Daiquiri’s Dilemmas

I have decided that never again will I ever venture into Sutton due to the trauma I have suffered following Katrina’s boyfriend around, while he completed his daily chores. Literally. Not only did Mo, the boyfriend, spend the entire time in Sutton pitting Katrina and Selam against one another and revelling in their rivalry, he did it while flirting with me relentlessly and staring at my breasts all the live long day. But despite my several menacing looks and very deliberate accidental elbows to the stomach everytime he tried to get too close to me, the boy never let up. I judge him more for his determination.

He would take them into dress shops, watch them pick out dresses then purposefully ignore one, while obsessively complimenting the other — or worse! Compare them against each other like he was a judge on America’s Next Top Player — the douche bag addition.

I’m telling you, these girls were one compliment away from tearing each other’s extensions out and using it as a whip to beat each other with. And I doubt that’s what Willow Smith had in mind.

After two brutally long hours I managed to herd Katrina away where I gently and respectfully informed her that if she didn’t break up with Mo immediately not only was she the dumbest girl in the world, she would destroy what little respect I had left for teenage girls everywhere and I would have no choice but to sacrifice her and every other teenage girl upon a burning altar before murdering myself for having come here with her in the first place. After a brief deliberation, she agreed.

‘I can’t thank you enough about Mo,’ Katrina was saying to me as she linked her arm to mine and I sighed removing my headphones from my ears. This has become our tango. ‘He is like — exactly what you said he was — what did you call him again?’

‘Scum.’

‘No, to his face.’

‘Putrid scum.’

‘Yeah, that and I can’t believe what he said to you — oh my God you should have seen your face, you were proper shocked.’

‘It was disgusting, if I never see him again it’ll be too bad, because I really want to bang him and not in the way he’d like.’ She laughed happily as she teased her head against my shoulder while we walked and I glanced down at her surprised at this intimate gesture.

‘You are like, so cool Ri, I’m so happy we’re in the same class — I’m so happy about Mo! He could go ahead and juice up Selam all he likes because I — Am Free!’ She threw her arms up drawing everyone in the corridors attention as I turned to her amused.

‘Do I even want to know what ‘juice up’ means?’ She laughed scrunching up her nose and shaking her head as a tall dark figure stepped past my peripheral vision and I froze. I spun around as Katrina looked at me confused, and the tall dark figure turned to face me, matching my shocked expression.

‘Daiquiri?’ He said as my face lit up in a smile.

‘Ricky?’ I answered as he swung his signature cap around his head and rushed over, swooping me up into a tight hug.

*

I have always prided myself on my ability to predict actions others might take. And not in a Sherlock-Holmes-during-a fight way, just in a normal sizing-up-of-their-personality-and-weighing-up-of-the-most-likely-scenarios-that-could-play-out way. Not exactly a ‘Welcome to the Avengers’ superpower but still, I’m rarely ever wrong. Daiquiri the Curve Ball Dodger, that was always me. But as I stand in my kitchen reading the first three words of a life changing text from Rachel, I realise it’s time to hand in my cape, because not only was I wrong about everything in life, I was darn right Gob Smacked. Rachel Lexi Martins — was in jail.

*

‘Ahhh!’ My mum screams as she slams open my bedroom door, and I barely flinch while I stare into the screen of my phone, re-reading Rachel’s text for the seventh time. I’m in Jail. ‘Guess what Daiquiri!?’ Rachel’s in jail and everything I know about people and life is a lie? ‘We’re going to Mexico!’

‘What?’ She snatches my phone as I lean up to face her, the picture of teenage outrage. ‘Mum!’

‘Daiquiri, we’re going…to Mexico!’ A brief pause as a sudden wave of panic washes over me while I stare up at my mothers beaming happy expression.

‘Wait…what? When? Can we even afford to go to Mexico?’

‘No, we’re hijacking a plane to go- of course we can! Now stand up this instant and jump up and down!’ She jigs side-to-side in the small space of my doorframe as my eyes widen in shock.

‘I can’t go to Mexico, Rachel-’

‘Don’t care! I’m going to go tell your father I’ve booked it. Ahhh! Mexico here we come! Everything is looking up!’ She rushes down the hall and disappears down the stairs as I stare into the space she left speechlessly.

Great.

I’m going to Mexico, and Rachel’s incarcerated. Could I be a worst best friend?

*

‘Why are you taking the blame?’ Ricky says as we sit in the grass against the back gate at the back of the college building while we hide from the rest of our peers, and I’m not even ashamed to say, Katrina.

‘Because I’ve always been the one to protect Rachel, and since I’ve started college, I’ve not been in contact with her at all.’

‘So naturally that’s your fault?’

‘Well yeah kinda, I’m her only friend and vice versa.’

‘She’s not your only friend, you have me and always will, but anyway I don’t see it, you don’t talk to her for a month and a bit and it’s your fault she gets herself caught up with the wrong people and arrested for a day and a half while she writes out a ‘witness report’ on this ambiguous incident she hasn’t even explained to you yet?’ I sigh sensing I’m losing my point.

‘I’m not saying I’m taking responsibility for the decisions she made, I’m just saying had I made more of an effort to stay in contact with her, my best friend, maybe I would have been able to protect her from this.’

‘Don’t you see each other every week at Church? If she wanted to tell you she would have told you right?’

‘Well…yeah, sort of but-’

‘Sorry, I don’t buy it Daiya. If she’s got herself all mixed up with these bad people it’s something she did out of her own will. It’s got nothing to do with you at all.’ I look up at Ricky as he adjusts his cap up and down on his head before meeting my gaze. I smile.

‘You know it’s been around six years since I’ve heard someone call me Daiya.’ He smiles, lighting up his chocolate brown face as I feel my heart come alive in my chest.

‘I’m glad I’m still the only one then. Daiya.’ He holds my gaze as he takes my hand. ‘I meant what I said before…in the corridor-’

‘There you guys are!’ Katrina yells as we dart around to face her from behind the gate and wait for the words busted to float in the air above us. She steps through the gap in the gate as I look up at her suddenly immensely uncomfortably. ‘Having a little second base fun before lesson hm?’ I pull my hand from under Ricky’s as we stand, patting the grass from our legs while Katrina pulls me through the gate linking her arm to mine. ‘Let’s go, we’ve got Claire today, she looks so pissed off. Stupid cow, maybe she got diabetes finally-’

‘Daiquiri!’ We stop as I turn to Ricky while he places his hands in his pockets smiling. ‘When I said I loved you, I meant it.’ Katrina turns to me as her cheeks tint red and heat flushes over my face followed by instant nausea and dread. I spin around pacing towards the Performing Arts building while Katrina’s tiny five-foot-five body struggles to keep up with me and I try to thwart my anxiety attack.

So many dilemma’s at once, not enough ostriches in the world.

*