Slugger

32: Barbe-cuties

Before I can say anything, Nicole gets out of the car and rushes towards the front door, being let in by Vic. I look to Dante who is still checking out his growing chin fluff and clear my throat. He takes no notice of me.

"Your head's still big." I comment, wanting attention. The exasperated expression on his face tells me that it worked.

"You are so mean, Kennedy." He says, undoing his seatbelt.

I gasp. "Me? Mean?"

"Yeah? We can't go anywhere without you reminding me that my head is bigger than... wait, which one was it? Jupiter?"

I can't tell if he's actually upset or not. "I think we've rationalised that it's not Jupiter levels. It's more Saturn. And when you wear hats –"

"Oh there you go." I roll my eyes. "Why are you like this?"

"Like what? What did I do?"

"You're so mean to me?"

"I'm not!"

He tries to pull a serious face and I do too, but then I can't help but try not to laugh. Alas, I fail at that and dissolve into giggles, making him smile. "Stop laughing at me."

"I'm not laughing at you, I'm laughing at... the situation."

"Well the situation is not –"

A knock on the window interrupts what he's gonna say and we both look up from each other to see his sister standing by the window, holding her purse. Dante rolls the window down and looks at her expectantly.

"What do you want?"

She gives him a dirty look but then smiles at me. "Hey Kenny! How's McKinley doing?"

"Hey! She's good, still on vacation though."

"Aw cool, that means there's still time to get her to buy me some magnets and a mug."

"Nerd." Dante interjects and the two of them glare at each other. "What did you want again?"

Anaya rolls her eyes and clears her throat. "Mom was wondering where you were because she saw your car roll up five minutes ago."

"Kennedy and I were just talking." He says and then his eyes light up. "Hey, guess where I went today!"

Oh my God.

"Tell me on the way to the backyard, Uncle Peter wants to talk sports with you." She says, waving her free hand in the air. "He brought his newest girlfriend and she brought her kids."

"That bad?" He asks.

"One of her kids already asked Vic if he'd go for a younger woman. She's fourteen."

"Gross."

We get out of the car and Dante takes hold of my hand quite passively as he tells his sister about his Victoria Secret adventure and brags about how much of a bra genius he is. Once inside the house, he is immediately distracted by his mom who gives me a hug and hurries him away.

There's a bunch of people talking in small groups and eating burgers in the backyard. I find Nicole talking to Vic and Mr Correll about something that looks suspiciously like baseball by their swinging action. I approach them carefully.

"There she is, woman of the hour!" Mr Correll says and pats my shoulder. "Kenny, Nicole here was just telling me about your softball days."

Ah.

"She says you've got a swinging arm to die for." Vic adds. I think he senses my discomfort because he chuckles when I side eye him. "Weren't you the one who gave Dante a concussion a few months ago?"