"It's 'cause of you, I have this accent that goes over so well in the Asian-American Advocacy Consortium at school."
"Hell, don't put that one on me. Your accent is stronger than mine is and you know it."
"I know it, but you always turn so lovely pink when I tease you. I could charge admission and show off the Great Glowing Boy." Thuy started laughing. "See! See! You're a light bulb," she declared and started singing the tune to Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer.
"Good to see this hasn't changed."
"I'm always here to help, Jake."
"Not enough," I thought then realized I'd said it out loud.
Thuy got quiet suddenly. "That's not fair."
"I didn't mean anything. It was just a thought that got out."
Suddenly, Thuy was standing and staring past me. I followed her eyes to discover my mother walking towards us. She embraced Thuy and hugged her tight. "I'm glad to see you again, Jennifer."
"Thanks, Mrs. B."
"How was school?"
"It's over for a week or two, so it's good."
"I'm glad to see you around. You've always been a part of our family, you know."
"I'm not going anywhere," she said with a look to me.
My mother turned to me. "And I'm glad to see the basketball still works."
"Umm – yeah, it still goes in the basket. Funny, that." I tried to give a look to Thuy but she seemed to be hiding her face behind her hair.
"Jacob, I'm gone. I'll see you on Monday," Mom said quickly.
"Monday? Where are you going?"
"My getaway at the cabin. I'll take the cell but if you call me with both legs attached, I'm gonna come after you."
"I don't remember this."
"That's 'cause you never listen to a word I say."
"Isn't it too late to drive that far?"
"It's not past 3:00, Jake." She kissed Thuy's cheek. "Good to see you again, Jen." As she got in the car, she called out, "Keep him out of trouble."
"I wonder what she my mom thinks we are going to do?"
"Drugs."
"Oh, yeah."
"Did you bring the crack pipe?"
"Left it at school."
"That's too bad."
"Yeah."
"You know you should get it fixed."
"The crack pipe?"
"Yeah."
"I'm embarrassed that I heard that."
"It was a stretch, I'll admit."
"Oh, Jake, there's this guy in my dorm that hangs out with the crew sometimes. Worst forced jokes ever. Ever."
"Let's go inside."
"Yeah, OK." She talked as I held the door for her. "You've no idea how bad it is. He'd try to make a joke after a documentary on Human Trafficking or something. No sense of appropriateness."
"You should tell him so."
"We do! I do! We've thrown things at him. He thinks he's our court jester or something."
"Maybe if you threw sharp objects, he'd get the point."
"That's overkill, don't you think?" We both paused and grinned at each other.
"Oh my god, I'm embarrassed for you."
Thuy fell on the sofa in the living room with me on my beanbag chair just as it had always been.
--
"It's eight o'clock, Thuy."
She glanced at the clock. "I'm gonna go tell my mother I won't be back for dinner."
"I'll order a pizza."
Thuy didn't turn around as she left, she just yelled back, "No, we're going out."
Going out? When was the last time the two of us went out? I ducked into the shower while Thuy was out.
About five minutes later I was buttoning my khakis, when I heard, "Jake, get this--" and Thuy turned the corner into my bedroom. For no good reason, I felt a little embarrassed with no shoes or shirt and my brown hair still dripping water down my skin. "Oh. Sorry, I--" Thuy started. Was she a bit embarrassed herself?
"Naw, it's OK."
"I didn't realize. I'll just--"
"It's OK, Thuy," I insisted. "It's not like we never went swimming before."
"OK, uh..." she seemed confused. "Jake, hun, have you been working out?"
"Very funny."
"No, seriously," she paused for a second. "Jake, you turned into a hottie!"
"Go away." I went into the bathroom to comb my hair.
She appeared in the doorway and looked at me again. "Why won't you confess to working out?"
"Because I don't."
"Ok, ok." I chose a dark gray long sleeve and pulled it over my head. "So that's from the moving job? I'm going to tell my future boyfriends to become movers."
I did know I was lifting things easier now than when I started. Did it actually show? I wanted to flex to see if there was any change but remembered Thuy was watching.
"So, what did your mom say?"
"Get this." She handed me a note in Vietnamese. I had taught myself a little bit two or three years back for some unknown reason, but all I could make out was her name, Tuesday, aunt, and a little more.
"What's the bit on the second line?"
"I had to think about that for a second, too. So basically, she's gone to help my aunt who's nursing my uncle. She'll be in Nashville until Tuesday. I called her, but all she said was that everyone was fine, she shouldn't talk on the highway, despite the fact that that is all she does, and to stay safe. And say hello. Oh, and she was somewhere around Jackson, Tennessee. That means she left 15 minutes after we said hello."
"That's a bit weird."
"Yeah, and since my dad gets back in town on Thursday, it's just me."
"Guess we'll rent some movies or something."
"Guess so. Look, you are too well dressed for me now. I'm going to go change. Meet me in the driveway."
I found some socks and shoes and headed out. The night was a little cool with not a cloud, letting the whole sky sparkle softly. Not even the moon dared challenge the stars tonight. I gazed upwards slowly naming the constellations and stars that I knew until I felt a poke in the ribs.
My eyes traveled down to find Thuy standing next to me also looking at the stars above. She wore a simple black dress with thin straps and a plunging neckline and back. The dress fell at an angle across her legs from mid-calf on one side to just above the knee on the other. A thin gold plate necklace lay around her slender neck and something small sparkled in her ears, reflecting the light of the streetlamps and the stars.
My best friend was beautiful.
Since I was six feet and she was five-foot-two, my eyes kept falling down her chest where I could see white cups supporting her breasts. When I realized where I was staring, I tried to look up at the stars and not at her.
"Did you watch the Leonids this year?" she asked me.
When we were in the seventh grade, Thuy had done a report on meteors and the Leonids meteor shower. We had snuck out of our windows at one in the morning that night to lie on the grass watching the stars fall.
"Not this year," I told her. I wanted to say something. About how she looked. About how beautiful she was.
"It was a good display."
"Too bad I missed it."
"Veejay and I drove out to this hillside to watch it, but too many lights in the area really." I don't know why but I felt a lump in my throat.
"How's he doing?"
"Fine, I think. We broke up about a month ago."
"I'm sorry, Thuy. I know you liked him. He always sounded decent when you messaged about him. Not a slimeball anyway."
"Yeah, he's a good guy, but it wasn't there. Neither of us was devastated when it ended."
"Hey now that you are back on the market, you will find someone else that gets your blood pumping."
"Gets my panties wet, you mean."
I laughed. "If that's your thing."
"Of course, it's my thing. I can get horny too even if I haven't consummated."
"I want to hear more about this horny thing you've got going."
"Uh-huh. I 'm sure you do."
"Tell me, tell me."
She threw a devilish smile at me and said, "Well, let's go eat and I will tell you all about the Yummies that get me going."
Thuy drove and did tell me of all her prospects. There was the tall Brazilian soccer player with long muscles who was all over her, and she wouldn't mind if he had been all over her, if he had ever bothered to care if she was dating someone else or not.
"Don't you worry that if he doesn't care whether or not you're dating now that he won't care when he's dating you?"
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