sips by Ch’aska Cuba de Reed Content Warning: Sexual References
Coffee (grounds) I am in my school uniform, it’s early and I’ve barely slept from being on my phone all night. I am beckoned to the kitchen by the promise of caffeine keeping me awake through classes, and drinking coffee makes me feel like an adult. My father taught me how to use our stove top coffee pot; it gives me a routine that grounds me. There’s a text on my phone from my manager who I have a crush on. He’s older than my big brother, which makes him five years my senior. It’s probably banter of some sort, or maybe asking if I’d like to do a closing shift with him and get a lift home. The text is a joke about my favourite ice cream brand; it’s crude and immature — “I love bjs.” Because it comes from someone older, I ignore my gut instinct to cringe and instead idealise it. I drink my coffee with two sugars and milk; all my teeth are sweet.
Rooibos tea In the mornings, I wake up to my boyfriend turning off the alarm I’ve slept through. I fetch us both a mug of tea and a plate of toast. I have mine with sugar at first but over the months, it becomes easier to make them both without, and not worry which one I’m sipping from. He’s the first boy I’ve been in love with and I want to curl myself around and around him like a little live wire. I can’t imagine we will ever end. Sometimes I make jokes about eloping or tattooing each other’s names on ourselves, even though I know this is silly. We got back late last night from Parsley Bay, where we frequently drive in my old car and go for midnight swims. That night we heard foxes, but they sounded like wolves and we laughed in fear with each other.
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