“You thought youatethat?” Matteo mugged me. “Nigga, you want Pearla to be yo’ sister so bad… Be more worried ’boutmy sisterthan me. Fuck is you sayin’?”
This time, I kissed my teeth. “Yo’ big grown ass talmbout someate that. You be in they faces just as much as me, nigga!”
“Y’all both crazy ’bout y'all sister and each other sisters. We got that shit established. Let’s move on,” Rut stated, trying to diffuse the situation, but it was too late.
“I’m the better big brother. Just face it. Don’t get mad at me cuz yo’ lil’ high-school-ass sister boy crazy.”
“Fuck outta here! Pearla ain’t studyin’ these niggas. ’Least my sister gangsta. She bussin’ shit. Only thing yours doin’ is runnin’ through yo’ pockets.”
Matteo loved hitting below the belt, but I had something for his black ass.
“Aite.” I pulled my phone out of my pocket. “You call Pearla, and I call Jisei, and let’s see whose sister gone pick up first.”
Matteo picked his phone up from the table, accepting the challenge.
“And put that shit on speaker, nigga,” I said while clicking on the phone keypad.
I knew Jisei’s number by heart, so I typed it in while Matteo was doing the same thing. We both placed our phones on speaker and set them on the conference table. When they began to ring, we watched each other until both lines went to voicemail.
Rut roared in laughter. “Mane! Y’all ridiculous. They might be busy.”
“Busy doin’ what? They ain’t got no jobs or no fuckin’ bills.” I spat, picking up my phone and ending the call. “Aite, now you call Jisei, and I call Pearla.”
“Aite, childish-ass nigga. You just wanna get yo’ feelings hurt today. And Jisei do got a fuckin’ job. A career actually,” Matteoinformed. Like he was telling me some shit about my own sister that I didn’t know.
“And when the last time she clocked in at that fuckin’ career you so speak of? Exactly.”
We dialed the numbers out again, both of us knowing them by heart. The phones stopped ringing at the same time as we heard both women speak.
“Hey, cousin!”
“Yes, Teooooo? You must got a new bag for me?”
I grinned, and Teo shook his head.
“Pearla, what you doing? Where you at? Who you with?” I asked my new favorite cousin.
“Ummmm, can I answer one question at a time?”
Matteo was so busy listening to my conversation that he hadn’t replied to my sister.
“Pearla…” I warned.
She sighed. “I’m leaving my dad’s. I’m alone.”
“Goin’ where?”
“To get my hair braided, Demise.”
“Aite send me the location.” I grinned at a brewing Matteo.
“You already got my location, cousin.”
“Yeah. I know… Just makin’ sure you on yo’ toes. Send me a picture when you get finished. I wanna make sure they ain’t played in yo’ head.”
I was talking, but my fingers were moving on my screen. I sent her a thousand dollars via Apple Pay and disconnected the line after she squealed.
Jisei sighed loudly into the receiver before screaming, “Matteo! Why did you call me just to hold the phone?”
