Page 84 of I Can't Even Think Straight
Their long hair is in a high ponytail.
Jenny and Obi compliment Vass
on their outfit and rainbow-colored nails.
It’s the first time in ages
I’ve seen Vass with short nails.
Coach hands Vass a fresh-out-the-box
youth squad T-shirt to change into.
Vass holds the T-shirt at arm’s length
between their thumb and index finger,
like it’s the tail of a small, dead rodent.
“This is a hate crime,” jokes Vass.
Jenny, Obi, and several others laugh.
Matt shakes his head disapprovingly
and looks at me sternly,
as if Vass’s sense of humor is my fault.
Visibly flustered,
our usually unbothered coach
explains that the purpose
of the youth squad T-shirts
is to tell the teens
apart from the adults.
“It’s part of our child-protection policy,”
Coach says earnestly.
“I was only joking,” says Vass.
They pull the youth squad T-shirt on
over their tank top.
“Nothing to say you can’t customize it,”
Obi says to Vass, as a consolation.
His thumbs point back to himself
sporting his own sleeveless version.
