What makes a story work? In this space, we dive into the craft of stories from our archive and examine the parts that make them whole. This week, Valerie Hughes digs into “Gone Already” by Kendra Y. Mims-Applewhite.
Setting the stage
The introductory paragraph in Kendra Y. Mims-Applewhite’s “Gone Already” makes a promise to the reader: By the story’s end, Lou and Claude’s mother’s curse will be explained and the contents of the white envelope—and Lou’s brother’s reaction—will be revealed. We learn, too, that Claude has an unreliable streak, and Lou wonders if he is “really comin home tonight.” Now: settle in. The story widens to dig into the dynamics of this family of three: narrator Lou, younger brother Claude, and their invalid mother, who is physically—but not emotionally—absent for the majority of the story.
Voice
The introduction does more than lay out the story’s main conflicts; it also establishes Lou’s distinct and raw voice. His use of slang and idioms (“Kool-aid grin,” “hemin and hawin,” “chasin tail”) create a memorable character who’s easy to slip into. As the reader learns that Lou has become his mother’s sole caretaker while his brother galivants across the country from job to job, empathy for Lou blooms and carries the reader to the conclusion, where Lou is standing on his porch alone, left by his brother yet again and burdened with having to tell his mother the news.
What simmers beneath the dialogue
What effortlessly carries the reader through this story is the boiling—but perhaps one-sided—tension between the brothers. Lou and Claude reunite on an evening in their childhood home after a year of separation. Lou has been taking care of their ailing mother while Claude has been away, working in New Jersey, New York, and also writing a book. It seems that he’s living the exciting, nomadic life of an artist while Lou is forced to stay at home to care for their sick mother. Since the story is told from Lou’s point of view, we know that internally he resents his brother for leaving the caretaking duties up to him. When Claude knocks on the door, Lou takes his time to answer it, telling himself, “Boy can wait.” But even when the brothers are talking face-to-face, Lou never verbalizes his feelings of resentment. Instead, he says passive aggressive things like, “Some things easy to believe when you don’t see the sufferin” and, “I ain’t got time to think about settlin down right now. Got other stuff on my agenda. Other priorities.”
Taking care of their mother hasn’t been easy for Lou. It is painful to watch a parent’s mental and physical stability slowly deteriorate. We get a searing description of her mental collapse that was witnessed by both brothers: “One day me and Claude found her sittin on the curb in the Piggly Wiggly lot, rockin back and forth, cryin with her head in her hands, a puddle of ice cream on her dress cause she forgot how to get home. Things been downhill since.” It goes unsaid that Lou stayed to witness his mother’s condition worsen while Claude left. Lou wants his brother to understand his pain. He craves recognition for all he’s endured as their mother’s primary caretaker. Instead of being straightforward, Lou communicates his pain indirectly. Lou shows Claude letters from their mother’s white lover, Johnny, and a letter that their mother never sent to Johnny. Claude’s real father is actually Johnny and not the Black pastor that Claude grew up believing it to be.
Claude’s reaction to this news is one of pain. He feels betrayed. Can this pain that Claude now feels be retribution for the ways Lou feels abandoned by his brother? Claude feels that their mother has been lying to him his whole life. Both Lou and Claude know they had different fathers but Lou always thought his father was Black. Claude’s real father being white disrupts not only his relationship with his mother but his relationship with himself. Lou also makes the point that Claude’s appearance reflects his biracial parentage: “Now we know where them waves on top of ya head come from.” The reveal of the brothers’ conflicting parentage (one white father, one Black) further widens the gap between them.
Upon learning this news, Claude desperately wants their mother to explain herself. Lou, however, is adamant that their mother isn’t “the same”—almost to say that if he hadn’t taken a year to visit, maybe things would be different—and that she might not even remember anything. Lou even stands in front of Claude to block him from going to their mother’s room. By denying him access to their mother, Lou allows his brother’s pain to continue. He wants him to feel it.
Up until this point in the story, the brothers’ mother has only been spoken about or referred to in memory. She has not physically appeared. The town’s rumored curse about her is that all of her partners die—which happens to be true. The picture that the reader has of her is that she is a withering and confused person. However, when their mother is revealed to us, she is sitting up in bed, “wide-eyed, lookin more alert than she has all week.” So it seems like that evening would have been a good opportunity for conversation.
That opportunity fades when Lou tells his mother that Claude is home. She comes to life, lighting up “with somethin I ain’t seen in a long time.” Lou’s resentment floods him again. His brother: the golden child, so revered by their mother despite his failure to stay home in her time of need. Lou is frustrated that when he is with his mother, he has to see her in a feeble, unrecognizable state, but when he just mentions Claude, she is full of life again. It feels like another win for Claude while Lou is left with nothing.
But finally, a dash of validation. Lou’s mother sweetly acknowledges how he takes such good care of her. Finally, he is acknowledged for the difficult physical and emotional labor of being a caretaker. He cries upon hearing his mother’s words. This is the recognition he wanted from Claude and to receive it—even if it’s not from his brother—softens Lou. He drapes a blanket over a sleeping Claude after his conversation with their mother. He makes no other allusions to his feelings of resentment. Maybe his mother recognizing the care her son gives her is enough.
We don’t get a chance to see if his mother’s recognition thaws the tension between the brothers, though, because when Lou awakes in the morning, Claude is gone. The story begins with his uncertain arrival and ends on his abrupt departure. Knowing Claude, though, the departure is not a surprise. The story’s title brings to mind all of the times Claude has left his brother and the times he’ll do so in the future. What Claude leaves behind is an envelope full of cash, which further heightens the contrast between the brothers. While Lou gives his care in the form of physical and emotional labor, Claude only gives financial assistance and flees when things become emotionally turbulent.
Mims-Applewhite’s story takes place on a single night in these brothers’ lives and masterfully depicts the nuanced tension between them. Their mother is felt throughout the story, despite only being present in one scene. This is a story about brotherhood, what it takes to become a parent’s caretaker, and what it means to finally receive the validation one has been waiting for.
by Valerie Hughes