“Minnie! Minnie!” I call, jumping off my bike before racing toward the entrance.
Loud cheers and screams erupt from the sitting room as I struggle out of my shoes. Believing something is wrong, I barge in with a fisted palm, only to find Pa and Minnie jumping and clapping in front of the TV, cheering for a basketball game.
“Santi! Santi! Santi! Santi!” They both cheer, oblivious to my arrival.
My shoulders drop in relief with a sigh. Right, it's basketball season. Pa made it his mission to become obsessed with everything his children are obsessed with, and since Santi—Hazalu’s most famous basketballer—is Minnie's idol, their team automatically became his favorite team, and every basketball season, the house turns into a live stadium with Pa and Minnie screaming on top on their voices.
“Naiguso,” I greet at the top of my voice, lowering the bags I’m carrying onto the center table
“Luke! Come come come! We’re about to win!” Pa drags me in front of the TV.
They always forget I know nothing about competitive sports, nor do I have any interest in learning. Every season I’m shoved in front of the TV and for an hour on game night, I fight the boredom, eventually dozing off. Though I have no interest in sports, the liveness and bubbliness they bring to my house and neighborhood are gratifying, I’m now incredibly glad I decided to pay the electricity bill earlier than planned, the night could only get better.
A basket is made and Pa and Minnie leap to their feet with a loud scream. All across the neighborhood, the cheering rings through the air. In jubilation, Pa and Minnie proceed to dance around me with ridiculous grasshopper dance steps. Chanting, clapping, shaking me.
“Heiiiiiiiii!!!!!!” I shake them off when the annoying kisses start, like I am the one who made the basket. “Enough, mhhm, don’t you people never get tired?” Pa smacks me on the head and I wince.
“Why do you like ruining the mood, Luke.”
“I’m tired, Pa,” I grumble “Everywhere hurts.”
“Where? Show me.” They begin massaging my entire body, pressing me all over. “My son’s body is paining him! What do we do?”
“Let's pour him hot water, or beat his back with raffia,” Minnie suggests in a rather dramatic tone.
“Or let's use grinding wood and roll on his back and leg,” Pa says.
“We’ll rub his hand with olive oil,” Minnie continues, lifting up my right hand by the wrist, “this holy hand that paid the electricity bill.”
“Ah yes,” Pa lifts my left hand by the wrist. “This hand must be so heavy from paying the electricity bill.” He presses it, massaging the back of my palm with his thumb. “My son's hand must be so tired, eh, carrying all that money.”
I snort a quiet laugh, shaking my head from the ridiculousness. “Both of you, stop it,” I protest softly.
“What of these holy legs that walked to the ATM and paid for the bill?” Minnie says.
“I paid for it on my phone.”
“Oh, those holy fingers that pressed the buttons.” Minnie begins blowing air on my fingers and Pa joins.
“ARGHHH!” I shove them off. “If both of you don’t stop I’m going to drop dead right now!”
“I know don’t why you look like me if you’re going to behave like your mother, mm?” Pa says with a little smile and I pout.
“Who says I look like you.”
With a chuckle, he wraps his arms around me, burying his nose in my hair and Minnie hugs both of us from behind me. Squeezed in between both of them, I can hardly feel my body, but this feels nice, and so very warm. Pa smells like curry and firewood, and Minnie must’ve showered when she returned from practice cause she smells like her orange-scented soap. My body relaxes into our sandwich hug and I release a little breath.
“Thaki. Thaki,” Pa whispers.
“It’s just the electricity bill, Pa,” I reply.
“Uh…” he nods and says nothing else.
“Uncle Kla says there might be a new job opening at a friend's security agency.”
“Mhmm?” Pa says, leaning back. “Is that so?”
“No need to get our hopes up. Just wanted to let you know.”
“You will get the job,” Pa says, patting my shoulder.
I have no idea how he still manages to be hopeful in the face of all the rejections we have been through, but I nod with a smile and let the good feeling rest between us. Today could only get better and I want it to stay this way as long as possible.
“What's in the bag?” Minnie asks.
Without receiving an answer, she rushes to open it and her eyes widen. The next few minutes go in the exact manner I knew it would, with Minnie screaming, and Pa screaming along with her. I got the shoe, too, so it’s double screaming and more intense rigorous shaking of my body because as it seems, that is the only way to express joy: shaking me until I get a headache.
My heart could burst from the sheer joy of watching both of them lose their mind over fancy ice cream and then the shoe, and then the fancy ice cream again, and then the shoe again. Minnie tries on the shoes and they’re a perfect fit. Refusing to take it off, she carries the ice cream to the kitchen, dumps four in the fridge, and returns with three bowls and two different flavors.
With the help of Pa, the ice cream is shared evenly between the three of us. And though it's almost midnight, Pa doesn’t hound us about going to bed early. We sit on the floor around the center table and retell childhood stories, making fun of our neighbors and then Ma. There is so much laughter and so much joy that would turn a fig tree green.
***
“Luke… Luke…” a gentle voice calls to me and I gradually begin to wake. “Your father has made you warm cocoa.” He chuckles. “With a splash of cinnamon.” His wide palm rubs my back gently as I wake with a low purr in my throat.
“Wakey wakey…” I hear Minnie say with a giggle in her throat.
Groggily, I sit up from the floor, the drowsiness preventing me from seeing clearly. “Naiguso…” I mutter.
“Naiguso te,” I hear Minnie say before slurping on something I cannot see.
Pa wraps his palm around mine and hands me something hot. “Don’t let it slip.”
I look down and it's the warm cup of cocoa. Rich brown drink with a sprinkling of cinnamon on it. My face puffs up with a smile. “Thaki, Pa.”
“Kin deru te,” you’re welcome, he says, ruffling my head as he rises from the floor and stomps back to the kitchen.
My gaze trails to where Minnie sits on the floor, her back against the sofa as she slurps on her cocoa. I wave at her playfully and she does the same, we are both too exhausted to speak, the tiredness is evident in her eyes. It was 2 a.m. last night before we curled up in different corners of the sitting room and dozed off after hours of telling stories, and when my eyes finds the old brown wall clock, it’s barely 8 a.m.
It's Sunday morning, and from how I can barely see the trees outside, I suspect winter fog has doubled down on Hazalu. Pa stomps back into the sitting room with a large tray of cake bun and I crawl to the table. He makes the best cake buns, glazed with milk and banana pudding.
“Let's go snail hunting today,” Pa suggests. “The weather is terrible, which means all the snails are out of their homes.” He slices a bun and layers on some butter before dropping it on Minnie's plate.
“I’m so sleepy,” I whine, dropping my head on the table.
“When I was your age, I used to thrive on three-hour sleep. This generation, I don’t understand.” He clicks his tongue. I pass Minnie a look at we both roll our eyes.
My phone chimes and I slip it out of my pocket, sitting up straight when I see the name on the screen. “Uncle kla…” I mutter, my brows elevating in surprise. He asked me to call him, if he is calling me first this can either be very bad news or very good news.
“Well answer it,” Pa urges impatiently.
I swipe on the button and bring it to my. “Morning, Uncle,” I greet and hold my breath, bracing myself for the worst.
Minnie and Pa, stare at me intently as I listen attentively to what Uncle is saying, simply nodding and responding with short sentences. It takes less than two minutes before I’m thanking him for his time and hanging up.
“And?” Minnie asks, almost instantly.
“It's not available,” I break the news. Pa silently exhales and a minute of silence passes. “Thank you for the bun, Pa, I'll go get some sleep.” I have to admit some part of me was hopeful about the possibility, even though I knew better.
“What did he say the problem is?” Pa asks as I rise from the floor.
“Pa, it”s alright…” I stretch.
“What did he say?” Pa repeats.
“They’re only hiring female bodyguards.” I shrug, lifting my plate to return to my room. “It’s alright Pa, there will always be another one. Let's go snail hunting in the evening.” He nods and I turn around, dragging my feet to the stairs.
Their silence is so loud, I can hear it banging through every fiber of my being. This is why I detest coming back home with the hopes of a job. I should've known better than to mention it, at least until I was sure the job was mine. But everything seemed so bright and possible last night. We’ll get through it, like we always do, for now, I have a fan blog that's desperate for attention.
“Luke,” Minnie calls and I turn back. “You know, if you wear a wig, you'd look just like a girl,” she says, and for a moment, I think I might have heard wrong.
“What?” I narrow my eyes at her.
“Uh, if you wear a wig, you look just like a woman, you have the body for it and everything. Right Pa?” She turns to Pa with the question and he mumbles something I can’t make out.
“Minnie, sometimes pretend I'm older than you. You can't joke with anything eh.”
“Who said I'm joking? I really mean it.” Her face is plain with seriousness.
“Are you crazy?”
“You mainly shop at the women's section anyway, you think typical men dress the way you do?”
“My size is only available in the women's section, I don’t do it to impersonate women, Minnie.”
“Why are you making it sound like it’s bad? Are you looking down on women?”
I grip my forehead. “I think I’m having a headache… go and remove that shoe! I didn’t buy it so you’ll wear it in the house!”
“Is it your shoe?” She slurps on her cocoa.
“Ugh! Whatever! I’m going to bed!” I move to turn into the stairs when Pa calls me back.
“It might not be a terrible idea,” Pa says, blinking up at me as my jaw drops.
“Pa!” Has everybody in this house lost their blessed minds? Was there something in the cocoa?
Throwing up his hands in surrender he says, “I only think it's something to consider.”
“That's fraud, Pa.”
“Do you know what I think is fraudulent? The fact that there is no one else more qualified than you, yet no one will hire you because of your race. That is the country we live in, and everyone pretends that's okay, everyone looks the other way. Luke, they have never played fair all your life, why should you? Minnie's idea is something to consider, why not try on some of your mother's clothes?"
“I'm not pretending to be a woman to get a job.”
Pa shrugs and goes back to spreading butter over his cake bun. “They call you a woman for free anyway, you might as well get paid for it.”
My eyes dart from Pa to Minnie and then back to Pa, they sure know how to catch me off guard. With a scoff, I turn and begin the walk to my room. Of course, there is no way I am considering this, I mean, who would? I’m certain there are laws prohibiting this. It's not just about the clothes, or the wigs, or the… make-up? Will have to wear wake-up like a woman? I’m no stranger to make-up, but definitely not ones as enhanced as those women wear, with foundation, different powders, lipstick colors, contouring, blush.
My legs stop in front of my Pa's room, because my heart flutters at the idea of wearing make-up that way, not that I’d even know where to begin.
This is a terrible idea.
A very very terrible idea.
Comments (0)
See all