“Love it, Rodney! Good to see you’re really getting the hang of using color.” I smile down at Rodney and try to ignore the amount of paint on his clothes. And hands. And face. I’m just happy that he’s moved on from only using black and brown. Fora while there, I was unsure if he was just a super messy painter or if he had an affinity for blackface.
“Miss Jasmine, do you like what I did here?” I ignore the way his lisp sprays my way and look at what his paint-covered finger is pointing at. The thing that looks suspiciously like a very well-drawn cock and balls.
“You know what I like best about you painting your favorite things? Is that these are special toyou. As long as you like them, Rodney, that’s what’s important.” I glance back down at him.
I’ve had Rodney for art therapy for two years now, so I know him well enough to know the signs of mischief. His face lights up with a slow grin and he raises his voice to be heard over the din of my fourth grade art class.
“This is my favorite body part cos when Taylor Swift comes on the TV, I like to play with my peni-”
“OK team, would you look at that? It’s time to clean up and get ready for the weekend.” I clap my hands. “Remember, this was the last day to finish our ‘favorite things’ painting. Next week, we move on to our new class project. But I’m not telling you what it is just yet,” I sign while I speak and then give them all a conspiratorial wink.
Karly puts her hand up, her colorful bracelets jingling, light bouncing off the shiny silver ones.
“Oh oh, is it jewellery making? Cos I got given a whole ton of beads and I’m real good at making necklaces. And bracelets.”
I smile at her, taking in her little round face, blonde pigtails that are slightly wonky, and her wide-set, slanted eyes. “No, it’s not jewelry making, but if you want to get together with some friends to make things you can use this room during lunch break,” I watch her pump her fist a few times.
“Yusss! You’re the best Miss Jasmine!
“Tell your friends!” With a chuckle, I clap my hands twice and help them clean up before they desert me to the rest of the mess when the bell rings.
I finish putting my room back together and then check the materials we will need for our next class project. My cheeks hurt from smiling when I think about what I’m surprising them with on Monday.
A buzzing from my desk has me plopping down into my chair, rolling my eyes when I see who it is. Swiping my finger across the screen I hold it up, staring at the face I’ve known my whole life. “Can I help you, officer?”
“That’s Sheriff to you. And yeah, do you mind coming a little early? I have shit going down,” Moss says with a completely neutral face.
To most other people that face would hide his concern. Not to me though. Not only can I read him better than anyone else on the face of this earth, I can feel him.
“Want to tell me what’s wrong?”
“Nothing’s wrong, little sis.” He gives me the fakest of smiles and I roll my eyes.
“Gimme ten minutes and I’ll be there.”
“Appreciate you,”
“Yeah yeah. Just make sure to have mom’s frozen brownies defrosting for me.”
“I thought you were on an anti-inflammatory die-”
“Ah, no talking!” He chuckles down the line and I hang up before he can say anything else. I know he has my health in his best interests, but I’m a grown ass woman and can eat what I want.
My gaze drifts over my classroom one more time and I decide it’s tidy enough. Everything is where it should be, and lets face it, it’ll be covered in glitter come Monday anyway so it’s futile trying to keep it spotless. Heading for the door, I flick off thelights and poke my head into the hall. The coast is clear so I speed walk past Ms Grace’s room. I really don’t want to know what Rodney’s been up to in health class. Rodney is a total shit of a kid sometimes, but I have to admit I do have a soft spot for him. Especially after he kept my little step-niece safe when my sister was abducted. I shake off the thought and push down the memory of the sheer panic my family went through when she was taken. Luckily Jules, her boyfriend went on a damn rampage to find her and got her back a little bruised but perfectly OK.
I smile at the thought of my little sister and her happy family. She totally deserved a man like Jules after the douche canoe she had been dating. Jules may be downright grumpy, but he loves my sister to distraction. I sigh, making my way to my car, unlocking it remotely before flinging open the back door and tossing my belongings in with very little flair.
I make the short trip to my home and park in the drive. I don’t have time to change or unpack my crap so I just lock up my car and head next door to Moss’ house, not bothering to knock. There are no real boundaries once you’ve shared a uterus.
“Yo, Moss! Where my boys at?!” I drop to my knees in the foyer, ignoring the crunch they like to make when they do anything more bendy than just sitting or standing.
Listening closely, I wait for the pounding of two sets of feet coming my way on the wooden flooring, the vibrations working their way up through my creaky knees.
“Nads! Nads!” I brace myself for impact and then I’m on my back with two sweaty, damp little boys in my arms. I give them both kisses all over their messy cheeks and sit up, which is harder than you think when you’re carrying a bit of a belly.
“Will you ever stop winding up those boys?”
“Will they ever stop calling me Nads? Seriously, that’s harder to say than Jazz. How the hell they get ‘Nads’ out of that is beyond me.” He snorts as he gives me a hand up before startingin on the massive list of instructions he gives me for them. The massive list of instructions that I always ignore.
