Page 12 of Trust Issues
“Down girl. No need to overreact.” I ignored her fussing and held the door open for her. Mark looked at us and shook his head.
“She’s such a ray of sunshine,” he mused sarcastically. I laughed and nodded.
“Isn’t she though?” I let the doors close and followed Kyle to the spread of green turf behind our building. It was a closed-in space just for dogs. Since nobody else was out there but us, Kyle let Barkley off the leash to run around and play for a while.
“See, there’s nobody out here, Max. You didn’t have to escort me.”
“But I did and now we’re here. Feel free to chase your own tail to kill some time waiting for Barks.” She flipped me off and sat on a nearby bench to watch Barkley.
“So, you’re really not serious about your date?” Kyle asked once I sat beside her.
“Not particularly. Why? You want to date her when I’m done?”
“Ugh. I wish I were attracted to women. Unfortunately, I’m attracted to men no matter what.” She was actually pouting. It made me laugh a little. She leaned back and crossed her toned legs. They were made of long umber strokes that I found hard to ignore. Her yellow shorts became little more than a swatch of thin fabric hidden by her thighs.
“You can’t be attracted to real men. You’ve never made a pass at me.”
“You’re absolutely ridiculous, you know that?” She stood up and went behind Barkley cleaning up after him then she clipped his leash on and looked at me like it was time to go. So I stood up and we walked back into the building.
“It sure took Barkley a long time to go to the bathroom,” Cadence said in a sing-song voice when Kyle and I walked back into her apartment.
“What exactly are you implying?” Kyle asked, resting a hand on her hip.
“Oh, nothing.” She was lying. I had a sixth sense that told me when someone was lying but I didn’t even need to use it to see Cadence was full of it. “I was just wondering if you two have ever been in a relationship.” She pointed between Kyle and me. All the tiny hairs on the back of my forearms stood up. It was probably the intense dislike for Kyle I had bottled up inside.
“No,” we both barked out in unison.
“And that, ladies, is my cue to go. Troll, Netflix tonight?” I asked.
“Bite me and yes. Later.” She smiled at me.
I said goodbye to Naima and Cadence then went across the hall to my apartment. “What’s up, Max?” I walked in and was immediately greeted by my taller-than-me-by-two-inches little brother, Owen. He was in my kitchen, at the table, on the computer ordering car parts. That wouldn’t have been a problem if he actually lived with me instead of living across the fucking street.
“Verizon in danger of cutting off your wi-fi again, Owen?”
“Man, you get two months behind on your bill and they cut you off. If they fuck up and have an outage you think I get reimbursed for the business I missed out on? No. That’s why the internet should be free.” He went off on a tangent as usual and it annoyed me so I walked right past him and into my bedroom.
“Hey um, you need some more toilet paper, Max.” Owen poked his head in my room and I glared at him.
“I have an entire twenty pack of toilet paper in my linen closet. There’s no way you’re full of that much shit,” I remarked.
“Well, things are kinda tight money wise. So now I have a twenty pack of toilet paper for my apartment. You’re an accountant. You can conjure up some money and get more, right?” He chuckled on his way back to the kitchen.
Once again, I ignored him. I loved my little brother but he was the goddamn poster boy for irresponsibility. I helped him budget money so he could open up his own mechanic business. I even showed him how to save so he could get an apartment. You think he remembered anything I taught him?
Fuck no.
His business was doing well but you wouldn’t know it based on the way he let money fly out of his damn wallet. Owen was the baby of the family though and we all—my parents included—were responsible for doing things for him so we could get on with our lives. It made everything easier. One day, he was going to have to do things for himself though. I was almost ready to call Nathaniel, my oldest brother, to come get him but I hadn’t voluntarily spoken to him in two years so that shit was out of the question completely.
Instead, I called my parents.
“Ma, you have to do something about your other son. I’m tired of him freeloading even though I’ve shown him how to properly save. He thinks I’m supposed to do it for him. Now he’s over here stealing my toilet paper, using my internet and God knows what else.”
“Maxwell, you can always change the lock or stop letting him come over freely.” Her voice was so sweet and calm but I could hear her holding back laughter on her end. I pictured her deep-brown, sun-kissed face with a smile pushing her full cheeks up. She thought it was hilarious that Owen lived across the street from me and I was the one who had to deal with him most of the time.
“Or, you could put on your mom voice and demand he stops waltzing in here like he pays rent. If I do it he’s not going to listen.”
“Look, I raised that boy for twenty-one years. He wanted to live across the street from you. Not me.”
