white-passing- jamal turner

seven

Oscar still hadn't gotten out of the bathroom yet, and Jasmine really had to go. My bladder was also on a timer, but I probably could hold it in. 

"Jamal, you can't turn the A/C up that high. You're gonna blow the power," Ruby said.

"I need to regulate my body temperature," Jamal said.

"I have to pee so bad, and I am sprouting major turtle head," Jasmine said, "Will someone tell Oscar to get out of the bathroom?"

"Not it!" I said.

"What kind of games you wanna play?" Ruby asked, "Words, pictures, cards?"

"How about a game that reveals your innermost feelings or secrets?" Olivia said. That wasn't gonna work, Jamal would burst.

"Or Ker plunk?" Jamal said.

"How about Smash Marry Kill?"

And then BOOM. The power went out.

"JAMAL!" We all said.

"I think that's a sign that we shouldn't play this game," Jamal said.

"Jamal, can I talk to you in the kitchen?" Ruby said.

A few minutes later, we lit some candles, sat at the kitchen table, and started the game. 

"Go, Ruby! We don't have all day," Monse said.

"Actually, we do. We're locked in," Jasmine said.

"I'm a gentleman. I make love, I don't smash," Ruby said.

"Well, then you're not doing it right because if you want a girl to bow, you gotta plow. Right, Olivia?" Jasmine said.

"Anyways! Make love, marry, kill."

"I'll go first," Monse said, "I'd kill Jasmine, I'd make love to Ruby, and then I'd marry Jamal."

"Why'd you make love to him and not me?!" Jamal said.

"We're married! We're having sex!"

"What about marital death bed?"

"Fine. I'm changing my answer. I'd make love to Jamal and marry  Ruby. Happy?"

"I am," Ruby said, "Because even though we're married, we're having sex, and a lot of it."

Oscar leaned against the wall and laughed.

"You wanna play?"

"Ok," he pointed to Jamal and Ruby, "Kill you, kill you."

He looked at Olivia and Monse, "Smash you, smash you."

He looked at me, "Your sister's hotter, but I'd still smash you."

I threw my hands up.

"Fine, smash you too," he said to Jasmine, "Then I'd kill you."

"Let's keep playing!" I said.

"Ok," Jamal said, "I'd marry AJ, Monse would be like a one-night thing, and I'd kill Jasmine."

"Ok, now it's starting to hurt," Jasmine said.

"I'd make love to Ruby," I said, "Marry Jamal, and since I'm not in the bestie power name, kill Jasmine."

"Ok, that was deserved," Jasmine said.

"I'd make love to Monse," Olivia said.

"Excuse me. Can you say that slower?" Ruby said.

"I'd make love to Monse," she said slower, making Ruby sigh, "I'd marry Ruby, and I'd kill Jasmine."

"All y'all can suck a bag of buttholes!"

Monse and Olivia started talking to each other, and I started listening when Olivia said, "Don't worry I'm not crushed unless you kiss like Cesar."

"You kissed Cesar?"

Uh oh. The cat's out of the bag.

"Yeah, on Halloween. But don't tell anyone, I don't want things to get weird."

The door opened, and there was Cesar. Out of breath.

Monse got up, "You kissed Olivia?!"

My eyes widened, knowing some shit was gonna go down. 

"Daaaaamn," Jasmine said.

Ruby and Monse both looked unhappy, and Jamal was just relieved that he wasn't the one to say it.

_____________________________________________

"IS IT TRUE?!" Ruby got up.

"It's true," Cesar said.

"You know they bonin', right?" Jasmine said to Olivia.

"Wait, is he the guy?" Olivia said.

"This isn't about me! It's about Ruby. He's in love with Olivia."

"Can we just appreciate the fact that for once, I was able to keep a secret?"

"You knew?" everyone said to Jamal, only for Jamal to look at me.

"AJ knew too!"

"What the hell, dude?!" I said.

Everyone was just yelling at each other, and in the mix, Monse called me a fake friend. 

I went home as soon as the lockdown was over, and now Ruby and Monse were mad at me. For what?! How was this my fault that Cesar couldn't keep it in his pants?!

Instead of eating dinner, I went straight to my room. I was too upset to eat or think about food.

Someone knocked on the door, but I just said, "Go away."

Izabel opened the door anyway.

"What's going on?" she said, "You never skip dinner."

"My friends suck," I said, "Cesar kissed this girl in our group who Ruby likes, and Monse has feelings for Cesar. And Cesar told me and Jamal and now everyone's mad at us because we knew."

"Oh, I'm sorry, babe," Izabel said, "It's not your fault. Or Jamal's."

"Also," I said, "Why did you lie about where you were last night?"

"What?"

"Oscar was with us during lockdown," I said, "Long story. But anyway, he told me to tell you he said thank you for last night. Explain."

Izabel sighed, "Ok. Look, it just happened. I went to go over there to yell at him and tell him how much I hate him and then next thing you know I'm naked in his bed three hours later."

"THREE HOURS?!!" I said, shaking my head, "Look, Izabel, why are you even wasting your time with him? He's a horrible person! Why is it that I should go after the nice guys but you shouldn't? You deserve better than him! You deserve someone who gives a shit about you!"

I waited for her to respond. To tell me to shut up, to scream at me, to do whatever. But she just started crying. And not just a few tears. She was pretty much sobbing.

"I can't," she said, breathing heavily, "AJ, I can't. I don't deserve better than him, either."

"What are you talking about?" I said, feeling so discouraged hearing her say that, "Of course, you do!"

She shook her head, "You guys don't know him like I know him. He has a good side. He does. It's just not something that everyone sees. Or.. anyone, really. The great times are great, but the bad times are sometimes more than I can handle. I don't know what I'm doing, AJ."

Izabel continued to cry, and I started crying too. It broke my heart to see her like this.

I didn't know what else to say, so we just sat on my bed, and I hugged her tightly. 

"I love you, irmã," I said.

"Love you too, irmãzinha," she said.