Twenty For A Dozen

02 || A Joy-ful Supper

02 || A Joy-ful Supper

         Kira waited until the stranger had completely disappeared before she slowly got up from her seat to meet her brother. Her body was lagging as it recuperated from having its world rocked.

         "Who was that?" Lee asked. Kira could see in the set of his shoulders that he wasn’t happy about the man who just left. To be quite honest, neither was Kira. Her brain had started working again, and it was beginning to realize what just happened.

         Lee set down a zipped up foldable tent beside her leg and stretched. "Archery was fucking tiring," he said with a yawn.

         "Don't curse," Kira mumbled slightly, still staring into the waning carnival crowd. "And just a customer."

         "He better have paid nothing," Lee grunted but quickly covered up his words with a cough when she turned to glare at him. In the setting sun, his face was shadowed but she could see Lee's pale skin was sunburnt from his outdoor stall and red blotches rested high on his cheekbones. His face was all sharp angles or flat planes, much like her own.

         “Oh, shut up.” Kira picked up her money jar and her family's business cards off the table and jammed them both into her bag.

         Along with volunteering in a stall for Lee's high school prom fundraiser, Joy-ful Birthdays were sponsoring the event. Nobody had picked up a card, though. Kira couldn't blame them as they were all pre-pubescent or adolescents only looking for a quick smack on the lips and not a hot birthday deal. Unless you counted customers who paid over a thousand dollars and left without claiming the other ninety-five percent of the deal.

         The evening was slightly cooler by the time Kira had zipped up her own tent. Her T-shirt flapped from the breeze and cooled her sweat as she walked to where Lee was waiting by their business truck. He had already stowed away his supplies and buckled himself in before she even started the rusty truck.

         The vehicle rumbled to life, and Kira could see the high school prom committee staring from the carnival grounds. Plan With Joy-ful Planners to Have A Joyful Birthday! didn't scream a sexy ride but it was enough to go from point A to point B. It also smelled like leather and had a killer sound system, which Lee had already set to blasting Fall Out Boy from.

         The smell of yakitori which filled the air as soon as Kira turned onto their street was clear indication that her father was cooking.

         “I think Trevor’s family is over!” Lee said. He was practically bouncing out of his seat already. But their driveway did have a familiar Buick parked out front. They had company for supper.

         Voices drifted through the open bay window as the siblings walked up to the verandah. Kira was pushed aside by Lee in his hurry to get to his best friend. “Hey!” She scowled at his back but followed him through the stained glass door. The sizzling scent of the grilled chicken parts grew, and her stomach grumbled in response.

         The Joy house was lit purely by the light coming through the large windows and reflecting off the tiled and hardwood floors. The entrance foyer led into the lounge where beige leather couches matched the cream walls, and the trousers of the man sitting on them.

         “Henry, the kids are home!” Gabriel Moreno, Joy-ful Birthday’s legal advisor and also the Joy’s family friend, called out upon seeing the two enter. His bald head gleamed in the sunlight as he shifted to make space for Kira on the loveseat.

         “Hey, Uncle G. Hey, Trev,” Kira said. The high school senior was sporting dreadlocks today, and he gave Kira what was probably meant to be a flirty smile.