we're not kids anymore

Chapter 7

Sunday
11:19 AM

The loud sound of the doorbell ringing followed by loud banging startles Chrisanto out of his deep slumber. He groans and sucks his teeth while getting out of bed before exiting his bedroom in nothing but a pair of boxers. The doorbell rings again, making him suck his teeth once again out of annoyance. He peeks through the peeping hole of the front door before unlocking it and swinging it open.

"Jaeda, what the—"

"Nigga, I've been calling and texting your phone for two damn hours!" Jaeda immediately goes off, pushing past her brother and into his apartment. She takes a few steps down the hall before turning around to face him. "Do you want to go get brunch with me?"

Chrisanto tiredly stares at his sister who's standing in front of him. Her hair is in a sleek ponytail with her curls loose in the back, her makeup is neatly done, she's wearing a light green sundress along with white colored sandals that match the designer bag in her hand. "You came all the way here to ask me to go to brunch?" He yawns just when Jaeda shamelessly confirms his question. "I should've never given you my address... Don't you have friends to do that with?"

Jaeda makes her way into the living room and sits down on the large dark gray couch Chrisanto owns. "I do," She smiles. "But it's you who I want to have brunch with, hermano."

A snort comes from Chrisanto and he shakes his head. "You're not leaving until I go eat somewhere with you, huh?"

"Nope — and it's your treat."

"Yo?"

"I'm your little sister and you got money."

"Just because I got money don't mean I want to spend it on brunch with you." Chrisanto starts heading to his room again. "I'm going to shower and get ready. Behave yourself and don't touch anything while I'm gone."

"Behave yourself and touch anything while I'm gone." Jaeda mocks her brother with a ridiculously deep voice while pulling a face before rolling her eyes. "Nigga, go get ready already. I'm starving and I'm getting cranky, mami didn't make me breakfast this morning."

Chrisanto tiredly brushes Jaeda off and disappears into his bedroom, leaving her alone in the living room. Seeing Chrisanto go into his room makes Jaeda wonder if Juni is there. Maybe she should invite him too if he is. But then again, she wants to spend time with only Chrisanto today. She would like to do some sister-brother bonding and has been wanting to talk to Chrisanto about something regarding the conversation at the restaurant two days ago and next week.

It takes nearly an hour for Chrisanto to get ready. Jaeda is in a bad mood by the time he's done and she doesn't say a word to him when they leave his apartment. Chrisanto can't help but to laugh at the silent treatment from his little sister.

They drive to the city in Chrisanto's car because Jaeda has yet to get her driver's license and prefers to Lyft or Uber everywhere. Driving is not for her, according to herself. Jaeda orders right away when Chrisanto and her sit down at the table in the restaurant. She orders a salad and two different types of egg dishes along with bottomless mimosas because getting drunk last Friday wasn't enough for her. Chrisanto ends up ordering something with eggs and chorizo, and water because he's driving.

Having brunch with Jaeda is quite amusing to Chrisanto. He didn't realize how much he missed spending time with his sister until now. Their relationship hasn't been the same ever since what happened between Kingston and him. It took three years for them to actually patch things up and for Jaeda to forgive him.

Being home from college was really awkward the past few years and their parents did everything to get them to talk and work things out between them. Jaeda only ended up forgiving Chrisanto after he came out to her and their parents during Thanksgiving. They talked a lot after that, but there was still an obvious strain between them. Nothing was the same between them. The strain became less through years, but it was still there regardless. It still is, even though it might not seem like it now, and won't be going away anytime soon either. The strain will remain there because Jaeda doesn't talk about New York or college because Kingston is correlated to those things. And if there's one thing Jaeda refuses to talk to Chrisanto about other than her time in college and New York, it's Kingston. So anything that has to do with that part of her life is and always will be a mystery to Chrisanto.