Jhondie

Jhondie

Justin didn't notice when I took out both the bowls of yum-yum. I had brought two so that we could have some with dinner, and then his dad and the twins would have plenty for later. Justin had been helping Bryan bring some stuff in earlier and Brit whispered to me that everyone would stay for hours talking. I could handle dinner. I was not going to be pleasant to that nasty hose-hound for too much longer. Drastic action was going to be required, and luckily my little Manticore mind was built for speed and tactical maneuvers. It was just a matter of timing, and I had always been good at timing my moves just right.

I knew that Denise wasn't going to be able to stay still for long. She wasn't capable of it. Sometimes the best tactic is to lie low and scope out the situation, but she didn't know how to strategize properly. She'd gotten nailed hard, but couldn't go all psycho during dinner. She was trying to impress everyone and be the perfect girl. I was sick of it, and if she displayed herself in front of my boyfriend again, she was going to be the perfect dead girl.

While Justin had his back turned, I whispered a few instructions to Brit. Her eyes widened, and she looked at me with new respect. Her father and brother were trying to control her tendencies for mischievousness, and here I was coming up with something that would drive them nuts. She was so pleased.

Brit practically bounced back into the dining room. She was muttering, but I could hear what she was saying. I could almost see the nauseated look on her face as she muttered about how disgustingly cute Justin and I were being. She picked up the dishes and bounced back into the kitchen. I was grinning while I finished slicing the pumpkin pie. Brit was waiting for my signal.

I heard Mrs. Alvarez start to get up and say she was going to see if we needed any help, but then Denise jumped up first and said she would go and "get those two little lovebirds moving". How cute. She was going to have to be the mature one. Bitch.

I nodded at Brit who grabbed the yum-yum and headed for the door. The connecting door swung both ways, and it flew open just as Brit got there. She stumbled forward a step, like her weight had been against the door, and suddenly she was holding a mostly empty bowl.

Denise stood there for a moment numbly. Yum-Yum is basically a mix of cream cheese, whipped cream, graham crackers, and cherry pie filling. The whipped cream slid down Denise's hair, while the cleavage she had so flagrantly displayed was filled with cherry filling. The final insult was a glob of a mix of everything that slid off of her chest, down the front of her cream-colored dress, and landed with an audible plop on the toes of her designer pumps.

Her eyes opened and for a moment locked with mine. The fury that glittered in those emerald eyes would have scared most people, but I met them levelly. Don't play with me little girl. You've no idea what I am capable of. This was just a cute way of asking you to leave. Next time, I won't be so nice. That wasn't a threat. It was a promise.

Justin

For a moment I wasn't sure if I was going to fall to the ground laughing or ducking for cover as a blob of the yum-yum fell down the front of Denise's dress (one that had been a favorite of mine) and landed on her shoes. She knew damn well that Jhondie had planned this. The look she shot Jhondie was nothing short of murderous, and I knew that Jhondie's cool smirk just made her madder.

Brit broke the moment of tension with a loud wail. "Oh my God!" she cried out, looking terribly distressed. Faker. "I'm so sorry! You opened the door, and…and…." She looked like she was about to burst into tears. And the Oscar goes to…

Everyone in the dining room was jumping up now and coming over to help Denise. I could tell Dad and Bryan were on the verge of laughter, but they knew better. Nana took one look at Jhondie, who by that time managed to look very concerned and was coming over with some hand towels, and Nana knew Jhondie had masterminded it. Nana was good at knowing stuff like that. Mr. O'Malley had this expression like the sky had fallen, and Mitch…well; Mitch only had one thing to say.

"Sissy, you're filthy!" he declared in all his dense glory. That broke it for Denise.

"I know I'm filthy!" she shrieked, sobbing piteously. Tears were clearing tracks down through the cream cheese and whipped cream on her face, catching the graham crackers like boulders in a river. I was biting my lip to keep from laughing.

Jhondie held out a towel that was rudely snatched from her hands. Denise wiped her face, looked at the mess, and almost started wailing. Her lips were trembling, and for once I didn't think it was just for effect. She had been totally floored that Jhondie would do such a thing. It was something she would have done, and I could only guess that she didn't think there was anyone who could get as low-down nasty as she could.

"Umm…umm…"Dad stumbled, trying to keep an explosion from happening. He'd lived through a Denise rampage. It wasn't something you ever wanted to see twice in a lifetime. We'd been through many. "Maybe you can go to the bathroom and clean up and, umm…Jhondie, you have some spare things here?" The moment he said Jhondie's name, I knew what he was going to say, but it was too late to stop him. Oh hell.

"I do," she said innocently, eyeing Denise, "but I don't think I have anything large enough."

The sudden outrage shut Denise's tears off like a faucet. Denise was a few inches taller than Jhondie, and maybe ten pounds heavier. She was probably just a size larger, but the insult was ice cold. Jhondie sounded so concerned, Mr. O'Malley didn't get it, but Denise sure as hell did.

"Daddy," Denise said slowly, with trembling dignity, "I want to go home now."

"Of course, sweetheart," he said quickly. He went to put his arm around her, but stopped himself. I guess being his daughter wasn't enough to get him to touch that sticky mess. I wished that three years before I had known she was a sticky mess then too. I might have kept my hands off then. Maybe not. I wasn't very bright back then.

It didn't take long to get them out of the house. I ran upstairs and got a couple of towels for Denise to sit on in the car. She was sniffling again. Jhondie and Brit were behind everyone, and as I went upstairs, I glanced back at them, and saw Brit give Jhondie a low five behind Jhondie's back. I had to stifle a groan. They were going to be like that now? That might be more frightening than Denise herself.

Brittany had adopted Jhondie as her sister the second Saturday of September. How could I possibly know that it was the exact date? That was the day that Dad had to take out a new client, so I couldn't reach him, and then that afternoon, Bryan came downstairs and announced that Brit had locked herself in the bathroom and was crying. I spent twenty minutes outside the door, trying to calm her down, find out what was wrong, and figure out what to do next. Calmness, sympathy, threats, nothing was working, and all she was doing was screaming at me to go away and leave her alone. Bloody hell, what was the matter with her?

Jhondie called to ask me if we were still on for that night. I told her the situation, and asked her if she had any idea what was wrong. There was a slight pause, and then I heard Jhondie call out, "Mom, an eleven year old girl is locked in the bathroom, crying hysterically, and being mean to her brother, any ideas?" I couldn't hear what Mrs. Harris said, but then Jhondie started to laugh. This was not funny.

"Justin," she giggled. "Umm…do you know if she's started yet?"

"Started?" I snapped. "She's been in there for almost half an hour!" Now Jhondie was laughing even harder. What was so damn funny?

"Has she had a period before?" she finally got out. I felt my body turn to ice. Oh God. No. I was not alone with my baby sister, and she was…ah, hell, that was a girl thing, what was I supposed to do now? All I could think of was a line from a pre-Pulse movie "Miss Scawlett, I don't know nuthin about birthin no babies!"

"Get over here now," I whispered. "You can talk to her or something." That cut Jhondie's laughter off cold.

"About what?" she asked seriously.

"Girl stuff!" I almost shouted. I lowered my voice. "I don't know…whatever it is that moms or older sisters are supposed to say to a girl when she…when she…"

"Me help her?" she interrupted, lowering her voice, "like I know what it's like. If she was in heat, I could help, but I don't know anything about this!" She sounded like she was about to panic.

"Jhon, I'm begging you," I pleaded. "You've got to know more than me…you have a sister that's been through this right?" She sighed. Ha! I had her there. She promised to be over soon, and we hung up. I told Bryan the suspicion. He paled. We waited.

Jhondie came over quickly, and went upstairs. I wasn't about to follow. It was like there was a rabid wolf in the bathroom or something. I heard her knock on the door, and let Brit know she was there. There was a creak of the door opening.

Being in the bathroom now, getting the towels for Denise, I shivered at the memory. Sure, Jhondie and Brit had really bonded, but now I was seeing the cost. I never asked what Jhon said to her in the bathroom, but the things that she made me do…I never thought I would do it for any woman. I made Bryan do it too, kind of like a rite of manhood or something. When we completed our mission, they were sisters of some kind then. It was scary, I say. Very, very scary.

Survive a few more hours, I ordered myself. Denise was gone, that was good. Jhondie was being very nice to Nana, which was even better. Jhondie was with Brit. I needed to get back down there quickly. I was once told that the universe always balances. If you have a good day, it must balance out a bad one. I was getting my balance for yesterday, I could see that now. If I could survive the rest of the evening without pharmaceutical help, I would count myself as doing very, very good.