The Tribuo - 41. Part IV, chapter 13

- XIII -

Friday

RUSSEL

It was noon on Friday, and Brian and I were still in bed. We didn’t even think of getting up and going to school this morning. University seemed to be the least priority right now.

“Well,” he said into my hair, his arms wrapped around me, as if he was afraid that I would bolt the minute he let go of me. “At least I know that you are not going to cheat on me with a guy… All your research and stuff…”

“Oh, so I can cheat on you with a girl?” I turned around and looked at him.

“I’ll scratch your eyes out, bitch,” he said with a dead-serious expression.

I don’t remember the last time I laughed so hard. He cracked up as well.

“Dumbass,” I muttered finally, and he started running his mouth down my neck.

“By the way,” he said after I started nibbling on my own lip. “What was that nonsense about you kissing a gun?”

I winced.

“You weren’t supposed to hear that,” I said, and he raised his head. “I didn’t realize I was saying it out loud…”

“Tough,” he muttered. “Promise me something…”

“What?”

“Whatever happens, you are not going to do anything stupid…”

I propped myself on one elbow and looked at him with suspicion.

“Whatever happens…” I repeated. “Like what?”

“I don’t know,” he shrugged. “Shit happens.”

“Are you planning on something to…”

“No,” he interrupted me. “I am just saying. You never struck me as a suicidal type, but after you said that…”

“It was just a figure of speech,” I said, and he shrugged again.

“Just promise me.”

I looked at him, and this time neither of us smiled.

“Fine,” I said finally, and brushed his dark hair off his face. “I promise.”

“Okay,” he said simply and pulled me on top of him.

He ran his fingers down my back, and I shivered at his touch. We started kissing, and his slow tongue was driving me insane, when suddenly, someone breathed weakly:

“Oh, Jesus…”

It was really quiet, but it sounded like a gunshot. We froze on the spot. I turned my head very slowly, and there was his sister. She was leaning on the wall, blinking rapidly, her face changing colors every few seconds -- pink, white, yellow, back to pink.

“What the hell are you doing here?” Brian asked finally.

“Ack…” she said and walked away.

“Shit…” he muttered and briefly closed his eyes. “Remind me, please… Was I stoned when I gave her a key to our apartment?”

“No, you weren’t…” I sighed. “But you were babbling something about how her having an extra key 'just in case' was an awesome idea…”

“Ah,” he nodded. “I was drunk then… Well, I'd better go talk to her before she does something stupid.”

I watched him pull on his jeans, and decided to get up as well.

“I’ll go with you,” I said. “Gonna make coffee while you try to be coherent with your sister.”

“Hilarious,” he said seriously and pulled on his T-shirt.

We went into the kitchen, and there was Dana. She was holding a wet sponge, and was scrubbing the counter, her face so determined as if her life depended on how clean the damn counter was.

“Ummm…” I said and she looked at us. “I am going to… Umm… Make coffee now…”

She threw the sponge into the sink, washed her hands, and sat down.

“You know,” Brian said thoughtfully. “Some people ring the doorbell first, before barging into someone else’s apartment…”

“I figured you were at school,” she grimaced. “Today being a week day and all… I just stopped by to get the punch bowl, since you never gave it back to me…”

“Oh,” Brian frowned. “It’s here somewhere…But I am pretty sure it wouldn’t be in my bedroom,” he looked at her pointedly.

She shifted uncomfortably.

“Well, when I walked in, I saw that Russ’ door was broken…”

Ah yes, I forgot about that. The damn door was still hanging off its hinges.

“So then I walked farther, and I saw that your door was also broken… And then I didn’t see the door anymore,” she sighed. “What’s up with your doors, by the way?”

“Long story,” Brian muttered.

All of a sudden, Dana snorted as if she just thought of something funny. We both looked at her.

“You know…” she said finally. “I’ve been wondering about you two for a long time…”

“Shut up,” Brian winced.

“No, seriously… Now that my thinking skills are back to normal…”

Now it was Brian’s turn to snort. She narrowed her eyes at him.

“Don’t taunt me, little brother… How long has it been going on?”

“None of your business,” he grinned.

He rummaged through the dishes in one of the cabinets.

“Here,” he finally found the punch bowl and shoved it in Dana’s hands. “Get out now.”

“Hey!” she protested when he all but dragged her to the front door.

“And next time, ring the bell, will you? Or I’ll take the key back… Or better yet -- change the locks!”

“Fine, fine,” she laughed. “Six o’clock, Sunday night… Better be there!”

“We will,” he said, pushed her outside, and slammed the door shut.

“We might need to invest in a door chain,” I said, and he grumbled something in agreement.

When he pulled me towards himself by my jeans pockets, I almost protested, since coffee was nearly done. But then I thought, screw coffee, we could always go to Starbucks later.