𝐆𝐄𝐌𝐈𝐍𝐈

𝐭𝐡𝐫𝐞𝐞

     The door swung open and people were picking up their orders. There weren't many people eating in the restaurant - a couple of old white couples were sitting in the corner and a family was on the other side.

    I sat there munching and crunching on my chips. I had the Lays chips, normally they were nasty plain but because I had a sandwich it was hitting.

   Gemini eyed my sandwich as I munched on my chips, then asked, "Lemme get a bite." 

   I raised an eyebrow, chewing the crunch of the lettuce and wiping the ranch from my lips. "Boy If you wanted a sandwich, why didn't you get one?"

   Gemini shrugged. "Cause I ain't want no sandwich, I want yours." 

  he was dead-ass too. I playfully huffed, breaking off a piece and holding it up to his mouth. "Here nigga"

    He took a massive bite, and the sauce dripped down from the corner of his mouth as he shook his head in approval. "Yuh, that's what I'm talking about" he exclaimed, clearly enjoying the sandwich.

  I laughed "You so greedy"

"Done got this pizza for nothing" I said, gesturing to the untouched pizza on the table.

   He always did this - we'd go out to get food, and he'd end up eating mine instead of his own.

   As he wiped the sauce from his face, he said, "Shit, I don't know, it's just something about your food... you always get the better shit. Like, my food doesn't taste as good as yours does."

"Whatever you say, you've been eating my food since we were thirteen" 

   Gemini chuckled, "Hell yeah, I was! My grandma used to cuss me out every day about that shit"

"Gemini, stop eating off Solem's plate, goddammit!"' He mocked her voice, making me laugh.

   I playfully hit him on the shoulder, still chuckling. As my laughter subsided, I asked, "Speaking of Ms. Rose, how is she doing?"

   Mama Rose, Gemini's grandma, took him and his brother in when they were young because their parents were unstable and struggling with an addiction.

    "She's good, you know I barely be at the house now, so she only has to deal with Tay Tay, and that nigga bad as hell. I know she be getting on his case, but when I'm over there, they both seem straight" he said, and I laughed, remembering how Tay Tay could get.

    "Tay Tay still acting up?" I asked, and Gemini nodded, "Man, hell yeah! That nigga don't listen. My grandma say he getting an attitude now because he eleven and shit... you know what they say about them preteen ages."

   I understood exactly what he meant. My dad felt the same way about Isis. She's changed a lot, and she and Tay Tay are around the same age - she's twelve, a year older than him, and very smart for her age.

    She gets her attitude from my dad, but he acts like he doesn't know that we get our feistiness from him. He doesn't know how to handle ours though - I applaud him for trying.

   Without me being the oldest, he'd be stuck on what to do with Isis when she gets into her random moods. I can only imagine what he went through when I was her age.

"Mhm, that's what my dad always says about Isis too. At this age, they can be a handful, but that's how they learn and grow. It'll fade off," I said, and he nodded in agreement.

   "You're right, it will. Enough about them tho, what's been going on with you?" he asked, changing the subject.

"You figure out which college you wanna go to yet, or what's our plan for prom?" he asked, making me laugh.

   "Wait, we prom? I thought you said you don't do prom" I replied, teasing him.

    I'd been trying to convince him to go to prom with me for a while, so it was shocking when he brought it up himself.

  "I don't, but you know I wanna go with you. Plus, no other nigga finna be taking you.. shit over my dead body"

    I burst out laughing. " Okay Gemini no, I haven't thought about prom yet, but I know I want to do a peach color - if you know what I mean."

"Like an orange-pinkish kind?" I shook my head, "Nah man they gone laugh at me in that color, but if that's the color you fucking with, I'll do it for you."

     A smile spread across my face.  I had him wrapped around my finger - he'd do anything I asked, even if it was something he'd never consider.

    All I had to do was put my take on it, and he'd go along with whatever I said, as long as it made sense to him.  "You for real?" I asked, looking into his eyes and brushing my hands against his chin.

"Hell yeah, if you want to wear that peach ass color, we wearing it girl" He placed his hands on my face, his eyes locked on mine. "You ain't answer my other question either."

"What about college?" I asked, and he nodded his head in response.

   "I haven't decided yet, you know I have a lot of options" I said, and it was true - I had been accepted into fifteen colleges and was still debating which ones to narrow it down to.

   I had options like UCLA, University of Iowa, Duke University, and more. But I wanted to stay closer to home, so the University of Iowa State was my top choice for now.

   Gemini nodded, messing with his hair, twisting the small curls around his fingers. "I feel you, I feel you, well whatever decision you do make, I know it'll be a good one. You're smart, Solem" he said, making me smile. "Thanks Gemini"

"You don't gotta thank me, that's what I'm supposed to say" he said with a smile.

   "You ready to go, though?" he asked, and I nodded, getting up from my seat. He followed behind me as we picked up our leftover food scraps and threw them away on the way out.