"Jim, are you alright in there?" Brad tapped the door nervously, not knowing what to expect. His nerves fizzled once the door opened and his cousin, who he looked at like a brother, greeted him the same way he had for years.
"B-Rad! What's up cuz?" The two embraced and gave each other one of those complicated handshakes that only young men seem to be capable of.
"Hey man, everybody's waiting on you out there. You need to go shake hands and kiss babies so we can get out of here ASAP." Jimmy laughed; Brad always had a unique way of expressing himself.
"Where are we going?" Brad rolled his eyes and shook his head.
"Jimmy, you're slipping dude. You know better than to ask questions before a mission. Come on Team Canada." Before Brad could finish his rant, Kevin and Smith were pounding on the door. Kevin, the mouthpiece of the group, walked in talking trash.
"Are you guys done making out? There are people waiting to see Jimmy, and I have chicks waiting to see me once we leave this touching reunion." Jimmy grabbed a small pillow and launched it towards Kevin's face.
Smith was as tactless as Kevin, saying "It's good to see you man, but we are on a bit of a time limit here. We don't have much time before we put your wheels to the test." Jimmy looked confused, prompting Smith to continue. "Come on J, we need to find out how many ladies we can pull using the sympathy card. Don't act like you haven't thought of it."
Jimmy's face was neutral. He and his cousins shared the same off-brand humor but he wasn't that comfortable with his disability yet. Brad intervened. "Don't pay him any attention, he was born ignorant." Jimmy chuckled in agreement, visibly relaxing. "You're right. He's always had asshole tendencies. Let's get this dinner thing over with so we can dip." Brad waited until Jimmy pushed ahead of them and then elbowed Smith, scolding him under his breath.
The dinner went rather smoothly. Everyone was happy to see Jimmy and Deborah, and they tolerated Darius. Once dinner was over, Brad told his aunts of their "plans" to go to the mall and the movies. Jimmy went to retrieve his backpack, making sure he had all the necessities, including a change of clothes. Kevin and Smith took on the task of moving cars so that Jimmy wouldn't have to navigate to the top of the steep incline where they'd parked. Deborah took Brad aside once his cousins had dispersed. "Keep an eye on Jimmy for me honey." Brad had planned on doing so and answered with an earnest, "Yes ma'am."
The four boys piled into Kevin's black Audi A3 and sped off into the night. Two hours later, Jimmy found himself stranded on a couch in the living room of the family's ranch (located in the middle of nowhere) while Smith played around in his chair. Brad looked occupied by the dark brown beauty standing next to him. Kevin had taken on double duty as bartender and DJ of what was turning into a large party.
Jimmy was a little nervous about Smith having his chair but relieved (temporarily) that he could avoid the awkwardness that it so benevolently bestowed upon him. He wondered how long his cousin planned on keeping up the charade. His thoughts were interrupted by a sweetly drawled, "You must not be from 'round here." The words belonged to a cute, curvy girl with cocoa colored skin and a dazzling smile.
"You're right. I'm from Toronto. How'd you guess?"
She looked Jimmy up and down, with a mischievous glint in her eye. "It's your shoes. Those are Kanye's Louis Vuitton sneakers, they haven't been released here."
Jimmy was impressed. Not only was she gorgeous, but she appreciated his shoe game. "Wow, I would never expected a girly girl to be up on the latest kicks."
She smiled, and sat down on the couch. "Don't let these heels fool you. I'm Sasha, by the way."
"Sasha, that's a very pretty name. I'm Jimmy."
"Okay…Jimmy from Toronto. How'd you end up at a ranch in Memphis?"
"I'm in town visiting family. My grandparents used to live in this house but I guess my cousins use it as a hang out spot now."
"You're related to the Terrible Three?" Sasha's eyes widened and she shook her head in disgust.
Jimmy chuckled. "Are they that bad?"
"I don't mean to talk about your family, but your cousins are somethin' else. When I pulled up, Smith's crazy behind was doing stunts in a wheelchair. "
"What kind of stunts?"
"You ever watch Jackass?"
Jimmy groaned internally. He was going to have to get his chair back before Smith did some real damage. Unfortunately, his other two cousins seemed to have disappeared within the few minutes he'd spent with Sasha. "Seriously?"
"I'm sure he's still at it. Do you wanna go see?"
"I'd rather not, and even if I wanted to, I couldn't." Sasha gave him a puzzled look. "That's my wheelchair."
"OMG! Let me go get him before he breaks it!" In less than five minutes, Jimmy was back in his chair and Smith was apologizing profusely while Sasha looked on with satisfaction. Happy to be mobile again, Jimmy headed outside to get some air. He motioned for Sasha to follow. It was beautiful outside. The stars were bright in the summer sky and a gentle breeze made the balmy night perfect. Sasha looked around dreamily, her eyes finally settling on Jimmy. He flashed that million dollar smile of his and cleared his throat. "It's really nice out here. When did they start using the ranch for parties?"
"This is the first party they've had. Luison Ranch is typically off limits so I'm guessing they went all out for you."
"They'd better not blame this on me. My grandma would flip."
"Mama Luison is crazy about her grandsons, and everyone knows it. And being that you're the cutest, I doubt she'd stay mad for long."
Jimmy blushed, playing nervously with the hem of his shirt. "So you think I'm cute?"
"Yeah, you're alright for a Canadian Creole wearing fancy sneakers."
"Creole…how do you know I'm Creole?"
"Besides the curly hair, fair skin, and French last name? My sister dates Brad…so I know lots of useless facts about La Famille Luison."
"Well since you know so much about me, it's only fair that I get to know you." It was Sasha's turn to blush. She suddenly became engrossed with twirling two strands of her long, thick hair. Jimmy never got to ask her that first question because Kevin came running outside, panic stricken. "Kev what's up man?"
"Party's over. Someone snitched and my mom's on her way out here! We gotta go!" Kevin started pushing Jimmy towards the car.
"Stop Kevin! I got it!" Kevin stopped and put his hands up in surrender. Jimmy whipped around to face him, forgetting Sasha's presence until she spoke up.
"Guys, why don't we move the party to my place?"
Kevin responded, "That's cool. I just wanted to let Jim get in the car before things get crazy. You can let everyone know the party's shifting and we'll meet you over there in about 20 minutes."
Sasha's eyebrow shot up, and a small smirk played on her face as she noticed Jimmy's irritation. "Well, if you don't mind Jimmy, you and I can ride over to my place while they clear the ranch."
Jimmy couldn't object to thought of spending more time with Sasha. "That works for me. Kev?"
Kevin grunted in agreement and ran back into the house. As they made their way to Sasha's car, Jimmy's cell phone rang. The caller ID read "ASHLEY". He pressed ignore.
