“Yeah. I mean, before then it’s just like…chilling in your pants, but the adjective implies that a verb is coming…like some fucking is about to go down.”
He shook his head, completely dumbstruck. “When did you start talking like this?”
“When I discovered my inner gangsta. Now I be cussing like I’m straight outta Compton.”
“But you’re not from Compton. You’re not even from this country.”
“I kinda am; I was born here. And also you guys stole our Charlize Theron and our Trevor Noah. The least you could do is give me Compton.”
She carried on talking about other crap and this time he didn’t want her to shut up. This wasn’t a slow-paced close to a busy day. It was more of an emotional roller-coaster. In the short time they’d been there, he’d felt annoyance, happiness, anger, loss, guilt, sadness, and—dare he admit it—even a bit of jealousy. And then she squashed everything up into a tight ball of solace. On the surface, to any outsider looking in, that was just crazy dancing, vulgar comments, and stupid jokes, but to him that was something much deeper. It was the Oreo to make him feel better and he didn’t want to think about what that might mean. If in two hours at the laundromat this girl could make him feel so many things, he dreaded to think what might happen in the next few weeks.
Eight years ago…
“Oh, damn! There she is, Kev.”
Perry tugged the sleeve of his T-shirt with excitement and Kevin immediately lifted his binoculars to his eyes.
“Ah, Rebecca,” Kevin mused. “How perfect God has made you.”
They were too big to play on this treehouse, but it still served a purpose. It was the perfect height to peer into Becky’s window, yet the leaves and low-hanging branches kept them shielded from view. Lying flat on their stomachs with a pair of binoculars in hand did make him feel like they were stalkers, but he preferred the term secret spies.
Becky had dance practice every day at four o’ clock, which meant she always came up to her room to change at three-thirty. Most of the time they only got lucky enough to see her in her bra and panties, though that didn’t stop them from hoping that one day she would take it all off, or maybe even have an accidental nipple slip. Either way, they were never left disappointed. She was a vision made for the fantasies of thirteen-year old boys.
“Look at those tits, Perry.”
“Look at that ass, Kev. I’m gonna keep this memory vivid in my mind so I can jerk off to it all weekend.”
Kevin didn’t respond. He wasn’t in the mood to talk today. That was the best part of having Perry as a friend. He didn’t have to ask to know what the problem was. He just knew. They continued watching Becky as she pulled on a pair of tights over her long, smooth legs. After a few minutes, Perry casually slung his arm over his shoulder. It was a sign of comfort withoutdampening the mood. He was the only person who knew how to do that.
“It’s gonna be fine,” he said reassuringly.
“I know.”
Everyone had been telling him the same thing all day, but that didn’t stop him from worrying. His mom was in the hospital again. Two years ago, the doctor had found a benign tumor in her stomach. They managed to successfully remove it, but she still had to go for routine checks. Every time she went in, he became edgy. There was always a chance of bad news and he found himself expecting the worst, but hoping for the best.
He heard the back door swing open, but he didn’t pay much attention until Perry started tugging his sleeve again. “Yo, check it out. It’s your sister and…is that Billy Mason? I thought they broke up.”
Kevin shifted to look over the other side of the treehouse, and lo and behold, it was Jordan with that douche nozzle, Billy Mason. Their on-again-off-again relationship could cause whiplash for any bystander. It had been going on for three years now. Max had left home this year to go to UCLA and now Jordan was toying with the idea of moving to Seattle to study as well. Kevin could only hope that once she left, she’d give up on this loser.
They watched Billy pull her into his arms and kiss her.
“I think I’m gonna lose my lunch,” Kevin whispered. “I prefer watching Becky.”
Billy slipped his arm around her waist and they were going at it like crazy.
“Yeah, Billy,” Perry taunted. “Slip her the tongue.”
“Is sloppy make-out sessions your favorite pastime, Jo?” Kevin teased. “Tell us, what does loser taste like?”
Jordan’s angry blue eyes shot up to them. “You little shits!” She ran towards the ladder of the treehouse and startedclimbing, looking more murderous with every step. “When I get my hands on the two of you…” She didn’t have to complete the threat for them to take her seriously.
Kevin immediately hopped up. “Emergency exit, Perry!”
They had run away from her enough times to know the drill. As she climbed up, they shimmied down the rope hanging from a branch.
Perry was already at the fence by the time Kevin’s feet touched the ground. “Run, man! Run!”
Kevin raced towards the fence and they hopped over. This too was a practiced technique. They ran down the street towards Perry’s house, knowing that Jordan wouldn’t follow them past the front gate.
