Page 86 of Hot Four Teacher
“Yeah, yeah.” She punches me in the arm. “You love me, and you know it.”
“You’re my sister. I’m obligated to.”
She rolls her eyes and keeps icing cupcakes.
“Where’s Mark?” I ask. “Did he finally get sick of you?”
“He went to grab ice. For your information, he thinks I’m an absolute delight.”
I love giving Jenny crap. She makes it so easy.
Before our conversation can go any further, our dad walks in with Ashley in his arms.
“Grandpa’s here!” Ashley announces.
Dad nods. “The party can officially begin.”
Ashley claps. “Yay!”
I lean over and mutter to Jenny. “Does she realize this isherbirthday and not a party for grandpa?”
She whispers back, “Anything concerning Grandpa is a party to her.”
Louder now, she asks, “How are you doing, Dad?”
“Well, I’m not dead or laid up in a hospital bed, so I guess that means it’s a good day.”
“That’s a great way to look at it,” I say while Jenny purses her lips together in annoyance.
She says, “Ashley, why don’t you go in your room and find all those pictures you colored for Grandpa?”
“How come I never get any pictures?” I ask.
Dad looks at me. “Because you’re not Grandpa.”
He sets Ashley down, and she scurries off toher bedroom.
Dad walks over to a kitchen drawer, grabs a spoon, and comes to dip it in the bowl of icing.
Jenny shoots me a look, silently telling me that she’s wanting to have this awkward conversation with him.
“Now?” I mouth.
She nods.
I do a weird gesture, telling her to go first. After all, she’s the one who wanted to do this whole song and dance. Not me.
Dad takes a seat on a stool on the other side of the counter. “Why don’t you two tell me what’s going on?”
“What do you mean?” I ask.
“You two look like the cat who ate the fucking canary. You have the same looks you had when one of you scratched my mustang but acted like neither of you knew anything about it.”
Jenny and I exchange a look but don’t comment on the second part of his statement at all. What happened to the mustang is a secret she and I will take to our graves.
Jenny instead gets to the topic she wanted to discuss. “I wanted to talk to you about the other day…when I came to see you.”
He sets the spoon down. “Yeah, I’m going to pass.”
