“I hate him!” JR stated, slamming her bag on the table.

 “Huh!” Gus muttered, his eyes not moving from the XBox, his fingers keeping up their steady rhythm on the controls.

 “Gus?”

 “What?”

 “I said I’m going to kill you!”

 “Yeah whatever.”

 The thud of a book, hitting him on the side of the head, causing him let out a loud ‘ouch’, finally got his attention.

 “What was that for?” He asked his sister, rubbing his hand over his head.

 “You’re not listening to me!” JR yelled. “But then what else would I expect from a boy. You’re all the same!”

 “Hey, calm down and tell your big brother - - what’s the matter.” He replied, jumping up and throwing his arm over his sister’s shoulders.

 She shrugged him off and dropped down onto the floor, wrapping her arms around her knees.

 “Don’t fucking patronize me[,] Gus!” JR fumed. “I’m not one of your blonde bimbos.”

 “They’re not all blonde.” Gus replied, settling next to his sister.

“Maybe not, but they’re all bimbos!” JR retorted.

 Gus considered that for a moment.

 “Yeah you’re right, they are!”

 JR looked at her brother, a smile twitching at her lips momentarily before dropping her head onto her knees.

 “Come on sis, what’s Jim done now?”

 “His name is Tim!” JR mumbled, not lifting her head.

 “Whatever.” Gus shrugged. “So you gonna tell me what he did?”

 “He told me that unless I ‘put out’, as he so nicely described it, we were over[,]” JR said then burst into tears.

 “Fucking asshole….I’ll kill him!” Gus yelled, scrambling to his feet but JR pulled him back to the floor.

 “Thanks for the offer, but I don’t think visiting you in jail every Saturday will go down too well with the old folk.” JR replied. “And anyways, I can take care of myself.”

 Gus looked at his sister, her dark brown eyes defiant despite her tear stained cheeks. He had to admit he wouldn’t like to be in Tim’s shoes at the moment.

His Uncle Michael described JR as a pocket size dynamo[,] and having seen her in action with some of his buddies, he had to agree.

 “So you’re not going to…you know….”

 “Have sex with him?”

 “Yeah.” Gus replied, feeling slightly uncomfortable discussing sex with his sixteen year old sister.

 “Of course I’m not!” JR yelled. “I’m not one of your….”

 “Bimbos!” Gus laughed.

 “I mean, I like him…”

 “You just said you hated him!” Gus replied, not sure he was going to be able to keep up with his sister on this one.

 “I do….but I liked him too.” JR shook her head. “You don’t understand!”

 “Course I don’t.” Gus agreed, thinking that was probably the best course of action at the moment.

 “What?” JR looked stunned at her brothers admission.

 “Listen, JR. I change girlfriends like you change your hairstyle. Do you ever wonder why that is?”

 “Variety is the spice of life?” JR teased.

 “Yeah, there’s that. But honestly…girls confuse me… they say one thing and mean another.”

 “Of course we do.” JR grinned. “How else would we keep you guys interested. Being mysterious is part of our plan.”

 “What plan?” Gus asked, confusion crossing his face.

 “Our plan to get you just where we want you, and then tell you to fuck off cause we’ve found someone better.”

 “Really?” Gus looked stunned.

 JR gave her brother a shove.

 “Of course not.” She laughed.

 Gus wasn’t so sure about that but he was pleased to see JR smiling.

 “So what are you gonna do about Tim?” He asked.

 “Dump him.” JR said firmly, but Gus noticed her eyes were damp with unshed tears.

 “Listen, JR.” he said, his voice serious. “You’re doing the right thing. You know why?”

 JR shook her head, even though Gus could tell that tears were close.

 “Because you are worth a thousand of him. He doesn’t deserve you,  and one day you’ll meet someone who respects you and deserves your love.”

 “Oh Gus….” JR threw her arms around her brother, burying her head in his shoulder, and he could feel the dampness of her tears through his shirt.

 He let her cry, handing her handed a tissue when she finally pulled away from him.

 “You know what?” She said, her voice breaking.

 “What?”

 “For a boy, you’re okay.”