Page 34 of Pills and Potions: Kase
“Mmhmm.” I pointed at his glasses. “And that? Fashion statement or personality rebrand?”
He looked sheepish. “Lost a contact. These my backup pair.”
I tilted my head. “Wait… I’ve never seen you wear glasses. I didn’t even know you had bad vision.”
“Right before I met y’all in high school, I got contacts,” Kase said, adjusting them like he was trying to look cool and nerdy at the same time.
Jace smirked. “Yeah, that nigga can’t see shit without ‘em. Used to copy offmytests in middle school, couldn’t even see the damn board.”
Kase shrugged. “And I still passed.”
Tuesday gasped. “Oh my God.BLYSS. Is this how Clark Kent started? This fool has turned into a rom-com lead.”
Then it happened. Kase laughed and snorted. We all froze.
“WAIT. Did you justSNORT?” I clutched my chest.
Kase looked horrified. “Nah, chill. That was… allergies.”
“Negro, you don’t got allergies!” Jace yelled.
Tuesday spun in a full circle. “Nope. I’m not doin’ wholesome Kase. I need a refund on reality.”
Kase looked down like he was trying to reload his old personality, but the update failed. Then we all got into his car. Usually, Kase drove like he was auditioning forFast & Furious. But with the damn potion in his system, he was doing the speed limit like a PTA mom with a crockpot in the backseat.
“Sir… are wefloating?” Tuesday looked around the car. “You drivin’ like Ms. Daisy. Did you take the scenic route to avoid potholes or trauma?”
“Shut up,” Kase said, blinking slow. “Y’all dramatic.”
Jace leaned forward. “Nigga, you in a sports car doing twenty in a thirty-five. I can hear the enginecrying.”
“My tires are sensitive,” Kase said, dead serious.
I choked on my spit. “Did you just say that sentence out loud?”
He was going so slow, it was disrespectful to horsepower. Both hands on the wheel, eyes forward, seatbelt tight, humming softly like he was the damn traffic safety mascot. We hit a red light when an old lady in a champagne-colored Buick pulled up beside us, looked over, then squinted hard.
“Lord have mercy,” she said, rolling her window down. “You got a baby in the car or a Bible in your lap?”
Tuesdayscreamedwith laughter.
Jace was dying in the backseat. “Yo, she really called you out!”
Kase frowned, confused. “Ma’am, I’m just obeying the law.”
“Oh, baby, the law don’t need you goin’ 22 in a Ferrari with your shoulders clenched,” she fired back, shaking her head. “You drivin’ like you on your way to repent.”
I had to turn my face toward the window before I choked on my laughter. Tuesday had tears running down her face.
The old lady kept going. “Whatever sermon your lil audiobook preachin', speed it up. My arthritis movin' faster than you.”
Then the light turned green and she sped off like a retired getaway driver.
Kase sighed and blinked again. “She was kinda aggressive.”
“She wasn’t wrong, though,” I said, wiping my eyes. “You drivin’ like you scared the gas pedal got feelings.”
“That was uncalled for,” Kase shook his head in disbelief
