The next morning when Pasliee and Victoria walked downstairs and into the kitchen, Simon was already down there, finishing off a piece of toast.
“Morning Simon” Pasliee sweetly said and hugged him.
“Morning Pasliee” Simon hugged her back.
“Simon!” Victoria muttered.
“Victoria!” Simon muttered back. Simon smiled down at Pasliee, who was still hugging him.
“Come on Pasliee, let’s go” Victoria said. Pasliee let go of Simon and walked over to Victoria.
“Victoria, where are you taking my little sister?” Simon asked.
“It’s okay, big brother, we’re friends” Pasliee said. When she said ‘big brother’ it reminded him of precious, sweet and innocent five year old Pasliee: the one that always giggled and laughed except for when she and Simon had a disagreement.
“Yeah!” Victoria mockingly agreed, giving Simon a winning smile. She grabbed Pasliee’s hand and headed for the front door.
“I love you, big brother” Pasliee said and then was gone.
“I love you, baby sister” Simon muttered, feeling sad, uncomfortable and at loss.
“Why are you so nice to him?” Victoria asked in disgust.
“He’s my older brother and he loves me” Pasliee answered.
“Right, has he told you that?” Victoria asked.
“No, not in a while” Pasliee answered, her smile gone.
“Why do you hate him?” Pasliee wondered.
“Because of how he is” Victoria answered.
“Nice guy” Pasliee disagreed.
“Right” Victoria muttered.
“Nice guy” Pasliee repeated.
“Did he tell you that too?” Victoria asked.
“You don’t have to be so mean to him” Pasliee said.
“Don’t worry, I’m sure he hates me too” Victoria replied with a smile. Pasliee followed Victoria into a jungle path right across the street from Pizza Heaven, the place where Stacy, Tracy, Dylan, Zack and Simon usually went after school. Victoria led Pasliee to a tiny wooden shack that looked abandoned and in need two new paint jobs, half of a large and a large, rectangular piece of wood to finish the roof.
“Kajo” Victoria called.
“Kajo?” Pasliee asked, confused. A forty something year old African man with dreadlocks down to his waist, olive black eyes and yellow and green shirt with a red pair of pants walked out of the shack.
“Kajo!” Victoria happily said with a devilish smile.
“Kajo” Pasliee muttered, looking for Kajo to Victoria a bit frightened.
