Sweet Thing

Quan

Quan Marks

"Found ya!" Kembe yelled with a grin before my avatar saw his last virtual seconds.

"That's not fair, Kembe, you screen watched," I said in disappointment. That was my eleventh death with only one kill to counter it. Call of Duty was not my strong suit even if I did love to play it. "You know I can't aim under pressure."

"Boo-hoo-hoo. Quan, you a sore loser," he quipped. The timer ran out and his name was emblazoned across the screen at the top, showing him as the winner for the third time in a row today.

I tossed the controller on the pillow beside me and crossed my arms. "If you weren't my favorite little cousin, I'd punch you, poo-poo face."

He skipped over to my seat on the couch and leaned in with his face real close to mine. "No you wouldn't, booty head, you can't fight."

"True. I'm a pacifist and I wouldn't hit you or anybody no way. But still, you're a stupid face for killing me again even though you knew I was doing so bad." I kept my eyebrows furrowed for an extra few seconds to add drama, but in actuality, I was already over it. I expected to lose. "You wanna get something to eat?"

He nodded, located the remote, and cut off the game. "What we gonna eat?"

"Let's get out the house. We gonna go crazy if we stay any longer. Where my keys?"

"Finally! I'mma go get ready." Kembe sprinted past me and up the steps with more excitement than I'd seen him have since Christmas. I'd secretly gotten him the perfect gift. Kembe was the best little cook I knew, so (contrary to his father's wishes) I bought him a kid's cookbook. We made a hush-hush pact to try a recipe every time I babysat him.

"Dress warm!" I called after him.

My cell phone buzzed and I grinned. It was Lupe. I knew it'd be her. Lupe was the first shorty I'd ever talked to that always answered my texts and really seemed to listen to me. She always asked follow-up questions and remembered the stuff I'd tell her about. Don't get it twisted, though, I wasn't sprung off her. We hadn't even met in person yet. We were just mutual follows on Instagram and she let me have her number so I could hit her up sometime. We were texting buddies. Besides, me and Taja had been talking more and more recently and she asked if we could "chill" over the break. She was scheduled to come over tomorrow around eleven.

Lupe's text said she was at work for only a little while longer. I had no idea she had a job, but it made sense. She was gonna be eighteen in October and she was a junior like me. We'd only been texting for about three days. There was a lot I didn't know obviously. I replied with a sad face and pushed myself up off the couch.

"You ready yet, cousin?" I shouted up the steps.

"Yeah, I just had to put on underwear," he replied while zooming down the steps. Usually, I'd tell him not to run, but I always loved that funny xylophone sound the stairs made when he flew on them.

I pulled on my sneakers and my heavy black leather faux-letterman jacket and opened the door for us. After I locked it, I followed Kembe to my teenage silver Impala SS and he waited, kicking up the snow. My breath made hazy little clouds in front of my mouth and I giggled like a kid again.

"Where we gonna go?" I asked him.

"McDonald's. I wanna get a large fries."

"Whatever you want, cousin." With that, I cut on the engine and pulled off the curb. Kembe was only eight and he couldn't sit in the front seat with me, so I always handed him my phone to play with for the ride. It didn't keep me from texting and driving cuz I never did that anyway. I knew firsthand how stupid that was.