6. DICK JERKY

6

DICK JERKY

Summer

My sister calls, and I am happy it's her, but fuck it's early. My first class doesn't start till 11am. But school starts early for her. At least she pulled me out of that nonsense of a dream. I can't believe I still have to deal with such dreams. It must be the devu , Brandi, my Nigerian high school friend would say and I smile a little to myself.

"Hey, baby Blue."

"I'm so jealous of you, sis." Her very awake voice greets me from the other side, and I smile. I can imagine how many times dad must have yelled at her by now.

My sister is not a morning person. She's a noon person. But because parents are enemies of everything we love, they terrorize her out of bed every morning. And though I'm not a morning person either, she is much worse. So I feel her pain.

"Five years isn't that long. Just study hard so you can be out of that Egypt like me."

She chuckles.

"But seriously, how are you? I already miss you so much, bro."

"Me too, dude. How are you feeling about going to high school?"

"Not looking forward to all the people who will be telling me I look like you all day," she admits.

It's something she's always struggled with in some places. Especially because our parents took us to the same schools, so we had the same teachers. She's constantly fighting to step out of my shadow and prove she is her own person. Which is even harder because we look almost identical.

"I'm sorry for cursing you with my face."

"I guess I am cursed with 'tis curse of beauty and black excellence. Girl please," she says and I can hear her eye roll.

I laugh and she chuckles too, getting out of bed. Maybe being up too isn't a bad idea.

"Don't forget my reputation with the boys," I remind her.

"I guess I'm going to be punching a lot of people in the face then," she says frankly.

I laugh. "You crazy and don't do that. Dad gives really long 'I'm disappointed in you' speeches."

"I don't care. You are my sister plus you were dating the hottest guys I've ever seen in my life. I should wear that on a sash."

"B…" I sigh.

"No seriously. My sister bagged all four of the hottest guys here. Bow to me, peasants.'"

Tears are running down my face from the laughter. This child has a never-die spirit and I admire her for it. She got her sense of humor for sure from nana and when they are together, we never stop laughing. They have an on-going roasting battle. It's too hilarious to witness the jabs they throw at each other.

I exhale when I finally catch my breath. "How are you and everyone?"

"Mom dragged us to have waffles at your favorite place last night ‘cause she misses you. So yeah, the withdrawal symptoms are starting."

"Poor mom. I bet nana had her ass and was complaining all the way."

"You know the senior girl wasn't having any of it." She laughs. "Said she will buy mom a pacifier or put her back on her tit because she's being a baby. The roast session was worth the trip, to be honest."

I smile, but I'm a little sad I missed it. "I miss you guys so much."

"Have you seen them?" she asks after a small silence, and the air gets dense immediately.

I sigh. "I went to a party last night and they were there."

"Are they still hot?" she asks with a little too much of what sounds like enthusiasm.

"Blue, no."

"What? They are literally the most beautiful men I've ever seen."

"And they are liars just like the rest," I remind her.

"Don't be a sour puss, sis. And for the record, I am still on your side. You deserve better."

"Hm."

"Anyway, let me go, your mother is here giving me the devil's eye."

"Is that Su?" I hear my mother's voice in the background.

"It is, but I called her. Bye, sis." Then the line goes dead.

I smile at the phone. Mom is probably going to give her an earful. But my sister lives on the edge. And she lives to challenge the powers that be.

I set my phone down and a knock makes me leave the coffee maker and go answer. Opening the door, I find a messy-haired, looks-like-death Hazel. She looks like a hangover personified.

"Don't," she says before walking past me.

"Why aren't you in bed is what I want to know," I say. "Morning."

She curls herself into my bed and pulls the duvet over herself.

"I can't sleep past 7am." She groans.

"Well then, coffee?"

"Please. And I need donuts." She pouts like a baby. I am going to have a handful with this one.

"I'll order them for you." Grabbing my phone, I open Uber Eats.

I look her way when she is suspiciously quiet and find her staring at me. I know before she speaks where she wants to go. Looking back to the phone, I try to look for another coffee shop that can deliver a bacon, ham, cheese, and egg sandwich in fresh baked bloomer bread.

"So, that guy… Harvey is your ex?" she asks.

"Um…" I don't answer, scrolling through the surrounding coffee shops. I'm not sure what to tell her. It's clear she has a little crush on Harvey, and I don't want to be that girl.

"Miss ma'am…?" she says, sitting up.

I quip an eyebrow at her and smile, trying to hide my discomfort.

"Hazel, what do you want me to say?"

"Tell me how well you know him."

"You mean them ," I correct.

"You guys were friends?"

"No, they are all my exes." Dragging this longer than it needs to be isn't going to help, so whatever. Ripped bandages and all that. But I get no response from Hazel, so I look her way.

She is gawking, very dramatically. Like she's running out of air.

"Hazel?" I narrow my eyes at her.

Then the squeal comes.

I frown. "Damn, it's fucking 7:30, chill."

"You dated all those guys? Tell me all at once so I can worship you."

That actually makes me laugh. "My sister would love you."

"Talk, woman!"

"Yeah, I dated all of them in senior year."

"Omg." She melts to the floor and mock worships me and I roll my eyes. "And then what happened?" she asks getting back on the bed.

My face falls and hers falls after. "Oh no."

I nod. "Yup." I pop the 'p'.

"Which ones so I can castrate them. Jerks."

"Your crush and the rest lied with and for him."

She gets out of bed. "Men ain't shit, I swear." She hugs me tightly like I'm crying and I stand there awkwardly as she squeezes me. She holds me by my shoulders after. "Are you okay, though?"

"It's been three months."

"That's not an answer, Summer."

I look at her. Well, this has gotten more serious than I expected and it's not even eight yet.

"It's an every day thing. Somedays I'm good, and some I wish I could cut their dicks and hang them in the desert so they can be burned by the sun until they are jerky, and the birds come and eat them, and the birds shit them out in a volcano."

She laughs. "That is oddly specific."

I shake myself off her and continue ordering our food, making sure I add the avocado she loves.

"So, four guys at once. I thought I was a queen with my record of three, and they didn't know about each other," she says.

"When was that? Tell me." I say sitting next to her on the bed.

"In 11th grade. I dated two boys and a girl. I felt amazing, I thought I was queen of the world…until I was caught by one of the boys with the girl."

"Oh no, and what happened?"

"I dumped him."

"Huh?"

"He wanted us to make him a sandwich and fuck him at the same time. Asshole," she mutters, folding her arms.

"Men." I shake my head.

"Yeah… So, your exes knew about each other, and they were cool? How did it work? Did you have a roster?" she asks, curiosity jumping out in heaps.

"Yes, they were cool, but not really a roster per se. Just dividing time, other than that just vibes. We just worked, I guess. We were kind of friends too."

"Harvey looks like he's the jealous type though."

"He is."

"But he could share?"

"I don't know, they just… did."

She looks like she's in thought. "Um, so I'm sorry I thirsted over him last night. I was kind of drunk."

I chuckle. "Yeah, you were literally drooling. Like, he's not that good-looking."

"Girl, stop. I know he's a piece of shit, but man's hot."

I sigh. "Fine. But I hate him."

She quips an eyebrow at me, and I roll my eyes. Thankfully I'm saved by the notification of the driver downstairs. I don't like door orders. Men are creeps and I don't like random men knowing where I live exactly. Me and Hazel go downstairs for the food and have breakfast after.

We shower after and get ready for our first classes talking about the two classes we have together, Microeconomics and Statistics. At least we have that too together. Which brings me to the fact that me and Caleb share a class together too. We had already chosen our classes last year and stupidly took some of the same modules to spend time together and help each other. I am hoping he is in the other group.

I don't know what is going to happen if I see him in the class today. But I guess I need to get my big girl panties on. I can't avoid it. And at some point, I am going to have to learn that they exist, and I will see them often. Maybe it's great it's Caleb and not the others.