Turning A New Leaf

Six

"I'm gonna be so happy when we don't have to make this trip anymore," Atira told him as she merged onto I-5 from I-205. They'd dropped Rocco off at his grandparents for the weekend so they could empty and clean Atira's Seattle apartment.

"For real," he agreed, "I hate this drive. Can't believe you were making it down and back on your days off just to see my lame ass."

She squeezed his thigh, "You would have done the same for me," she replied with a smile.

"Yeah, but I'm also a thirsty muhfucker," Krist laughed.

"Oh shut up," she told him. "How many high school boys would have waited as long as you did for us to finally have sex?"

Krist gave her an amused look, "Babe," he smirked.

"Okay, stupid question," she told him before changing the subject. "Can you believe we are getting married in barely over two weeks?"

Krist plucked cat hair off his black Dickies, "It's wild, right? I lucked out with your low standards," he laughed.

"I'm just glad you gave my plain-looking self a chance," she teased back, knowing that Krist had really liked the bimbo, trashy look his his younger years.

"You're not even plain," he told her truthfully. He knew Atira had some weird hang-up that she was natural-looking. Krist thought she was fine as fuck. Yes, he fucked with a lot of females who had heavy makeup, overdone lips, and fake bodies but a lot of them were dogged-out without that shit.

"Do you really think that?" Atira asked.

"Yeah, I do. You're hella fine," he replied. He wanted to hell he couldn't be with an ugly broad but left it at that.

They spent the drive listening to Atira's Spotify playlist, she sang along trying to coax him into joining her. Kristi smiled at her lovingly, "I don't sing, and you don't wanna even hear me try," he told her.

"Ah, you can't be that bad," she teased.

He reclined his seat back, putting a hand behind his head, and closed his eyes. Krist wasn't necessarily tired but the stop-and-go traffic they'd hit near Olympia stressed him out. "Trust me, you don't even want to hear that shit."

Atira grinned at him, he tended to take himself too seriously at times and had been that way since she'd met him. Occasionally, he'd relax and goof around with her so she knew he wasn't always serious. She had made it her mission to get him out of his shell.

****

They stopped at Dick's Drive-in on the way to her place. Krist had gotten himself two of the deluxe burgers, an order of fries, and a strawberry shake. "Okay, K-Fed," Atira teased him as they returned to her Subaru.

Krist had once made the joke about how he would look like Britney Spears' fat baby daddy if his metabolism wasn't so good and Atira hadn't let that go.

"You wish, that fool is jacked," Krist laughed as he sat down.

Atira buckled her seatbelt, "What's wild is that he didn't even gain weight in a good way, he's all weird-shaped."

Krist laughed, "Right? Spongebob shaped fool

Atira snort-laughed, "Oh my gosh! Yes! And he was like 'I just like pizza and pasta a lot' and that's how he got fat."

"Dude pro'lly put down the spoon and picked up the fork if you catch my drift," he shoved a handful of fries in his mouth, "I should probably be careful myself." Krist chuckled.

Atira had to think for a moment about what he meant and then laughed. "Why do we always wind up talking about Kevin Federline?" she wondered out loud.

"Fuck if I know. It's funny though. Somehow that whack-ass dude managed to have six kids though, he gotta have something going for him I suppose."

"Yeah, all that child support he gets from Britney," Atira pointed out.

Krist nodded his head, "For real. Dude got so much pizza and pasta from that money too."

Atira took a sip of her shake, "Poor Britney," she said thoughtfully.

The conversation turned to Britney and her conservation ended and all her creepy videos. "They probably should not have freed Britney," Krist laughed.

"Or maybe they should have treated her like a human being and not a money tree," Atira countered. Clearly, Atira felt strongly about the whole Britney ordeal so Krist let it slide.

****

They pulled up to Atira's apartment and grabbed their things from the back of the car.

"Crazy this will be the last time I'll be living here," she told Krist as she unlocked the door.

"Are you gonna miss Seattle?" he asked, worried she might be regretting her choice to move.

"Some things, yes. I love the city but not enough that I regret leaving," Atira replied, "Besides, it's not like we can't ever come up here."

"True," Krist agreed.

Her apartment was pretty much empty of everything. The only things that remained were her little workspace, the bed, and a few cleaning supplies. They still had to pick up the trailer from U-haul but they absolutely could have gotten away with making the whole thing a day trip and been home that same night.

"I forgot to tell you," Atira said as she began to spray down the countertops with Lysol cleaner, "Jillian wants us to come over for brunch tomorrow before we leave. She wants to meet you before the wedding."

Krist really didn't want to go but he owed her for their awkward run-in with Nina on Christmas. "I don't have no dress-up clothes," he said.

"She said it's casual, you'll be fine," Atira replied. Krist was by no means scrubby looking but felt like Atira's little friend group and their idea of casual was likely very different than his idea of casual. "Everyone is excited to meet you."

****

They woke up pretty early Saturday morning, in time to pick up the U-Haul trailer, load the things Atira planned on taking to Vancouver, and get ready to go to the stupid brunch thing at Jillian's house.

Atira took her time, applying makeup and styling her blond hair in loose beach waves while he trimmed up his facial hair and showered. She dressed herself in a white cami with a loose-fitting mauve cardigan, blue jeans cuffed at the ankle, and tan stiletto ankle boots. He loved that she could wear anything and still look hella good.

Krist wore a pair of charcoal gray dickies, a plain white tee with a dark gray pullover hoodie, and plain white Air Force 1's. He sprayed himself with Diesel Cologne.

"Ready to head out?" Atira asked, reaching for her cream-colored Dooney & Bourke satchel. He nodded, putting on an over-enthused face. "It will be fine, I promise you everyone is nice."