My Sister's Ex by Cydney Rax

and I walk through my daddy’s kitchen and open the door that leads to the backyard. We step outside and go stand underneath the covered patio. First thing we see is Blinky’s lanky frame crouched over a dark blue oversized trash can. He’s a light-skinned black man with piercing green eyes and brown and gray hair that he always tries to dye, but the gray comes back twice as fast. Just as I expect, Blinky’s music is turned up so loud that I can hear the kitchen windows vibrating. I hear the words “Payback is a thing you gotta see … Revenge … I’m mad.” I recognize that head-bobbing James Brown song anywhere. My daddy loves old-school music. I do, too. But it’s tough to enjoy the rhythm when you’ve got the blues.
    Sweet smells hit my nose as soon as I get to the backyard. All kinds of fresh fruit are arranged on a large utility table: oranges, lemons, pineapples, and pears. Blinky and Loretta are slicing up fruit and dumping it in the trash can. Oh, this party is about to get crunk for sure! Hypnotic music. Barbecue smelling delicious on the open pit. Trash can punch. And not a second too soon. I am going to need a nice stiff drink, considering what I am about to go through.
    “Hey, Daughter Number Two!”
    “Hi there, Daddy. How you doing? You look good,” I say and look pointedly at him. I can feel Loretta’s eyes burning a deep hole in me.
    “Don’t be rude,” Blinky snaps. “Don’t you see Loretta standing here?”
    Even Stevie Wonder would notice this Amazon woman. Loretta is taller than my dad by two inches. Her skin’s yellow tone perfectly matches her long, fiery red hair, which today is wrapped up in a colorful scarf. Loretta is one of the few black women I know born with that hair color.
    I manage a stiff smile and say hi to Blinky’s woman. She waves, throws back a fake smile, and continues chopping up slices of mouth-watering watermelon.
    “Hey, you want to make the Kool-Aid for the punch? Grab the packets and the sugar on that table over there. You, too,” Loretta rudely says to Alita. “Y’all not guests. You’re family, so get to work.”
    I grit my teeth and decide to cooperate. The last person anyone wants to argue with is Loretta, Ms. Queen Bee.
    Alita, cool as a bag of ice chips, smiles sweetly and starts measuring cups of sugar.
    “What are you thinking about, young lady?” I quietly ask her.
    “Girl, you don’t wanna know. Just be happy I’ve got your back, sis.”
    “I am very happy. I don’t take a true friend for granted. God knows there’re enough backstabbers around.”
    And just then Marlene walks in. Alone. I almost want to smile, but not at her. No. I want to grin about the fact that she is alone. Manless. At my daddy’s party. Just like me.
    “Hey, everybody,” she says in a loud voice brimming with joy. Okay, her voice is sounding a little too perky. Maybe shejust got out of church and is still feeling fresh from the praise and worship, or maybe there’s another reason why she’s acting so buoyant.
    Marlene is holding a large rectangular glass container covered with aluminum foil.
    Oh, I can figure out why she’s grinning. Big girl is about to eat.
    “What you got there, Marlene?” says butt-kissing Loretta. “Don’t tell me it’s your famous yummy potato salad.”
    “Yes, Mama. You know I had to put my foot in it, throw together my magical cooking skills.”
    “Hmm, when did she manage to make that? She wasn’t even at home last night,” I softly mutter. Marlene, Daddy, and Loretta give me a puzzled look, but I ignore them.
    Reason why I know Marlene didn’t come home is because I had Alita call our apartment several times. I told her to do a star sixty-seven. No answer. My sister’s been gone two nights in a row. I could have slept in my own bed instead of enduring back pain trying to crash on Alita’s couch.
    “Where were you, Daughter Number One? Shoot, I called you for over two hours, and you never answered my calls. That’s not