on the Hughes sisters. on the Hughes sisters.Occasionally, if I’m lucky, my phone gets overturned and forgotten for a few minutes, or it’s stuck in a coat pocket in a closet and out of reach, or its battery dies. When I return, I’ll have dozens of texts waiting for me, all from Cheetah Sisters, the group text I share with my younger siblings. It is a free-for-all, chock full of memes and attacks and requests to “PLEASE CLOSE MY DOOR WHEN YOU EXIT MY ROOM, JERMANE” and appeals for advice and the dredges of real-life arguments and an unending stream of ugly photos of one another. Mostly, though, it’s a place for our inside jokes: the manifestation of our intimacy, a language all our own.
We don’t come from a close-knit family—no hugging, no crying, no lessons learned—so we just text constantly, and feel comfortable staying in touch at arm’s length. We don’t come from a close-knit family, yet we text constantly, and I find myself choking back laughter whenever I read the scrollback, often only contributing “SCREAMING” to the melee, trying and failing to explain a joke with 15-year-old roots to an IRL bystander. The group text has strengthened our bonds, just as it’s possible that age or time or our parents’ divorce or the weight of the world has made us lean in closer to one another, as sisters. Ending up with these four people is just the luck of the draw: none of us chose each other, so I wanted to know if we even liked each other, if we would choose each other if we could. I wondered what, if anything, would make us friends.
Jazmine: I am 25. I live in New York City.
Jermane is 23. She lives in New Haven, Connecticut, with our father. She is bossy, which is why everyone hates her, but she is often right.
Javonne is 20 and a junior at Johnson & Wales. Her twin, Javonda, lives in New Haven and is planning to move to California.
J’Mari is 18. She lives in New Haven, too.
Jessie is the dog.
JAZMINE OK! First question: Do we like each other?
I like you guys now. I still think you are all jerks.
JERMANE U alright
JAVONDA I like you all cuz I’m supposed to. But J’Mari would be that friend I talk to in class and only cuz I have nobody and I’d never talk to Jermane. Maybe only to get study guide answers or something. Javonne is the bestie and Jazmine is the cool kid I want to notice me.
JAZMINE When did you start to like everyone?
You guys all loved me when I moved out
JERMANE Once the twins graduated from high school I started to like them more
I’ve always liked J’Mari
JAVONDA Yeah Jazz you’ve always been cool. J’Mari has just been the baby so I think we secretly liked her. And Jermane has been back and forth
JERMANE I literally do nothing to you people.
JAZMINE I sort of like Jermane. She’s OK.
J’MARI I like y’all
I just prefer the dog
And I’ve always liked y’all. But it wasn’t until last year that me and Nonda became best friends
JAZMINE DID YOU GUYS KNOW THAT J’MARI AND JAVONDA ARE BEST FRIENDS
SHE TOLD ME AND I CRIED
J’MARI BEST FRIENDS!!
JAVONDA THIS IS A FORCED FRIENDSHIP I’VE BEEN TRYING TO REACH OUT FOR HELP
J’MARI She’s just joking
JAZMINE Nonda, do you not want to be best friends with your little sister?
JAVONDA Nah, on some real J’Mari and I are only homies because I don’t have any friends. And Jermane is mean to me.
JERMANE I’M NOT MEAN
JAVONDA 
JAZMINE Javonda, does J’Mari keep you less lonely?
Will you talk to her every day after you move to Cali?
Is Javonne your best friend?
J’MARI No I am.
JAVONDA Yeah J’Mari is like my new dog I bought because of a tragedy or something
I’ll snap her when I’m in Cali! Maybe call to bother her or be random
But Javonne is da GOAT
JAZMINE J’Mari, are you gonna miss Nonda when she moves?
JAVONDA THE PEOPLE WANNA KNOW LAME-ARI
I feel bad tho for leaving her alone
She only has the pups
Yo we need friends :’(
J’MARI Nah I won’t miss her that much I have the dog
JAVONDA :/
JAZMINE Would you guys say that you’re closer to your sisters than your random friends?
J’MARI Yeeeee
JERMANE I guess but not really
JAZMINE Say more
JAVONDA Ummm yes and no. I don’t tell them my business but we’re always together, and I act stupid and don’t have my guard up when I’m home
JERMANE ^^^^
JAZMINE Am I your friend?
JAVONDA Yeah, you’re the cool sis
JERMANE Jaz, you’re everyone’s friend.
JAVONDA #facts
JAZMINE But am I your COOL SIS or your friend?
Because a cool big sister is sort of a one-way thing, right?
Like I don’t call and tell you about my life
And friendship is a two-way street
JERMANE Yeah, you’re the cool sis but we can tell you everything and you’d spit truth
JAVONDA Mmmhmm
JAZMINE I’M CRINE
THANK YOU
OK here’s a question
Do you guys love each other
Even if you don’t like each other
JAVONDA Um I guess we love each other
(the dog wrote that)
J’MARI Yeah I guess too
JAVONNE I came back to, like, eighty messages to read and I will not.
Someone fill me in if you want an answer from me.
JAVONDA Jazmine is interviewing us
Asking if we’re all friends or just sisters pretty much
JAZMINE Yes
Are we your friends
And do you love us?
JAVONNE Um I think we’re all . . . sisters
Me and Javonda are friends but sisters with everyone else. Like we’re cool duh but I’m not gonna voluntarily text you all for no reason, besides Javonda.
And of course I love you all. “Blood is thicker than water.” *rolls eyes* but there are mad snakes in the world and your fam is the only true blue so I have mad love for you all
(not really true but u know)
JAVONDA RT 
JERMANE Yeah I guess
JAZMINE I’M CRINE
Did you guys always feel this way
Or did it happen recently, after you got old and mature
JERMANE Within the past few years
Like, I never understood why mommy CALLED Auntie Sherri
JAVONNE Maturity def
JAVONDA Forreal! I never understood why she called her either but now I get it.
JAZMINE Do you guys call each other?
JAVONNE Only Nonda. So no.
JERMANE Nope.
We all live together
JAVONNE One time I wanted to text J’Mari but I forgot lol
JAVONDA I think we’ll only call if it’s been 10 lunar eclipses and we’re super bored and wanna freak the other sister out
JAZMINE Yeah, sometimes when I call you guys to say hi you freak out
But I thought we were all besties?
Maybe you hate the phone?
JAVONDA Who hates the phone? Only Lame-ari does
JAZMINE Yeah I called her yesterday and it sucked
J’MARI :/
JAVONDA Her ratings aren’t the best
You should’ve checked Yelp before you called her
JAZMINE Why doesn’t anyone call me then?
JAVONDA You’re a star. I kinda assume you’re always busy or drinking wine or sobering up from drinking wine
JAZMINE What does sisterhood mean to you all?
JAVONNE Being there through the I-hate-yous and mess ups and still being sisters and having one’s back and loving them and junk
JAVONDA Um that unbreakable bond through thick and thin, even though we hate each other
JERMANE Nonda came to preach!
JAVONDA U know I spit facts
JAZMINE J’Mari,
Hello
What does sisterhood mean to you?
J’MARI Having sisters.
