’s and reached out to grab his. He could barely reach, his hand trembled as his life slipped away. He turned his hand upward and flipped him off. “Fuck you,” Reggie exhaled one last time.

“Fuck you,” Tyler breathed his final words.