Sunday
Donovan walks out of the bathroom, he's got some trousers on, well pyjamas bottoms on but he's got no top on and my goodness, for someone who drinks a whole lot of beer, he's got abs for days.
I avert my gaze. I knew that at heart, he wasn't a bad guy but right now, he was pretending to be and that was not who I could get involved with.
It was tempting though and I was a very shallow girl, or I used to be, I saw one good-looking guy and it was done, I'd fuck him.
I wasn't like that anymore, I lost any sort of attraction to people that I used to have when I got out of military school and was a) waiting to get out of Joni's house and b) trying to rebel against Joni by leaving at all hours of the night.
It was so incredibly messed up that at fourteen, I was strung out on drugs and taking them like it was no one's business and drinking like I had a failing marriage. I can tell you that I had a failing life.
I don't know how life was for me now, it was definitely better but better doesn't mean good because my only friends were my cousins.
How sad was that?
Very. Was the answer.
"Hey Gigi, are you alright?" Maisie reaches over the table to tap me on the shoulder.
I look up and nod. "Yeah, I'm fine. I just zoned out."
"I was just saying, before we do anything, we're going to grab some food and supplies, we'll be back in an hour, two max." Dacre says and I nod.
They leave and it's silent.
"Swap?" Arthur says to me.
I had became imminently aware of Donovan who had sat next to me, shirtless and I could feel his eyes on me.
I know Arthur was trying his best to make Donovan stay away from me and vice versa and that made me extremely appreciative. It was weird knowing he and I could coexist as sensible, functioning humans.
We swap seats and I'm now not in the middle but at the end, the furthest away from Donovan I can possibly be.
On a technicality, Arthur was meaner than Donovan but that's not just because he was rude, Arthur was wildly intelligent like me while also being incredibly deviant. He just hadn't got caught as much as I had. Well he had been caught, he just had people in his corner.
Arthur and I were dickhead teenagers and got into a lot of trouble together whenever we saw each other.
I didn't talk to him recently because I had been trying to just function and live.
Me and Arthur talk while completely ignoring Donovan because I know that while I had reformed, so had Arthur and word had been going around that this party was Arthur's last party, probably ever.
"Is it true then?" I ask Arthur and he understands. I knew he would.
"Yeah. It is true." He seems reflective.
"I'm glad." I can tell that Donovan's interest is peaked.
"You know what? Me too."
"What are you guys speaking about and why are you being so vague?" Donovan is nosey.
We both turn to him.
"Mind your business." We both say and when we do it, we look back at each other and laugh.
"Why are we here?" Donovan is now pissed off with us.
"How sensitive." Arthur mutters under his breath.
"What the fuck did you just say about me Rosling?!" Donovan shouldn't step into this. He should not pick a fight with Arthur.
"I said, you're sensitive." Arthur says as he stands up and Donovan squares up to him.
"You want to fucking fight?" Donovan is ready for a fight and I don't interject, I want to see what Arthur does as part of his reform.
I think Arthur's about to hit him but then his band travels to Donovan's armpit and then he tickles him and Donovan laughs. Donovan is fucking ticklish.
Oh. My. God.
I burst out into laughter and Arthur has to sit back down as he laughs into his hands and I face the wall to calm down.
Arthur and I both turn back to each other and start laughing again, Arthur snorts and I start laughing so hard I cannot breathe.
"Hey, you guys stop laughing at him." Nia says as she walks into the apartment. "Mais and Dacre will be back in about an hour. They're going to get Carter to come. I know as well."
"Know what? Why am I here?" Donovan is starting to lose patience.
"Look kid, you just gotta have some patience. You're a really lucky guy right now, I know my mean brother and my lovely cousin are probably annoying but they will be your two biggest friends at the end of it all." She says and Arthur and I laugh again.
"This guys a bad influence, gotta stay away from him." Arthur sits back in his chair, arms crossed waiting for a reaction out of Donovan.
"You and you are related ." Donovan point at Arthur and I. "I thought you guys were a couple."
There's silence for a second but Arthur and I catch each others eye again and we start laughing.
Nia gives us a look.
"Come on Shepherd, you spend so much time pretending to be bad that you've lost your damn mind. Yes, we're cousins." This time we're actually crying.
"But you're Blackwell and you're Rosling!" Donovan is embarrassed.
"Hey, it's okay. We all have our moments."
I hit Arthur on the shoulder and he gets the message.
"Yeah sorry man, it was just funny, we weren't laughing at you."
"Wow look at you, being kind for once." Nia says as she finishes making a coffee. "I have to drink this quickly. She'll know I'm here as well if I leave it out so I have to rinse the cup out."
"Please make me one too Ni." Arthur says. "Don?"
Donovan shakes his head.
"Yeah just me, I know you don't want one do you Gia." I shake my head when Arthur asks.
I hate coffee.
"You know I don't understand at all but I love you all the same Gia." Nia says and I smile. She was the first person to call me Gia, insisting that it doesn't matter if it's her similar to her name.
"Why can't she know that you're here?" Donovan asks Nia.
"I'm surprising her. I just flew back in, I'm
moving back here after a year away. I was going to stay for two but dynamics are changing and Maisie and Carter are going to need help with some things and also I hated it in Alabama, it's as bad as people say. Great learning experience though." Nia did mention she was back and came to visit me yesterday so that's why I wasn't shocked at her appearance.
With the conversation in tow, Nia and Arthur just manage to finish their coffees before their pregnant sister came back to her home.