Pleasurable Expectations

t w e n t y - t w o

"What?"

"Jevon, no, you did not!"

The sound of palm smacking shaved head met my ears as "This is why we don't invite you to movies, bruh."

That and so much more was heard as my family sat in our home movie theater, the screen paused, the two main characters from "Queen & Slim" sitting in the front seat of a car as they roll through a garage door.

"Jevon, baby, did you go and spoil the whole movie?" Mama rubbed the spot on his head that Trayvion had hit previously.

I looked to my mom as she awaited his answer, an amused smile on my face. I had my legs kicked up as I watched my family get on Jevon's ass for spoiling what was probably the most highly anticipated movie for the Suns family.

"Of course, he spoiled the whole movie!" was heard from Michael as he stole our younger brother's response. "What else could "it don't even matter that he lets them go" mean? They die!"

"That's not what I said!" Jevon defended back as he got in Michael's face.

When I spotted my eldest brother's hand raised in anticipation to slap, I cut in and grabbed his wrist from the seat behind him. "Aht!" I planted my feet firmly on the ground to keep a firm grip. "We don't hit children, now do we?"

Jevon whined, "I'm 15," resulting in an immediate hush from me.

"I'm trying to help you." I shushed him once more as I released Michael's wrist.

Michael's opposite hand rung around where my fingers curled around him. "I was only gonna give him a light tap."

"We both know that ain't true, Mike." My dad spoke for the first time. Like me, he had decided to kick back and watch the amusement unfold. "You the one who wanted to watch this movie so damn bad!" He waved a finger in my brother's direction, a finger he dismissed with the wave of his hand.

I grumbled to myself about the inconvenience of having to put my feet down before I kicked back and nestled them back on top of the chairs directly next to my brother's head. "Are we gonna finish the movie? Or did Jevon kill the vibe?" My feet were bouncing in the air, my calves pulsing back and forth against the chairs for momentum.

"Jevon killed the vibe," Darius answered with a shrug. "Oh well. But since we're not watching the movie, can I use the PS4 now?" He looked at each of our faces as his hands rubbed together, a hopeful grin on his face.

"Oooh, I wanna play!" We all looked to the front. Donte was turned around in his seat, his hand raised as he bounced up and down in his chair.

"Movie time's over, I guess." Michael leaned in his seat, his head bumping against my feet. "Nasty ass feet." He glanced at my feet in disgust before pushing them down.

"Me and Adrienne just got pedicures on Friday, which was yesterday. Don't play with me." I flicked his ear before standing up.

"Wasted all that money for nothing," he teased. "That's a nice anklet, though. Went on a virtual shopping spree with Venna again?" He scoffed at my behavior, behavior that he guessed incorrectly.

"That was last month. Jeremiah gave this to me." I waved my foot as the anklet moved around, the dim lighting doing the piece no justice. "It's much prettier in the light."

"You got new jewelry?" Mama nosed over as she peeked over the row of theater chairs, her eyes pivoted downwards.

"Jeremiah gave it to her." The airiness to Michael's voice mimicked how I sounded when telling him. I bucked at him and he bucked right back.

My mom placed a gentle hand on Michael's shoulder as her eyes tore up to me at the sound of Jeremiah's name. "Oh. Your boyfriend gave it to you," she stated with a sudden tone of disinterest.