Nicole frowned at the old white guy on the TV screen. “Why does that old white dude look like Michael Jackson?”
“Because it is Michael Jackson.”
Nic’s frown shifted toward me.
I shrugged. “I guess the makeup artist wasn’t that good. Why are you home? Thought Kenny was having some huge blowout.”
She bites down on the cross hanging from her necklace. “He was. But Javon decided to be a jealous dick, so now I’m here.”
“Sucks to be you,” I said. Then offered her my bowl of popcorn.
Nic knocked my feet off the couch then curled up on the cushion, eating the majority of my popcorn. She ignored Javon’s calls the rest of that night. I still remember her laugh as I tried my best to mimic Michael’s dance moves from the movie. The sound was light and airy, like nothing weighed on her shoulders. Just like we were kids.
The next day, she grew up and answered Javon’s calls again.
“I asked if your name was Jayson Murphy.”
The smell of queso infiltrates my nose and Joshua Kim is across from me again. He’s wearing eyeglasses and, by how shiny they look, I can tell he doesn’t really need them. Probably something he throws on to make himself look like an official supervisor and not some college kid picking up a gig at Taco Bell to pay for textbooks.
“Yeah.” I clear my throat. Fold my hands on top of the table between us. “Yes, sir,” I say again. More formal. I put on my polite white boy voice to show Joshua that despite my face looking like the last scene of a horror movie, I could be trusted.
“Hi, Jayson. Welcome to Taco Bell.” He smiles as if he built the restaurant with his own two hands. “It says here you’re a junior at Youngs Mill. Tell me a little more about that.” He leans forward, as if he expects me to say more than: “I’m an eleventh grader at Youngs Mill.”
I make up some shit about how much I enjoy school, how English is my favorite subject. How Youngs Mill has such an inviting atmosphere, which helped me build my team player skills. I think I add in something about math, since the application wanted me to demonstrate my math skills. The words just tumble out of my mouth so I can fill up enough space to push Nic out of my mind. The past year or so has been me covering for her, or worrying about her, or doing something for her. It was time I did something for me. Who cares if she pissed off Javon? They should break up anyways.
“And I decided to lighten my load. Take it easy on extracurricular activities this year to gain some work experience,” I conclude. I punctuate it with a nod since that’s what I’ve seen people in the movies do when they nail a job interview.
Joshua nods back, pleased. “Aside from school, what do you like doing in your free time?”
The fick does that have to do with working at Taco Bell? I rub my hands together, buy myself some time as I try to conjure up a bullshit response. But all I can see is Javon’s hand smacking me in the head. All I can hear is the rage in his voice as he asked about Nic. If he could knock around his girlfriend’s own brother, what did that mean for Nic? I shake my head and shake out the image.
“I like to help out my classmates with homework,” I say. “I’m usually their go-to guy for essays. I also tend to walk my neighbors’ dogs from time to time. I don’t have one of my own, so it’s a good way to sneak in a couple of pats. Oh, and I have a sister.” I wince as soon as the words leave my mouth. Dammit, Nic. All I needed was five—ten minutes tops without her interrupting my life. But now Joshua Kim thinks that my sister is my hobby, whatever the hell that means.
“Um. Okay.” Joshua blinks at me. “I have a sister, too. They’re kind of pains in the you-know-what, am I right?”
I smile and nod at him again. He has no idea.
Joshua exhales and leans back in his seat. “I’m going to give it to you straight, Jayson. Since I’ve begun managing this shift, this Taco Bell has been receiving top marks with our health inspections and customer service surveys. We run a clean, friendly place here. No time for riffraff, follow me?”
“Yes,” I answer, though it comes out more as a question.
“Don’t get me wrong, you look like a good guy, but . . .” He points to his face. Probably because it would be too rude to point at mine.
“Oh. This?” I rub a hand across my mouth and my lip cusses at me. “This isn’t what you think. I fell off a bike.”
Joshua blinks at me again. “How many times did you fall?”
This interview was over as soon as Joshua slapped on his fake eyeglasses and got a clearer look at me, but I play along as he tells me about the next steps in the process. Phone call at the end of the week, and then I get to meet with another shift manager. I hadn’t realized Taco Bell had as many clearances as the FBI. But that’s what usually happens when you come from my neighborhood, live down the street from a guy like Javon, plus walk in with a face like a Picasso painting. Still . . . the run-around feels kinda shitty.
As I wait outside for the city bus, I glance at my phone, but there’s nothing new from Nic. I had called her, but she never picked up. I even left a voicemail, but she didn’t bother to send another text to check in. Her last text stares back at me: Never mind. All good. If she’s all good, why the hell is Javon tripping? I keep the phone in my hand, as if Nic could sense me waiting to hear from her. I hold on to it for the entire bus ride home.
She never calls.
Four
WHEN I GET HOME, I HEAD TO NIC’S ROOM AND DON’T EVEN bother knocking. If she can’t respect me enough to return my call, I can’t respect her privacy.
Nic’s bed is just like I left it this morning. Hell, everything’s exactly like it was this morning. She still hasn’t made it home. I snatch my phone out my pocket and stab at her name. After the fifth ring—voicemail. Again. I grit my teeth as Nicole’s recorded voice commands me to drop her a line.
“Okay, so check this,” I begin after the beep, “I don’t know where you are or what you’re up to, but since you just cost me a job, I’m going to start charging you ten bucks an hour for all the time I spend covering for you. May not sound like much, but I want backpay. So yeah, you’re going to need your boo to spot you more than a couple of bucks. And speaking of Javon, he’s a fickin’ psycho!”
I push Nic’s door closed behind me, just in case MiMi comes home from work and hears me spazzing out. “I’m done, Nic,” I say in a hushed voice. “Capital D as in dead. Which is what you’re going to be once MiMi finds out you haven’t been home in almost twenty-four hours.” I hang up the phone and wince as soon as I do. I didn’t even say goodbye.
No. No. Old Jay worried about polite farewells. New Jay was so cold that Nicole was probably going to catch a chill just listening to that message. I reach for the doorknob, but my hand feels heavy. Dammit, Nic. I tighten up the sheets on her bed, nice and tidy as if she’s been home. But this is the last time. I promise.
When I enter my room, I open Snapchat on my phone. Search through my friends until I come across Sterling Simmons’s profile. Her page is flooded with selfies of her glossy lips and platinum-blonde hair and random shots of her baring her abs in her bathroom mirror. A basketball wife in training.