Page 4 of The Family Man

I look at my two baby sisters. Anise can be hilarious and insensitive at times. I know if Anise doesn’t contain her thoughts, Cassia will become angry, and a quarrel may ensue.

Cassia sits up and turns her head swiftly and her long semi bleached locs slap Anise on her shoulder.

Here we go. “What the hell? Cassy, you did that out of spite.”

Cassia shrugs, not caring. Rosemary gives me thebreak them uplook.

“Okay, Hippie Spice.” I drag Cassy to the other end of the island.

“Apologize, brat.” Rosemary pokes Anise in the back.

Anise rubs her shoulder and pouts. “I am not three, you can’t tell me—”

Her words we cut down by Rosemary look.

“Okay, sorry. How can we help?”

Hippie Spice was the most appropriate name for Cassia. She wore a long, thin, strappy, brown, cotton, maxi dress, a boho-chic sachet, and a million bangles that make noise every time she moves her hands.

With her caramel complexion and her slim waif-like figure, Cassia was the epitome of flower child beauty. She is the dreamer of the three of us. Her jobs as a yoga instructor and romance writer suit her well.

She plops her head down on the island. “I have no inspiration.”

“Sooo, you need dick!” Anise always going straight to the points, crunches on a carrot stick.

Cassia sighs and sits up. “Yes, I do.”

We all laugh because we can hear the sincerity in Cassia’s voice.

“Get yourself a toy. I bought one for Sage. I haven’t heard anything from her yet but,” Anise states as her eyes stray to me waiting for my response. She places the Pyrex dish and the tin foil containers on the island.

“But nothing,” I answer, and I pick up my wine, and I begin to sip it.

“So she used it!” Rosemary burst out laughing, taking some corn bread from the dish.

“And she liked it too,” Anise replies.

Ani was Social Spice. Everybody knew her, in school. She won homecoming queen, she won Miss Charleswood, every preppy thing that you can think of Ani did. She’s 5’3. She may be the smallest of all of us, but if you make me cry, my baby sister will come for you.

Anise’s job suits her also. She is a travel vlogger for a couple of hotels, clubs and airlines.

Today she is sporting a yellow crop top, short blue jeans, and a pair of red Converses. For once she let her natural curly hair fall around her face. She looks like a cute fairy, small button nose, large arresting eyes, and cute mouth.

* * *

SAGE

As we settle in to eat, our conversation revolves around Cassy’s new book.

“What do you want in a relationship?” she asks as she sips her mimosa.

“Sex! Lots of it! Rough, sweating, lose my weave track kind of sex,” Anise says with a big smile and wiggles her eyebrows.

Rosy and I all stare at her with mild disgust.

“You can be so vulgar sometimes, I swear,” Rosemary states.

“WHAT!” she asks.

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