The Big Book of Bondage by Alison Tyler

Author:Alison Tyler
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Cleis Press
Published: 2012-12-13T05:00:00+00:00

DOUBLE DUTCH

Giselle Renarde

Damn, girl!” Nakesha tore Jansey’s rope away. Hurling it to the ground, she stomped on it with the ball of her foot like she was crushing a cigarette. “How many times we been over this? It’s Crouger first, then into the Awesome Annie.”

“I know, okay? I made a mistake.” Jansey bent to pick up her jump rope, but Nakesha’s foot wasn’t moving. In her peripheral vision, she noticed Ruby and Beatriz skulking at her sides. She felt claustrophobic between the pair.

“Yeah, and what’s with all the doubles?” Ruby sucked her teeth. Jansey hated that noise. “There’s just the two doubles to start things off, then into the triples and quads.”

“I was only marking it this time.” Jansey’s voice sounded small and weak, even to her. “I’ll do it right in competition, obviously.”

Beatriz muttered “lazy ass” under her breath, but loud enough for Jansey to hear. Why was everybody always picking on her? They made mistakes too.

“And when you gonna cut your hair?” Nakesha folded her arms in front of her chest, and Jansey watched her spandex suit shimmer under the fluorescents. “All that little Dutch girl frizz gonna get caught up in your rope one day.”

Jansey ran her fingers through her ponytail. It wasn’t all that frizzy, was it? “Well, what about Ruby and Beatriz?” she shot back. “They have long hair too.”

“Ah, yes,” Ruby mocked, petting her hair like it was a fur coat. “But my fine Oji-Cree tresses don’t tangle.”

“Neither do my lovely Spanish locks,” Beatriz said in that same teasing tone.

Ruby shot Beatriz a glare that seemed to say don’t steal my thunder. “Yeah, well, Indian hair is sacred, bitch.”

Nakesha put her foot down. “Women! We’ve been a team too long to start getting catty now. You two shut your yaps and, Jansey, cut your hair.”

She didn’t want to. She liked her hair. “You guys are bullies, you know that?”

“Yeah?” Nakesha swooped down to grab Jansey’s red plastic rope and stretched it out end to end. Those arms of hers were toned, all sleek black muscle. She was the fittest of them all. “Well, learn the routine and we won’t bully you so much.”

“I know the routine!” Jansey sounded whiny now, and she knew that wouldn’t go over well, but why did the girls have to be so mean?

Jansey held out her hand, silently asking for her rope back, but Nakesha didn’t give it. Beatriz said, “White girls can’t jump rope,” and they all laughed. All except Jansey, of course.

“If I couldn’t jump, I wouldn’t be on the team,” she spat, hoping that was actually true. “Anyway, how would you feel if I said Indian or Black or Spanish girls couldn’t jump? Huh?”

Ruby and Beatriz exchanged cunning grins before creeping up at her sides like Nakesha’s henchmen. Grabbing Jansey’s arms, the girls pulled them behind her back so hard it hurt.

“Oh, but we can jump,” Nakesha said. “That’s the difference.” And she tied Jansey’s wrists together with that translucent devil-red jump rope. “You wanna see a solid routine? We’ll give you a show.

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