SUMMER: Is he competent?
ME: Annoyingly.
RAYANN: Is he careful with you?
My thumb hovered.
ME: Yes.
RAYANN: Is he careful with himself?
I stared at the screen.
ME: No.
RAYANN: There it is, babe.
Brynn sent a knife emoji, then a safari hat, then a flame.
BRYNN: I stand by my earlier request for numbers.
ME: Denied.
BRYNN: That means three or more. Nobody gets this evasive over one emotionally irresponsible safari bang.
EMME: I am begging us not to call it that.
BRYNN: Fine. One emotionally consequential wildlife-adjacent dick appointment.
SUMMER: Brynn.
BRYNN: What? I used consequential.
ANNIE: The adjective did improve the sentence.
RAYANN: Slightly.
ME: I hate this family.
RAYANN: Also, you are deflecting badly.
ME: I am not deflecting.
EMME: You are using punctuation like a woman drafting a cease-and-desist against her own feelings.
BRYNN: Oh my God, Emme came in with a chair.
SUMMER: Focus. Are you cleared to travel home?
ME: Not yet. Sarah is sending the Johannesburg contact. I’ll reroute the itinerary once I have final clearance.
BRYNN: She used “route” as a verb. Someone sedate her.
RAYANN: No, let her cook. This is her emotional support logistics.
ANNIE: Control is where you put the feeling until it stops moving.
BRYNN: Annoying, but right. Nobody asked for Baby Shark Socrates before dinner.
