When we come back outside, AJ is bound on the couch with a sock stuffed in his mouth. He seems oddly calm, though he's struggling to get his hands free. On the opposite side of the room, Claire and Reina are arguing over who gets all the stuff they just emptied out of AJ's pockets.
"I brought him down so I should get the $20," Claire says, and I can see she's genuinely invested. Reina puts a firm hand on top of the cash. It's crazy how much she looks like Dom, though her features are much softer. She even has the same cheeky smirk on her face. Something about it makes me smile. She ponders over Claire's response for all of five seconds before she's ready to respond.
"Well, I'll need the money to help pay off student loans in 5 years' time," She says, crossing her arms and leaning back into the chair for dramatic effect. Dom scoffs from beside me and tosses a pillow at Reina.
"What do you know about student loans? You're a trust fund baby." Dominic says, walking over to AJ, pinning him down, and casually sitting on top of him. AJ screams in protest, but Dom ignores him, wriggling downward for emphasis. AJ looks at me desperately and I move over to try to free him. Dom playfully pushes me away, but finally lets me move in closer to AJ, not letting me untie his hands, but letting me untie the sock around his mouth.
"You have about 15 seconds before I unleash a nuclear bomb and I'm taking your girl down first" AJ yells, now putting all of his manpower into trying to get Dominic off of him. He succeeds well enough to flip Dominic over and get on top.
"Untie me, Lungi! Quickly!" AJ yells, and I do as ordered.
"Traitor!"Dominic yells in response before the chaos erupts. The moment AJ's hands are free Dom and he starts wrestling and I have to move out the way to avoid getting smacked. AJ has the advantage on Dom for all of 15 seconds before Dom takes back control. It was really never much of a fight and not before long AJ is under Dom again wailing to be freed.
"Surrender to me," Dom says, in an exaggerated comic book villain voice. He follows it with a maniacal laugh that is unbelievably infectious.
"I surrender. "
"Say it properly. Just like the old days"
"Fine! I surrender to you Supreme Ruler of the Universe. Now get the fuck off of me." Dominic lets out a satisfied grin before he roles off of AJ and nonchalantly dusts himself off. He reaches a hand out for me to come closer to him again and we snuggle up on the couch.
"Reina, you were saying something about student loans?" I say, trying to win some points over with her by taking the focus back on her and Claire's exchange. Reina shoots me a suspicious look before she continues.
"I was saying that we're all victims to the capitalist machine. Even trust fund babies aren't immune to student debt," she says, earning some murmurs of agreement from her brothers.
"Fair point. A rebuttal, loca?" Dominic asks Claire. She looks up with a tired and tearful look in her eyes.
"My boyfriend only calls himself my boyfriend when he's wasted. 20 dollars is just the right amount to buy his love." The silence that follows is unbearable and it's only relieved by AJ's awkward laughter.
"Jesus Claire that's some dark shit."
"Yeah. I think Claire's the winner here enana," Dom says, taking the money off the table and handing it to Claire. She does a small mock bow before pocketing the cash.
"You know," AJ says moving closer to Claire, "I was gonna make a lame excuse about needing more bud, but umm yeah shit Claire that's really fucking depressing. You okay?"
"Absolutely peachy. I'll take you up on that offer of bud though." She says standing up and waving a joint and a lighter she had in her pocket.
YOU ARE READING
The Sound of Summer
Teen FictionLungi Zwane, fresh out of high-school, begins the "best summer of her life" in the worst way possible: having to say goodbye to the one person she thought would be with her through it all. To make matters worse, everyone in her life seems to be keep...
