Page 38

The back door is propped open, and the trees move with the slight breeze. Earlier, Zach put the parasol up. He’s not sure the sun is that hot yet, but he does know it’s a British rite of passage to have a barbeque the second the sky is blue and the temperature is in double digits. Mali walks around in tiny shorts, but he thinks it’s because she’s desperate for summer to come. Zach doesn’t complain about it, especially now he has her bent over the washing machine with his dick in her.

She was supposed to be getting the bread, but here they are, and he can’t find it in himself to be disappointed with any life decisions that have brought him to this moment.

“Honey,” she whines, throwing her hips back. “They’ll be here soon. Please, please…”

Zach is used to her begging him to come, because she’s a brat that likes to wind him up and then wants to come the moment he touches her. Usually, he makes her work for it. She likes it like that. Zach thought it would take him longer to figure her body out, to find the way she likes to be touched, but it’s easy when he knows her. Knows the way her back arches when she likes something, the way she grips his hand when she wants him to repeat a motion, the way she throws her hips harder and faster when she’s not fucking around.

“Has anyone fucked you like this?” she asks, and his fingers dig into the flesh of her hips.

“Once.”

“God, that’s so hot,” she whines. “We should do it. Now . I’ll be so good. I’ll fuck you so good.”

Zach pulls her hair lightly, pressing his lips to her shoulder when she leans against him. Her hands find his free one, the other loosely wrapping around the back of his neck. He wonders if they look like art, or if it’s all her.

“You’re perfect,” he says, wrapping his hand around her waist. “You can do whatever you want with me.” His fingers swipe over her clit, and she squeezes his hand so tight he might lose circulation.

“Fuck,” she pants. She leans forwards, and Zach grips her hips, thrusting hard and fast, and she groans as he comes with her.

“Holy shit,” she says, collapsing back against him. “You’re so good at that.”

“Your body is magic, baby,” he whispers. He pulls out, and Mali runs away.

“We should have used a condom!” she says, and he laughs as she runs up the stairs. He pulls his trousers up and follows her up. The carpet is clean, but he carries tissue anyway. He washes himself off and changes into family-appropriate clothes, which, according to Mali, isn’t a white vest. Mali comes out of their bathroom in a sundress, and Zach moans at the way he’s horny already when he was literally just in her.

“Mal,” he groans. “Come on.”

She giggles. “Shh. We match.” She holds her orange dress out against his shorts, and he supposes they do match. He’s excited for her to get cold in about twelve minutes, because then she’ll put his jumper on, and he finds the dress-jumper combo sexy.

“Why are we so cute?” he asks, and she laughs, kissing him once. The doorbell rings moments later, and good, because his hand was already sliding up her thigh.

“If you wanna do the grill, you’re gonna have to fight Dad for it,” Mali says, and she runs back to garden. Their parents knock to let them know they’re there, then they go around the back. Sometimes they forget to knock, and Zach gets the fright of his life.

“He’s five foot five, Mal.”

Zach sighs, waiting to get off the bed until his dick has calmed down. Looking at the pile of letters on the cabinet, he wonders if Mali put them there on purpose.

Zach hasn’t spoken to his brother since he punched him in the face. He knows he’s alright, because he still lives with their mum. Zach wonders if that’s why his mum hasn’t moved in with him and Mali yet. He could ask her, but then he’ll have to figure out what he wants to do about Devon. He doesn’t want Devon to live with Mali or his mum. Does he want to see him at all?

“Hey, son,” Mosi says, as soon as Zach gets in the garden. He walks towards him, clicking the barbeque tongs. “Five-five? I’m at least five-six.”

Zach laughs, holding his hands up. “My bad, Mr O.”

“When are you going to call me Mosi?”

Zach shrugs. “When Ma doesn’t throw a slipper at me for calling a grown-up by their first name.”

His mum laughs, pulling him into a hug. “Such a good boy.”

“You say it,” Zamina says, bumping into his mum.

“Say what?” Mali asks, with a frown that turns to a smile when Zach sits next to her on the bench. “Are you about to say something about marriage? Because we’ve been dating like two seconds!” She looks at him with a face that suggests she’ll stop kissing him if he calls her out and tells their parents they’ve already spoken about it. That marriage and children is on the cards for them, but not this year… next year, they’ll be ready.

“Oh, no,” Zamina says. “Unless you want to have that conversation ,darling, in which case, we have baby-name suggestions.”

Zach laughs, pulling Mali closer to him and kissing her on the temple.

“How did you get from marriage to babies?” Mali asks, leaning against him.

“Okay, okay,” Mosi says, coming over. He’s abandoned the grill already, but Mali keeps her hand against Zach’s thigh so he’s not about to go and fix it for him. “Well, you know how Mir and Zamina have a bunch of groups together? Bingo, reading, yada yada yada…”

“Uh-huh,” Mali replies.

“Well…”

“Oh, for goodness’ sake,” Zamina says. “We’re the parents!”

His mum laughs. “Zach, Mali, I love you—we all love you—and you letting me move in here is the nicest thing anyone has ever done for me.”

“Well, show that by actually moving in, Ma,” Zach says.

She sighs. “But you’re also a young couple, and you need your space. You have each other to worry about. You don’t need to worry about me; I’ll be fine. And Mosi and Zamina have a spare room…”

Zach frowns. “Okay.” He wonders if this is one of the times adults want something but don’t actually ask for it. He’s already down to do the Adebayo’s bathroom floor next weekend.

Mali taps his thigh a couple times. “Honey, I think your mum is moving in with mine.”

Oh. Zach had never thought about his mum living anywhere else. It makes sense that she might want to be around people her own age. Zach had been thinking about offering her somewhere else other than the outbuilding now he has more money, but he hasn’t had all that long to think about it since the contract came through. And, to be honest, all his thoughts have been on Mali.

His mum smiles at him. “I am. They have the space, and we love hanging out together. And just because we’re old doesn’t mean we can’t be roommates!”

“What is it you kids say now?” Mosi asks, thankfully back over by the grill. “Roomies?”

“Are you sure?” Mali asks. “You know we’d love having you here.”

Zach knows it’s true. Mali loves having family around, and though he’s not sure he’d be as ecstatic about it as she would be if her parents needed to move in, he’d do it for her.

“I am,” his mum says. “I love you both, and I’d love living with you, but I think this would be for the best. It would make me happy. I want to come and visit you guys; I don’t ever want to think I’m a burden—”

“Ma,” Zach replies, but she raises a hand to stop him.

“Those feelings wouldn’t be your fault, Zachariah. It’s just internal. You know what I mean.” And he does know what she means. He blinks. What are they going to use the outbuilding for now? He chews on his cheek.

“What about De?”

“Devon isn’t coming. He has a flat now,” his mum replies with a smile. “It’s council, and God knows how he got one, but he’s been going to some AA-type meetings. He found this scheme that houses him if he stays sober, on track, and within the conditions of his licence. He still comes round all the time.”

Zach’s been waiting for Devon to get his life together for the longest time, and now he’s missing it. He’s not sure if he can figure out how to forgive him anyway. Mali rubs her thumb across his knee, and he looks down at her. She’s so stupid pretty.

Zach hums. “He does?”

His mum nods, and Zamina nods like she’s met him before. “He does. Today is not about him, but he asked if you got his letters.”

Zach chews on his lip. “Yeah. I haven’t read them yet.”

“That’s okay,” his mum replies. It goes quiet for a while. Well, it goes quiet for Zach. The rest of them are discussing summer plans. Mali wants to take Zach camping, and he’s trying to figure out how to tell the love of his life that sleeping in a tent is not his idea of a good time. Mali’s setting up some summer camps for children, and he wants to help her. He wants to spend his mornings teaching kids how to throw a rugby ball, and then he wants to have lunch with her, sitting cross-legged on the field.

Zach’s not sure what his life looks like without having to check on his mum three times a day. All he knows is that Mali and he are not having children yet, because they wanted to see how it all went with his mum moving in. Now, she’s not. He’s not sure what his life looks like with a brother that’s taking ownership of his life. Mali has kept the spare room free, and she never told him why, but he knows it was for Devon. He’s not sure what anything looks like apart from Mali.

Maybe his life is multi-coloured now. Maybe during the week, everything he looks at will be purple, and then on rare days, it’ll be orange, or green, or pink. He tucks the few pink curls that are blowing in her face behind her ear, and she looks up and smiles at him.

“Hey,” she whispers, just for him.

He looks down at her with a smile. “Hi, baby.”

“I love you.”

He smiles, pulling her back against his chest. “I love you.”

And she’s the only thing he needs. It doesn’t matter what his life looks like. It doesn't matter what colour it is, as long as she’s right there, with her hand in his.

THE END