Page 2 of The Broposal

The blue minivan—Kenny’s dream car—was waiting in the apartment lot as I made my way downstairs. As soon as I opened the back door and scooted in, Jackie looked at me and then turned back to Kenny.

“What’s he supposed to be?” she asked. Jackie was the type of person who talked about me instead of to me when she was in a mood. Meaning, she was still mad at me from the other day,when she asked why I never laughed at her jokes and I made the mistake of telling her the truth: I didn’t find them funny.

“Hecan hear you.” I didn’t bother hiding my irritation. “And he’s obviously a cowboy.” I knew it was risky to get snarky with Jackie, but what did she expect? Her cold shoulder thing kind of depended on me being the only one to notice. Calling attention to it just made her look like an asshole, and with Tatiana as a newly introduced wildcard for Jackie, she wouldn’t want her first impression getting too tainted. As expected, she turned to respond to me directly.

“No offense, but if you’re going with the Wild West theme, wouldn’t a Native American costume be more appropriate?”

“Seriously?” I rolled my eyes, and Tatiana shifted uncomfortably next to me.

“Babe, that’s a little…” Kenny started, but Jackie was already backtracking.

“I was joking!” Jackie threw her hands up in exasperation. She sounded casual, but her usually pale cheeks were now almost as red as her hair. “Jesus, tough crowd. Let’s just go.”

Kenny obeyed, and Tatiana was quick to change the subject.

“So? How do I look?” she asked. Tatiana’s gold tiara kept the long black hair of her wig out of her face. She looked like she belonged on the big screen.

“You look hot,” I said. “Err, am I still allowed to say that?” I rubbed the back of my neck. I’d never been an expert in saying the right thing.

“You’re allowed to state facts, yes.” Tatiana grinned, and I let out a little laugh.

It didn’t take long for me to notice that neither Kenny nor Jackie was in costume. Even though I knew Kenny had plannedan outfit—I’d helped him make it and everything. Instead, he was wearing his usual oversized sweater and ripped jeans.

“What happened to Dracula?” I blurted out.

Kenny slumped his shoulders, but Jackie responded for him.

“I just don’t love Kenny wearing makeup, you know? Doesn’t suit him right,” she said, as if it were totally normal to keep Kenny from wearing what he wanted.

“You know there’ll be dudes in makeup where we’re going, right?” I said, trying not to sound antagonistic.

I could hear Jackie’s eye roll in her tone. “Obviously.Kennyis different.”

“He’s not—” I started, but Kenny finally spoke up.

“It’s okay, Han. You did a great job on the costume, but it was a little itchy. That part was my bad. I’m fine going casual,” he said, talking slightly faster than normal.

“Nothing wrong with going casual,” Jackie said, turning to give me a glare that said I needed to shut the hell up. But her eyes found the backpack on the floor by my feet, and her face turned bright pink from embarrassment before snapping to the side. She stared stiffly out the window so her blush wasn’t too noticeable, but I saw it.

The backpack was Kenny’s “sex bag.” He had this bag stocked with condoms, lube, even things like handcuffs, rope, and sex toys—Kenny was a kinky motherfucker—and he would take it with him whenever he was meeting up with Jackie. I guess it was more convenient than just carrying condoms around in your pocket? I don’t know. Apparently, Jackie wasn’t fond of Kenny leaving it in the car when there were other people around. I had half a mind to rummage through it, pretending to be looking for a snack or something. She’d just take it out on Kenny though.

Once we made it to the main streets, the world outside the car windows started to zoom past faster than I was comfortable with.

“Whoa, slow down, bro.” Kenny tended to have a lead foot when he was stressed, but I couldn’t stand being in a speeding car. We’d be more likely to get pulled over, and that meant cops. I couldn’t be too careful, especially when US citizens were getting thrown in cages indefinitely for not having their papers on them.

“Sorry, Han,” Kenny said, his tone a bit flustered. But he slowed down, no doubt understanding the edge in my voice for what it was. Still, my anxiety took a few minutes to settle.

“Quit back-seat driving,” Jackie said when she noticed me glancing at the speedometer.

I wanted to defend myself, but I couldn’t saywhyI needed Kenny not to speed without outing myself as undocumented. So I held my tongue. If it was anyone but Jackie, Kenny would have defended me in a heartbeat, but he kept quiet. I shifted my focus out the window, ignoring the pang in my chest.

Now seemed like a good time to channel that jellyfish energy. If I tried hard enough, I could go back to polyp, too. Replacing stress with a calming childhood memory was a trick I’d been doing for as long as I could remember.

Close your eyes. Breathe steady. Remember where you came from.

My breath slowed, the sound of cars zooming past enveloped my imagination, and the scene filled out.

Zooming child-sized cars raced all around a large fountain in the middle of my favorite childhood park in Mexico. Children laughed and screamed as they pedaled for their lives. One of those screams was my own.

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