The Last Days of Ptolemy Grey

The next morning, over Robyn’s objections, Ptolemy takes a limousine to visit Niecie. He explains that he’s doing this for Reggie, but Robyn protests and says that Reggie is dead. Ptolemy says: “Ain’t nobody full dead until no one remembah they name. Don’t forget that, girl—as long you remembah me, I’ma be alive in you” (248). When he arrives, the family is overjoyed to see Ptolemy, especially since Niecie thinks he’s going to give her more money. When confronted with his greedy relatives, Ptolemy realizes that he needs to protect Robyn from them after he is gone.

He goes out on the front porch to have a private talk with Nina. He says that Reggie left her some gold coins, but Ptolemy won’t part with them until Nina tells him the truth about Reggie’s death. She admits that her boyfriend Alfred killed him, but she didn’t find out until afterward. Alfred doesn’t want to take care of her children with Reggie. He wants to dump them with Niecie and take Nina away with him. Ptolemy makes Nina promise that she will take care of her children and says that he will deal with Alfred later.

Back at home, Ptolemy informs Robyn that they need to see the lawyer again to make sure that Niecie can’t contest the will. Robyn refuses to believe that her guardian would try to cheat her, but Ptolemy knows his family better than she does. He wants Robyn to administer his estate. The two of them go to see their lawyer again and have an interview with a psychiatrist. She asks Ptolemy several questions to demonstrate that he is of sound mind. She questions why he wants Robyn to be in charge of his finances: “‘It’s all up in the head for you, isn’t it, Miss Chin,’ Ptolemy said at last. ‘Not always, sir. Sometimes we find a heart.’ ‘Yeah. That’s what Robyn know. For the rest’a my family it’s the stomach or the privates or clothes ain’t worf a dime. They don’t know the difference’” (263).

After they return from the meeting, Ptolemy feels his mind beginning to slip. He wakes up nine days later, and Robyn explains that Ruben arrived to give him one more injection. Now that Ptolemy is alert again, he has one more task to complete. He asks Robyn to spend two days at her boyfriend’s place because Ptolemy needs some time alone. Before she leaves that evening, Ptolemy, Robyn, and Shirley go out for a festive dinner at a Chinese restaurant.

The next morning, Ptolemy has Hilly contact Alfred to tell him that Ptolemy has the coins for Nina and that he should get them. Before Alfred arrives, Ptolemy writes a farewell note to Robyn. When Alfred finally appears, Ptolemy dangles one coin as bait but says he won’t give up the rest until he knows how Reggie died. After much badgering, Alfred grudgingly confesses to killing Reggie and states flatly that Nina belongs to him. Having extracted this confession, Ptolemy says he never intended to give Alfred anything. Enraged, Alfred lifts Ptolemy off the ground. The old main fires a pistol concealed in his pocket and shoots Alfred twice. Alfred staggers from the building and down the street before collapsing at the next intersection.

Ptolemy follows Alfred outside but forgets where he is on the way back home. Sometime later, he awakens in a hospital bed with Ruben beside him. Robyn arrives to explain that Alfred died in the hospital. The police wanted to arrest Ptolemy, but his lawyer intervened. Ptolemy is being allowed to recuperate in the hospital. Robyn admits that Ptolemy was right about Niecie, as Niecie kicked Robyn out of her home. Robyn now has an apartment of her own and will be wiser about how she handles Ptolemy’s remaining family. Ptolemy’s mind is drifting and he feels himself near death, but he is grateful to still have Robyn with him. He thinks: “Everything glittered and now and again, when he looked around, things were different. Another room. A new taste […] And the door that was shut against his forgotten life was itself forgotten and there were feelings but they were far away” (277).

The story ends with Ptolemy slipping away one final time. His last words are contained in the Afterward segment that begins the book.