that weren’t about video games or the online players he was playing against. He launched into long, detailed histories and opinions about them all. She didn’t even understand half his lingo, but she loved the excitement and gleam of joy she saw in his eyes.
Jody loved JayJay unconditionally.
Yawning, she curled up on the couch, growing sleepy as JayJay continued his game. Glancing at the clock, she nudged her brother and said, “Okay, you have to cut it off for tonight.”
“No. I’m about to—”
“You know the rules. Cut it off,” she repeated firmly, clearly, and concisely, sticking to the rules he knew.
Nodding, he pressed a button and it stopped. With an audible grumble, he lurched to his feet and Jody grinned as she gave him an affectionate pat on his back when he shuffled past her. “That’s my guy. I’ll see you Saturday, huh? We still going to the Aquarium?”
His face lit up and the glum look vanished. “Oh, yeah. That’s this weekend? Okay. Great.” He had trouble sequencing days and dates.
“Yep. This weekend. We’re on?”
“On.” He reached forward to match her fist bump and the good will was instantly restored. Oh, the Seattle Aquarium. It was located on the pier just below her condo. He was obsessed with that place. He could recite nearly every small fact about every living creature inside it. They went there once a freaking month. Yes. Once a month, Jody grabbed JayJay to tour the whole Aquarium. Again. From front to back. Top to bottom. Each time. Five hours by the clock. He never skimped on it and never grew tired of it. His smile and engaged delight beamed on his face the entire time. Staring at different fish and ocean creatures in the wonderful displays thrilled him every time. Jody used to enjoy it. After a hundred visits or more, it was not quite as exciting to her, but she never tired of watching JayJay’s love for it. Taking a ride on the Ferris Wheel, and grabbing two corndogs each, they’d wander along the pier afterwards.
It was their standing date and JayJay always expected it from her. She rarely missed it, and if that happened, it was only because of illness, and never due to her social life.
After he trundled off to bed, she covered herself with a blanket and flipped the TV onto a movie, letting her eyes flutter shut, only to be awoken when the door opened. Her parents entered, both dressed in formal wear.
“Hey, Jo. Thank you for swinging by. You didn’t have to stay.”
She sat up, blinking. “I didn’t mind. He was extra obsessed tonight. Had to tease him out of it to get him to eat.”
Her dad was undoing his tie as he laughed. “He keeps trying to put it in his room, but I fear all the hours he’d spend without sleeping or bathing or eating…”
Her mom slipped free of her shoes and loosened her pinned-up hair. “Yeah. No doubt. Why don’t you just stay here overnight?”
Jody tilted her head in consideration. “Yeah, I guess so. I have an early meeting but that’s fine.” She kept a few outfits at her parents’ house in case of late nights. Sometimes, being with JayJay went later than planned. Jody never considered it babysitting as just being with her brother. No one bothered to articulate her reasons for being there, it was just that way.
“New musician?”
“Yep. This one will probably make me earn the meager salary I make.”
“Not great or just no personality?”
“His attitude mainly. Hugely annoying and apathetic. Not sure why he came. But I guess I’ll soon see.”
Her mother flopped down and her dress looked like a sheath of navy blue. She pulled it up to allow her legs more room. “I love knowing you won’t let him get away with the power play shit stuff.”
“I love knowing that too.” They exchanged grins. Jody was well aware of her strengths, her voice and her autonomy. She never failed to speak up for herself in any conversation, as her mother coached her throughout her childhood. That honesty and closeness made them friends, which continued now in adulthood. “Where were you guys?”
“Oh, at a charity for cancer research. Annual event. Such a disconnect. People spending ridiculous amounts of money on fancy dinners, ballrooms, entertainment and dressing up like this, when the money to buy this dress would be better spent as a donation. You know? Rich people always have to make themselves feel better about their wealth.”
“And yet… you went there.