What Lies Beyond the Veil(Of Flesh & Bone #1)(46)

“Come on, defense! Let’s go! Get it, Jesse!” I can’t tell who he’s cheering for, cause Javon is yelling at ’em all. I scan the court and wonder which boy is Jesse. My cousin.

“Foul!” A boy even lighter-skinned than me with reddish freckles sprinkled on his cheeks yells from his spot on the ground. Looks like another boy pushed him down. “Dammit, Jesse!” I can’t believe this little boy, probably bout my age, said a bad word. I turn my head back and forth, but ain’t no grown-ups around, and don’t none of the other kids seem to care. Not even Nia, and I bet she one of the oldest here, cept for some of the tall boys on the court.

The boys stop playing to help freckle-face still laying on the ground. Well, some of the boys help him. The others just laugh and walk off the court.

“Damn, Skeeter. Always messing up a good game!” Looks like Javon be cussin’, too. He stands to help the boy on the court, who act like he don’t want no help at first, but reaches his hand out toward Javon anyway. Javon slaps his hand and laughs.

“That was a foul,” whines Skeeter, still on the ground. I wonder if he might be hurt for real, but then he gets up and limps over to the bench. Javon notices me and Nia standing on the sidelines and heads over. My hands are suddenly wet and sweaty, so I wipe ’em on my shorts.

“Hey, Skeeter! Come meet my cousins!” Javon smiles from ear to ear as he walks over. His smile is kinda like his daddy’s smile, which is kinda like my momma’s smile. I’m just meeting him, but that smile makes him feel like home.

Javon introduces me and Nia to Skeeter. Nia smiles a fake smile; she’s watching the game on the court. I smile a real smile, quick, then put my head down.

“Nice to meet you,” says Skeeter. He reaches out to shake my hand, which is still kinda wet, but his palms are sweaty, too.

“You all right?” I ask him, shyly.

“Oh, you saw that foul? Yeah, I’m cool.” He still seems upset, but Javon chuckles a little bit. “What’s funny?” retorts Skeeter.

“Nothing.” Javon laughs. “Just you always crying foul!” The more Javon laughs, the redder Skeeter’s cheeks turn. I ain’t ever seen Black people whose skin could turn red like white people’s, but then again, Skeeter is also the lightest Black person I ever seen.

“Which one is your brother?” I ask Javon. He looks around for a few seconds, then points at the water fountain, where a tall boy splashes his head in the water.

“There he is,” Javon answers, then yells, “Jesse!” The boy looks around and Javon waves him over our way. Jesse is much taller than Javon and lighter-skinned, but they got the same face and hair. Cept Jesse is starting to grow a tiny mustache that pokes out from his upper lip like a fuzzy slug. I can’t believe he ain’t quite fourteen yet, cause he looks much older than Nia.

“Hey,” he says casually, in a voice almost deep like a man’s, but not quite. He’s so tall I gotta turn my neck up to look him in the eyes. When I do, his eyes surprise me. They are a light brown that’s almost golden, with little flecks of green scattered here and there. I ain’t ever seen nobody with eyes so pretty, especially not a boy.

“Hey,” responds Nia, just as casually. I wonder if she noticed his eyes, too, cause now she’s picking at her nails to avoid looking at his face.

“Hi, I’m KB.” I smile at Jesse while he smiles at Nia.

“I’m Jesse,” he finally responds, but I ain’t sure if he’s talking to me or her.

“Nia,” my sister finally says. This conversation’s gettin’ too slow and weird for me. I shift my weight from one foot to the other and see that Javon’s doin’ bout the same.

“We met your daddy,” I say. “We ain’t ever known none of our uncles before, or our cousins.”

“Oh, we cousins?” Jesse asks. Nia nods. “Well, more like step-cousins. I got a different daddy.” He avoids looking at Javon when he says this part.

I look at Nia for an explanation, but she just lowers her head and plays with the end of her ponytail. “Cool,” she finally says, so I repeat, “Cool.”

It’s always been just me and Nia, even though I secretly wanted a brother. Having a brother just seemed like it would be more fun than having a sister. I look at Javon, imagine us playing stuff together like racing and football. Then I imagine Jesse carrying me around on his shoulders. These cousins might be one of the best things that’s happened since we’ve been in Lansing.

“Hey, wanna play hide-and-seek?” Javon asks. He jumps up and down, so I jump up and down. I think bout all the secrets, but I’d rather play with my cousins now than talk. The secrets gon’ have to wait. Nia and Jesse look at each other, like they need to know each other’s answer before they can decide.

“Sure!” I respond, then look to Nia. I hope she gon’ play, too.

“Okay,” Nia says, at the same time Jesse says, “Sure.”

“All right, I’ll be it!” Javon presses his face against a tree and starts counting, loud and slow. I guess they’re done playing basketball, even though the game is back in full swing. I peek over as red-faced Skeeter runs back and forth up the court with boys twice his size.

“Seven, eight, nine . . .” Javon continues to count. I gotta find a place to hide. While I was busy watching Skeeter, Nia and Jesse disappeared off somewhere. I run past the basketball courts, gettin’ farther away from the picnic tables, which are now the size of twigs. I spot a plain-looking building, maybe a bathroom, and run in that direction.