Distractions (D. SWING)

51

Crazy In Love

"So, tell me if I got this right." She clears her throat, jumping up on the counter top with her back facing the stove. "Once Ron was okay and stable, they all went back to Charlotte. De goes back to LA fast as fuck so, you come back here?"

Nodding, I confirm Alexis' entire paraphrase of my current situation.

Aaliyah sighs, standing up from the edge of the counter. She's been wearing her hair down a lot more often as of lately and the look is my new favorite of her's. Some people might say it's only because it makes her look like me... I agree with some people. "So, how's Pac?"

"Good."

She shakes her head, brushing her bangs out of her eyes with ease. I think it is the bangs that really separate us. It is the bangs and my hair color. However, put us in the same outfit, with the same color hair, and turn our backs? It'd be just like when we were kids. You know, back when you couldn't tell us apart even with a magnifying class. We've played around with the Parent Trap swap a few times. With all thanks to one another, I've dodged a series of salon dates with my mother. It was not until she was already halfway to the salon that she realized it was Aaliyah and not myself. I think I hurt her feelings a couple of times with it... she only wanted to spend time with me. I understand that now, I wish I knew that way back when.

"How's De," asks Alexis.

I lie. "He's straight."

Alexis' stares down at a piece of lettuce that was dropped on the counter during the process of us making our salads hours earlier. "That's good..." I shake my head and say nothing. A wave of awkward silence comes over us. I glance up at my sister for a second, immediately reverting my attention back to my forearm when she fails to notice my eyes. "You don't seem too good... still. I know you said you felt better, but I can feel something's off with you. Have you been stress eating again?"

"Not yet..." I push my body weight off of the counter and stand up straight. "Sometimes I wonder if I should maybe take a pregnancy test just in case... but, I don't want any event repeats. I can't let it get to me like that again. Empty uteri on ultrasound screens can bring a really crappy feeling," I admit. A pregnant Alexis sympathetically stares at me. "And it isn't like, you know, I'm not... y'know what I'm saying? Like, I'm not super duper depressed on anything but... I don't know. I think I was more sad for De than anything. I kind of didn't want to be pregnant because..." I hold up my left hand as if it were empty, regardless of the promise ring I am wearing.

Alexis looks me up and down. Her sympathy vanishes within seconds. "Bitch, you holding up your hand like you're not sporting a fat ass engagement! I'm taking my sympathy back." Aaliyah's uncontrollable laughs cause for her to spit out her water. Still laughing, she walks across the room to get a towel as I stare down Alexis in annoyance. "No, don't give me that look! I was really feeling for you until you held up a promise ring." She performs air quotes on her last two words. "As if you aren't basically engaged. Get the fuck out of here. You guys play too much."

"I love how passionate you are about her relationship," laughs Aaliyah.

I help Alexis off of the counter. She is borderline in her second trimester, she isn't even big yet, but I refuse to risk anything. I rather play it safe. "I am! This bitch has been dragged through the depths of hell's basement by a dark angel and now she's got a motherfuckin' DeVante on his bended knee— Baby, I'm beggin'. Baby, I'm beggin', beggin', baby ass DeVante and she's still all," Alexis pauses to horribly imitate my voice. " I want to be married."

"How is that wrong?"

She turns to me, shouting, "It isn't! ...But it is." She points. "It's wrong for you because you're trying to live life based on some fairytale ass plan you concoted when we were in college. You already accompolished the first half and then some. It's okay to color outside of the lines if you're highlighting the picture with an extra eternal glow!"