Twisties

Chapter 2

"What's a cutie with a booty like you doing here?"

Eating. "I just came down to see Deon."

"Oh word? I feel ya. Getting some one on one time with the boss."

"I actually don't work here," I snapped back real quick. My annoyance was spiking. "But I'm going to finish eating right now."

"You can eat while I talk. It's no deal." He smiled, as if he was doing me a favor.

"No that's okay." For the record, I said this with another smile. Don't they say not to bother an animal while it eats? This dude was like some safari guy all up in my face and shit when all I was trying to do was feast on this nice piece of gazelle ass.

"What, you stuck up or something?" He asked, face scrunching up.

Yes. "No, but I don't wanna talk to you, that's it."

He looked so confused. Was I not speaking English? "So it's like that? That's bull shit. You fake anyway. Fake ass hair."

You know, it's not the first time I've heard these things, but I was having a bad day already. All I wanted was to eat my damn food in peace, but I guess that was too much to ask for. And this guy was corny, calling me fake because I wasn't interested. He was gonna need all the thoughts and prayers after I was done with him.

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Tatiana

Though my job wasn't demanding, I felt I needed a break from Ms. Jenkins' shenanigans. So, I called up Les and we made plans to hang at his house that night. This evening was no different than the others as we laid on his bed watching something on Adult Swim. I watched, amused as he shoveled potato chips in his mouth unaware that most of it was falling onto his shirt. He was cute when he was messy.

Leicester Jameson was the boyfriend I never thought I'd have. Being that I was from Southern Gardens and he, from Northern Gardens, said a lot. Les' family was well off. Their three-floor home consisted of six bedrooms, three bathrooms (one with a jacuzzi tub), an entire finished basement, a garage, and a pool. They also had a membership to a swanky club. The kind where people plan afternoon picnics in the Bahamas. I didn't even want to bother with the comparison to my family, but we didn't even have a Costco's membership.

Of course, that's not why I was with him. His mix of nerdy and stylish was what initially attracted me. From his fuck boy haircut down to the high-top Vans he was fond of, I thought he was cute. Usually his outfits were just funny shirts and jeans, unless he had to go to some fancy event with his parents. Sometimes he liked to shake things up with an open plaid button-up. He never took off his glasses though to my disappointment. I thought he had the prettiest brown eyes ever.

I think the only thing I didn't like about Les was his lack of motivation. With the resources around him, he could easily get into an Ivy League school. Les was very smart, but lazy, and didn't take his future as seriously as I took mine. He thought if he appeased his parents, they would get off his back. Sometimes it pissed me off because I wish I had those opportunities.

I rolled over to his side and laid my head against his. I heard his stomach growl.

"Sometimes I wonder if I'll resort to cannibalism one day," he said impatiently.

I pointed to the bag of chips in his hand. "You're eating something right now Les."

"That doesn't mean it's filling! I need real food. Come here!" He grabbed my head with his hands. "You'll be my appetizer." I screamed and flailed as he tried to lick my forehead.

"Get away Les! You're so gross!"

"No, my pretty!" I couldn't help but laugh. What an idiot! He was always messing around. At school and basically anywhere else, I was a socially awkward mess. Yet with Les, I didn't have to be serious or quiet. Oh no, I talked my butt off whenever we saw each other. I just couldn't wait to be around him.

"Okay, okay! Sheesh, I'm sure dinner will be ready in a bit," I said pushing him away. He reached over and gave my forehead a kiss.

"Fine, I'll just have to save you for another day."

I rolled my eyes, trying to hide my smile. "What are we having again?"

"I think my mom is making spaghetti. She hasn't made that in a while, right?"

I nodded in agreement. I came over to his house a lot, and usually stayed for dinner. Les mom cooked every night, but sometimes she made things that I thought were too fancy for my taste. One time we had caviar for an appetizer, and it was awful. Wealthy people sure did have some odd taste buds, but I wouldn't say his mom was a bad cook at all. In fact, I usually looked forward to dinner, but that was only if Les' father wasn't there.

That's when we had to make a big deal out of dinner. Formal casual dress was mandatory, the good china was brought out, and elbows were not allowed on the table at all. Heaven forbid if spaghetti was served.

"Do anything today?" Les asked, poking me in the side.

I shook my head. "Nope. Same old I guess." Suddenly, I remembered my spontaneous day off and frowned. "Actually, Ms. Jenkins is making me take the day off in two weeks."

"Why?" Les asked me puzzled.

I rolled my eyes. "She thinks I'm going to some party. This girl in my class invited me. She came by the flower shop today and bought self-appreciation roses. It was all so stupid."

Les frowned. "I didn't know you had a friend from school."

"I don't! That's the weird thing, I don't even talk to the girl, so I was like uh okay. It's really amazing that it even happened," I said shaking my head.

"Well you must talk to her at least a little bit. Otherwise why would she invite you?" His tone indicated he didn't believe me.

"That's what I said! She said something about...charity? Honestly though. I have no idea what's going on." I shrugged my shoulders.

"Yeah. Well you're not going anyway, so it doesn't matter. Right?" He asked looking dead at me.

"Well yeah. Duh."

"People like your sister go to parties," he said rolling his eyes. "And when you mingle around people like that, you become like them. Why do you think Southern Gardens is the way it is?" He finished saying, shrugging his shoulders again.

From downstairs, Les' mom called us for dinner. Les ran while I took my time. I admit, the conversation did put me off a little. I didn't even want to go to the party, but Les' comment had me irritated. I also just didn't appreciate the jab about my neighborhood. The area had its own issues but everyone from there wasn't some low life. I don't know, it was like sometimes Les forgot that even I was from Southern Gardens.

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