by Karys M.

Krenshaw was in the storage room of her parents’ house in California going through all her old clothes and homework assignments her parents had saved from her middle and high school years.
 
She was in the middle of reading an old childhood book called Purple, Green and Yellow about a little girl who gets her hands on some magical coloring markers, when her cell phone rang.
 
Before Krenshaw could answer, the call was automatically accepted. Krenshaw figured the phone was pressed up against one of the bags of clothes.
 
Suddenly, she was facetiming with Dre and three of his family members. 

Krenshaw and Dre had dated a few times. They had a great connection and Krenshaw was excited about him, but despite his declared interest in her, Krenshaw was put off by his mixed messages. Sometimes he was cold, avoidant, and insensitive to her basic emotional needs. She was surprised when she would come over and instead of hanging out and talking to get to know her, he would spend much of his time watching TV and scrolling through TikTok, without even including her. She also didn’t understand why she felt like he wanted her gone in the morning after she slept over. He’d be great at cuddling and intimacy the night before, but by morning, it was like there was something repulsive about her that he needed to get away from. It was strange, really, because she knew he liked her, but too often she felt like she put herself out there in front of him, as if she was ready to do a trust fall, and instead of being there to catch her, she’d end up on the ground. He had told her it was too soon to be her support system, which she respected. But at the same time, she felt like if they could be physically intimate with each other, it wasn’t unreasonable to seek emotionally intimacy from him when she going through a hard time. 
 
The phone was facing towards the ceiling, so Krenshaw’s face wasn’t visible. She was confused why he had called her, but figured it was accidental and he had unknowingly merged the call with his family, not knowing she was on the phone.  
 
Krenshaw wasn’t sure if she should chime in and let him know she was on the line and could hear what his whole family was talking about. But just then another person joined the group call. Dre introduced them.
 
“Hey guys, so now we’ve got mom and Jacob and Ivan and Krenshaw on the line.”

Jacob and Ivan were Dre’s brothers. Their kids were also visible on the screen.
 
Krenshaw wasn’t sure why she was invited to this group video chat. She didn’t want to be rude, but she was having so much fun reading her old school papers and picture books and just wanted to get off the phone.
 
She debated hanging up but didn’t want to be insensitive to Dre’s needs like he was to hers. Just because he was flat with Krenshaw sometimes didn’t mean she had to stoop to his low level of engagement. Krenshaw was a warm person. She appreciated tenderness and reassurance and expected those same things out of all her lovers or romantic interests.
 
Instead of hanging up, she decided to turn the volume all the way down, then continued her trip down memory lane.
 
She finished the book a few minutes later. It was even better than when she had read it as a kid.

Karys M. writes absurdist short stories. They are exceedingly short. They are exceedingly absurd. If you happen to have read one and didn’t get it, then you did. Karys has played in rock bands, received an honors degree in journalism from NYU, a masters degree in counterterrorism and homeland security, worked in a bagel store, performed in an NBA pre-game show and done ghost-writing for public figures…