“Toothpaste is in the cabinet above the sink. Do you want something to eat?” she asks.
“I don’t want to trouble you.”
“It’s no trouble at all if you’re happy with pancakes. The batter is already made.”
“Pancakes would be great.”
She leaves me in the bathroom and I brush my teeth, thinking about how the only people who have cooked for me my entire life were chefs. I’ve never had a home-cooked meal. There was a time when my mother cooked, though I don’t remember it. What I do remember are the awful remarks my father would make to her about how she was an awful housewife and can’t do anything right. I assume he took the privilege of cooking from her and made it so the chef prepared everything for us.
Cassius appreciates his family, I can’t say that he doesn’t. He does everything to make his sisters happy and make sure they’re cared for. I wish he understood how much I appreciate this too… because I never had it. Instead, he looks at it as a negative thing, as if money is more important than the love I feel in this apartment. I’m not sure how to make him see that what he has is exactly what I dream of.
I wash my face and my hands, then go back to the kitchen.
“Just in time,” Camarra says. “Have a seat.”
I sit at the small round table across from Chrissy, whose eyes are glued to her phone. Her laugh is sweet, and it’s not an awful thing to hear first thing in the morning.
All three of them look very much alike, but the girls more so. Their hair and eyes are the same, and they have the same straight, narrow nose.
Camarra puts a plate of four pancakes in front of me.
“Wow. You think I have an appetite, do you?”
She shrugs. “You’re a big guy. You look like you could eat.”
I huff a laugh as the memory of how I best enjoy my pancakes crosses my mind… topped with Cassius’s cum.
“Syrup?” she asks.
“Please.”
I drizzle a small amount over the top and eat.
“Do either of you have somewhere to be this morning?”
“Yeah, I was going to wake up Cass soon. Chrissy has to be at school, and I have to go to work.”
“I can bring you.”
She raises a brow. glancing at Chrissy who shrugs. “Are you sure?”
“Of course. It would be my pleasure to bring you. Let him sleep. He had a rough day yesterday.”
“Can we stop for coffee?” Chrissy pipes up, her eyes wide.
“Uh, sure…”
Camarra rolls her eyes. “You’re an addict,” she says playfully.
“Can’t help it,” she says back. “When are we leaving?”
I look at Camarra.
“We usually leave in about ten minutes,” she explains.
“Ten minutes it is.”
I finish my food and the juice she gave me, then we head down to my car.