I opened the side table drawer and pulled out a deck of cards known for breaking families apart—Uno Reverse.
“Nowthis, surely you know how to play.”
Isis squinted in confusion. “Uno Reverse? That’s really a thing?”
“Oh, it’s a thing… and it’s violent,” Chesteria warned, her tone serious yet teasing.
“I only ever played regular Uno,” Isis admitted, looking slightly apprehensive.
Adrian scoffed. “You out here living raw in these streets?! If you’ve never played Uno Reverse, then you ain't never tasted pain, and you damn sure don’t knowbetrayal.”
Isis shrugged. “If it’s just Uno but backward, I don’t see the problem.”
I smirked, relishing the moment. “Famous last words. Welcome to the dark side.”
“Where are the instructions?! This doesn’t feel safe!” Isis blurted.
“Aight. I’ma explain thisrealslow,” I stressed, looking at Isis, holding up the Reverse card like it was a prop in court. “This right here? This means the direction of play changes. If we going clockwise, and I throw this down, now we going counterclockwise. That’s it. It don’t mean skip three people. It don’t mean Uno Attack. And it damn sure don’t mean ‘I win.’”
Isis blinked, already overwhelmed. “So… are we going clockwisetoward meor away from me? Like is twelve o’clock me or…?”
Adrian sipped his drink.“Fooling around with Isis, you gon’ end up explaining again when we five draws deep. You’ll be better off explaining as we go.”
“I agree with Adrian. Just play,” Chesteria added.
I shuffled the cards with a devilish grin, already knowing who was about to get emotionally body-slammed.
“Y’all ready?” I asked, raising an eyebrow.
Adrian cracked his knuckles, a sign of serious intent. “Oh, I been ready. I came up here for peace, and y’all done gave mepetty.Let’s go.”
I started dealing, slow and dramatic, like the fate of the living room depended on it.
One minute into the game, Isis’s turn arrived. She held up a bright yellow card.
“Can I drop this on anything? It’s cute,” she asked, like she’d suddenly forgotten the rules.
Chesteria chuckled. “No, Isis. This isn’t an art class. You don’t get points for color coordination.”
Isis frowned. “So... what now? Do I go next? I don’t have green. Do I just, like… skip?”
Adrian laughed. “Nah, baby. You draw ‘til you get green.”
Isis, now visibly frustrated, started pulling cards from the deck—one card… two… four…
“Why am I still drawing? Oh no! This is personal! Uno got beef with me!” she shouted, flipping another card with disgust. “This is exactly why I don’t play broke games! Uno should be digital only! I’m too bougie for all this card confusion!”
Adrian leaned back, snickering. “We done went from four books in Spades to four draws in Uno. This is a setup.”
“Call it what you want!” I slapped down a blue skip with zero remorse. “Skip you, my guy!”
“Thank you kindly,” Chesteria purred, tossing down a Draw Four with an air of theatrical finesse. “Bryce, enjoy.”
Adrian stood up. “Draw ten! Ten! How ‘bout that!”
Chesteria giggled. “Sir, that’s not how any of this works. You should know better!”
Adrian pointed to absolutely nothing. “If the card looks like a reverse and feels like a skip, then it’s whatever I say it is. That’s house rules. Check the back of the box… in invisible ink.”
