"Unbelievable!" Wade praises us and we are totally pumped, hyped up.
I see JC reach for his phone as it lights up. "Hello? Oh, hey." He releases a huge laugh. "You can't reach him other than his email and through one of us. He threw it against the wall and turned into shrapnel. Down side? Besides that! He almost killed Lance." He holds the phone out to me, looking at me like I'm dead.
I grab it and putting it to my ear, my eyes never leaving his. "Hey, JazzBean."
"Timbs, what's up with the phone smashing shit?" she asks with curious tone.
"My cousin threatened you and it's because of something Caylei assumed." I watch JC walk over to the other three guys and Wade.
"Oh, really? What would that have been?"
"That you're messing around with her boyfriend."
She chortles and I smile, knowing that laugh just debunked any second guessing I had about the accusations. "No! If he were single, it wouldn't matter and that's the only way I'd do that."
I make sure nobody is right there next to me or within ear shot. "Or if you're drunk."
"I was buzzed. You shot me down either way."
"Because I'm faithful."
"But is she?"
"I'm not sure."
"You better check that shit." I hear Kevin scold her for cursing, saying he let the first time slide.
"I would if I could."
"Where there's a will, there's always a way."
"I know that, but how?"
"I have no idea, figure it out."
"Are you on your cell again with someone?" Fatima chastises her.
"Fuck!"
"You are on lock down until further notice!" Fatima screams at Jazz.
"What?!"
"No cell phone, no calls, no internet. The only people you can call are Roy and Karen. You need to focus. You can play video games with the Boys all you want, if they're playing. You can go where they do."
Jazz groans audibly, her wordless way of bitching. "But 'Tima!" she whines, stomping her size 7 1/2 feet.
"Say good bye, hang up and hand it over, now!"
"Sorry, got to go," she sadly informs me.
"Call when you get off lockdown," I tell her, trying my hardest not to laugh and failing miserably when a chuckle seeps into the words I just said.
"Fuck yourself," she says, her drawl coming back a bit. "Tell Oshai," she says as I put it on speaker for her to tell him herself, "that I love his overbearing and overprotective big brother self."
"Love you too, Oshannie!" he shouts.
"You prick! I'm on speaker!"
"Love you! Talk to you soon!"
"Yeah, bye. Love you guys!"
The next 15 minutes are a blur, my mind racing as I wonder how to deal with the indefinite time between the phone call I just had with her and the next one. "Justin," Lance calls with an irritation in his voice.
"Yeah?" I respond, finally looking at him and not through him.
"We need to rehearse and you're off in never never land."
JC and Chris are glaring at me, upset about it.
"Sorry, guys. I'm just wondering how long it's going to be until we can talk to her again."
"You know damn well she's going to find a way to talk to one of us," JC reminds us.
"More of a chance of it being you or Lance than me," I say, pouting.
"You know she's going to text you somehow."
"C, you know how Fatima is."
"Worse than Caylei."
"So, how is she going to accomplish getting a chance at calling or texting us?" I question.
"She's resourceful and has her ways," Lance admits.
~~~~~
We sit down in the game room and play 'Mario World 64', taking turns when we die or complete a level. "Aww, c'mon, JC!" I yell, playfully shoving him. "That's the fifth time you died on the same level!"
"I'm not good at this kind of game!" he argues.
"We know. Lance can't play fighting games to save his life and you can't play this kind. What are you good at?" Chris asks, becoming increasingly agitated.
"Driving," they both answer instantly and laugh.
"Mario Kart 64 or Diddy Kong Racing?" Joey asks.
"Diddy," Chris and I agree.
"Mario," Lance requests.
"Does it matter?" JC inquires.
Four sets of eyes (mine included) focus on Joe and we wait for his answer. "I prefer Mario," he says with a shrug.
"Jace, you're the tie breaker vote," Chris informs us.
He hangs his head and thinks for a minute. "Mario then Diddy," he announces, encouraging a compromise.
We agree it's fair and jump into the races, two of us playing at a time.
"I'm kicking your ass, Fatone!" JC says, excitedly. He's a quarter of a lap ahead of Joey and is no fun. I play the winner and I hope it's JC. "WHOO! I win, uh-huh." He does his MJ victory dance.
"You're a dork," I mutter, the other guys laughing. "Sit and play, watch me kick your ass all over these tracks!" I declare.
He sits back down, grabs his controller and gets into it again as we set it up. "Bring it, kid."
"They're off!" Chris begins to narrate. "Justin in the lead, no, JC, no, Justin. Timberlake seems to be in the zone, ready to prove who's best at this set of races. I see-"
"Shut up, Chris," Lance and Joey tell him calmly.
"Sorry."
Two laps later, we're seconds away from the finish line in the fourth race and have been almost neck and neck the whole time. I get a super mushroom and hit the boost, getting across the line around 3 seconds before him. "See? I've had my ass handed to me so many times that I learned all the tricks and I watched enough to learn things I didn't know about. So, I know a couple people who can beat me at it," I confess, being calm about it.
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