Unspoken Pleasure

Suddenly, Thuy was standing and staring past me. I followed her eyes to discover my mother walking towards us. She embraced Thuy and hugged her tight. “I’m glad to see you again, Jennifer.”

“Thanks, Mrs. B.”

“How was school?”

“It’s over for a week or two, so it’s good.”

“I’m glad to see you around. You’ve always been a part of our family, you know.”

“I’m not going anywhere,” she said with a look to me.

My mother turned to me. “And I’m glad to see the basketball still works.”

“Umm – yeah, it still goes in the basket. Funny, that.” I tried to give a look to Thuy but she seemed to be hiding her face behind her hair.

“Jacob, I’m gone. I’ll see you on Monday,” Mom said quickly.

“Monday? Where are you going?”

“My getaway at the cabin. I’ll take the cell but if you call me with both legs attached, I’m gonna come after you.”

“I don’t remember this.”

“That’s ’cause you never listen to a word I say.”

“Isn’t it too late to drive that far?”

“It’s not past 3:00, Jake.” She kissed Thuy’s cheek. “Good to see you again, Jen.” As she got in the car, she called out, “Keep him out of trouble.”

“I wonder what she my mom thinks we are going to do?”

“Drugs.”This content © Nôv/elDr(a)m/a.Org.

“Oh, yeah.”

“Did you bring the crack pipe?”

“Left it at school.”

“That’s too bad.”

“Yeah.”

“You know you should get it fixed.”

“The crack pipe?”

“Yeah.”

“I’m embarrassed that I heard that.”

“It was a stretch, I’ll admit.”

“Oh, Jake, there’s this guy in my dorm that hangs out with the crew sometimes. Worst forced jokes ever. Ever.”

“Let’s go inside.”

“Yeah, OK.” She talked as I held the door for her. “You’ve no idea how bad it is. He’d try to make a joke after a documentary on Human Trafficking or something. No sense of appropriateness.”

“You should tell him so.”

“We do! I do! We’ve thrown things at him. He thinks he’s our court jester or something.”

“Maybe if you threw sharp objects, he’d get the point.”

“That’s overkill, don’t you think?” We both paused and grinned at each other.

“Oh my god, I’m embarrassed for you.”

Thuy fell on the sofa in the living room with me on my beanbag chair just as it had always been.

—

“It’s eight o’clock, Thuy.”

She glanced at the clock. “I’m gonna go tell my mother I won’t be back for dinner.”

“I’ll order a pizza.”

Thuy didn’t turn around as she left, she just yelled back, “No, we’re going out.”

Going out? When was the last time the two of us went out? I ducked into the shower while Thuy was out.

About five minutes later I was buttoning my khakis, when I heard, “Jake, get this–” and Thuy turned the corner into my bedroom. For no good reason, I felt a little embarrassed with no shoes or shirt and my brown hair still dripping water down my skin. “Oh. Sorry, I–” Thuy started. Was she a bit embarrassed herself?

“Naw, it’s OK.”

“I didn’t realize. I’ll just–”

“It’s OK, Thuy,” I insisted. “It’s not like we never went swimming before.”

“OK, uh…” she seemed confused. “Jake, hun, have you been working out?”

“Very funny.”

“No, seriously,” she paused for a second. “Jake, you turned into a hottie!”

“Go away.” I went into the bathroom to comb my hair.

She appeared in the doorway and looked at me again. “Why won’t you confess to working out?”

“Because I don’t.”

“Ok, ok.” I chose a dark gray long sleeve and pulled it over my head. “So that’s from the moving job? I’m going to tell my future boyfriends to become movers.”

I did know I was lifting things easier now than when I started. Did it actually show? I wanted to flex to see if there was any change but remembered Thuy was watching.

“So, what did your mom say?”

“Get this.” She handed me a note in Vietnamese. I had taught myself a little bit two or three years back for some unknown reason, but all I could make out was her name, Tuesday, aunt, and a little more.

“What’s the bit on the second line?”

“I had to think about that for a second, too. So basically, she’s gone to help my aunt who’s nursing my uncle. She’ll be in Nashville until Tuesday. I called her, but all she said was that everyone was fine, she shouldn’t talk on the highway, despite the fact that that is all she does, and to stay safe. And say hello. Oh, and she was somewhere around Jackson, Tennessee. That means she left 15 minutes after we said hello.”

“That’s a bit weird.”

“Yeah, and since my dad gets back in town on Thursday, it’s just me.”

“Guess we’ll rent some movies or something.”

“Guess so. Look, you are too well dressed for me now. I’m going to go change. Meet me in the driveway.”

I found some socks and shoes and headed out. The night was a little cool with not a cloud, letting the whole sky sparkle softly. Not even the moon dared challenge the stars tonight. I gazed upwards slowly naming the constellations and stars that I knew until I felt a poke in the ribs.

My eyes traveled down to find Thuy standing next to me also looking at the stars above. She wore a simple black dress with thin straps and a plunging neckline and back. The dress fell at an angle across her legs from mid-calf on one side to just above the knee on the other. A thin gold plate necklace lay around her slender neck and something small sparkled in her ears, reflecting the light of the streetlamps and the stars.

My best friend was beautiful.