The bright lights of the hotel were being speckled on the ground by pin shaped droplets of rain. The street lights made the rain be known, too, revealing the downpour in their light streams. I popped my umbrella open, ignoring the valet staring at me from his stand. He was probably wondering where I was going at this late hour. We knew each other, of course, but I didn't like to talk to anyone much. Even having only been here this long, we both knew this. 

Cars were whooshing by, the water being brought up and flushing over the sidewalk. Strangely, it was prettier than I remembered. The spirit of the water, coming up over the sides. The movement of it. My head was down as I went over the cracks in the sidewalk, these now familiar flaws. The rain made bup-bupping sounds on my umbrella as a steady chatter. Big, fat rain. 

It made me wonder about the event I was going to. I wanted to go to as many events as I could on the calendar in the magazine I'd picked up. Some I couldn't make, due to work, but they all sounded interesting. Live music at the record store. A book reading at the local library. Movie showings at the movie theater nearby. Most of all, I wanted to go to Drag Bingo, which was tonight. There was an included picture of the a previous one in the magazine, and evidently it had been going on for a long time. 

And this picture. I'd stared at it for so long. Finally, I had a picture of that boy. The one, who's nametag said Kazuya. His friends called him "Kazu". But, this picture didn't show him as a boy. It showed him as a girl. I wasn't too familiar with drag, but I'd done some research since he'd invited me. I watched some episodes of Rupaul's Drag Race and became intrigued. Seeing what they do, now I really wanted to participate in Drag Bingo. What was it all about? I still didn't understand that world, or what a drag queen is. I'd heard of them before, of course, but never saw one up close. I didn't know anybody who knew what a drag queen was.

And now...I'd been talking with one. I wanted to know all about him. Find out more about his world. Here now was a way to peek inside, about all these things I didn't know about. This other way to live, this freedom kind of living. So free, that you can be a drag queen. 

Too in my thoughts, I didn't realize I'd gotten to the shop's doorstep. I folded my umbrella under the awning, the heavy rain pouring down, making a waterfall. It was nice enough to stand out here under it, with the warm light of the coffeeshop over me, the sound of the rain. But, there were other sounds inside. 

Laughter. So much laughter. I wanted to know what that laughter was about. As I peered inside, for those brief seconds, what I saw...

The boy was with his friend on a low stage, some long wooden boxes put together with what looked like electrical tape. There was a collapsible table on it with a lot of different objects. And what the boy looked like... The smile was the same, but he was prettier. There was no other way to describe it. He wore a white dress with cherries on it, a fluffiness to it. There was a yellowish apron with more fluffiness on top of it, something a housewife would wear. His waist was so different, shaped like a cone. It looked like it hurt. His hair was curly and a light orange, almost an orange golden color. A lime green, thick headband was behind his curled bangs. He wore red lipstick. 

His friend stood next to him, impossibly tall. And in his hands was...

Sound overwhelmed me as I opened the door. 

"Next up, we have this... Colette, what is this?" He held a skull in his hands, from some kind of animal. So many people shouting up at them, calling out what they thought the skull could be. 

"It's a cat skull! Julia found it in the alley!" A goth dressed girl shouted up at him. 

His friend was startled, almost dropping the skull. Ah, but the boy stepped up. He took it in his lace gloved hands, doing a half spin with it, that smile so bright. He reminded me of Hamlet in a way. "This is so cool, I want it!" He squealed, making to kiss it.

"Oh my god, Amelie, if that ends up in your apartment I'm never coming over again!" His friend gasped, and the audience roared with laughter. I found a seat near the door, leaning my umbrella against the table. 

"Mmm, I love it," the boy laughed with them. "Whoever wins this is so lucky!" He put it on the table along with an assortment of...bizarre objects. My eyes squinted, trying to take in what I was seeing.

Still disturbed, his friend went back to the assortment, too, and went behind the table, wheeling something else that I hadn't been able to entirely see until now. My hands gripped my table as I leaned forward, unable to believe what I was seeing.

"Next up, we have this...very creepy wheelchair. Um, who would want this?" He asked. It was made of wood, the wheels overly large and spindly. It only made me wonder about it. Its history. Where had it been? It didn't seem very creepy to me at all. But, the crowd was laughing with him.

"That thing's so cool, too!" The boy exclaimed, walking over to it in his red high heels. He inspected it, squatting down next to it and putting his cheek on the hand rest closest. 

"And next up," his friend said, cheerfully gesturing to the crowd. He pointed at the boy, who was rubbing his cheek on the wheelchair. "We have this lovely drag queen. Thirty-one years old, five foot seven. Who would like to be his new best friend? Because I can't be it anymore." 

The boy let out a loud laugh as the crowd laughed with them. My finger was in front of my mouth, chuckling with them. 

"Tell us about the dildo!" Called out the woman from the record store. I recognized her, wearing a snakeskin cowboy hat in the far corner. Everyone was laughing again at this. I hadn't recognized what she said at first, but as it dawned on me...

"The best for last!" His friend announced, sweeping his hand towards an object behind the table. The boy got up and walked cutely with a bounce in his shoulders to behind the table. He leaned over, and what was in his arms made me grip the tablecloth. I unclenched it, my ears going red. My eyes were so wide, trying to drink in the image. 

Everyone clapped as he stood center stage, hugging tightly a box with a giant dildo on it, an American flag as the backsplash, fireworks all around it. He hugged it, doing a cute little dance with his hips. He put it down on the stage. 

"I believe it needs no introduction," his friend said. "Just behold it, please, because I'm going to be the one taking it home. You'll have to fight me for it." The crowd roared with laughter again. "I'm serious!" He yelled over them, putting his hands on his hips, making them crack up even worse. "You think a drag queen can't fight?! I've got ice picks on my feet, people! What do you have?!" He stepped out of his heels and picked them up, holding them in stabbing positions at the crowd with a menacing face, jabbing at them.

It was chaos, clapping and shouting, all that laughter. I was laughing, too, unable to help myself. All the while, the boy was laughing with them, clapping himself. That grin. It was the most wonderful thing. That kind of happiness he was showing.

I wanted even one drop of that happiness. 

In the end, pieces of paper and stampers were handed to us by a nice Indian guy. I think I caught his name as "Yash". There was a basket full of papers with numbers on them brought onto the stage and put ceremoniously onto the table. The boy took papers out one by one with a flourish of his wrist, and handed them to his friend. His friend would then call out each number, and everyone would look quickly at their papers to see if they had it. They'd blot with the excitement of children every time they found one. I had many numbers, but none of them connected. Every now and again, someone would hold up their paper and shout "BINGO!" The guy called Yash would go and take the paper and bring it to the boy. He'd inspect the numbers as his friend called out various insults to the person who'd shouted Bingo. 

"You have all the numbers, huh? You cheater," he growled. "What are you going to do with this sandwich anyway, huh?" He held up an ordinary sandwich in a zipped plastic bag. "You just ate an entire vat of rabbit stew! You didn't save any for anyone else!" Everyone was rolling with laughter, beside themselves. 

"It's true, I wanted some, and there wasn't any left!" Someone in the crowd shouted over them. 

"I've been watching you," the friend said, pointing at the accused. "I can see everything from this stage. You got up about six times. You're so skinny, where did you put it all? Did you bring a Tupperware? Show it to us!"

The crowd chanted "show it to us!" as the accused almost fell out of his chair laughing, holding his no doubt full belly. 

"You don't need this sandwich! There are starving children in this room, like Yash! Yash needs this sandwich! Look at him!" He pointed at Yash, who was serving coffee to someone. Suddenly the center of attention, he jumped, but the coffee didn't spill a drop. 

Undeterred, he set the server on the table and his hands went to his hips, too. "Well, pay me more, bitch! Then I wouldn't be so skinny!" He yelled, doing a shimmy at him. 

This got the biggest laugh of the night. Even I was caught off guard. My hand was over my mouth, couldn't hide my sounds. Laughing with abandon. Almost crying.

"You dare!" The friend yelled. "We took you off the streets of India, you little-! You were in the background of one of those donate to starving children commercials before we came along!"

"Didn't I also see you on TV in 1948?! Oh, wait no, because I'm not old like you!"

"Donate just one-hundred yen per month, and you, too, can save a starving child like Yash!"

Everyone was helpless with laughter, including me. Tiny tears were at the far edges of my eyes. I went to wipe them. But, I caught something else instead. 

The boy was staring at me, his mouth wide open, the Bingo paper in his hands forgotten. 

"Amelie, the results, please?" His friend said, snatching the paper away. "Ah, I see. I see. You win, this time! Everyone give Hiran a round of applause! He won the mystery sandwich!" Everyone clapped, and I did, too. Really giving it to him. Hiran stood up and bowed several times. 

I wiped a tear from my eye, smiling so much that my cheeks hurt. When was the last time that had happened? Whenever it was, I couldn't remember it. I clapped so hard, feeling like this. This unknown feeling. This happiness.

Everyone was leaving, and I'd watched them all swap prizes with those who had won. Negotiating for the things they'd wanted, no arguments, but polite conversations. Others went up to friends and held their hands, asking them things that I could only guess at due to the volume in the room. There was nice music playing, too, and on stage the table now stood empty. 

Then, behind me, I heard familiar voices.

"What are you going to do with that? No, I don't want to know." Cute laughing of the boy. The same that had been on stage. 

"Prin won it, can you believe it? He donated it and then won it back. He gave it to me. I really did want it. I'm going to put it in my living room. A sculpture, so everyone can enjoy it."

"Oh my god. You wouldn't." The boy gasped.

"I can't wait."

I turned around, a skewer full of rabbit meat and vegetables in my hand. The boy stopped, his eyes going wide. 

"I- oh!" His friend said, grinning at me. His hand went out, waving to me, and he struggled to hold the enormous dildo box with his other arm as he adjusted. "Gyeong-Wan! Did you like it?!" 

The boy started playing with his glove, smiling at me, but his eyes were huge. His friend closed to gap between us. 

"I'm sorry you didn't win anything," he continued. "Are you enjoying the feast, though? You can stay as long as you want. There's no pressure to leave. There's plenty of food left."

"Uh, do you want to take some home?" The boy spoke up. "I have some boxes... I can put some in a box for you?" Always so helpful. It made me smile. 

"I would, actually," I said, holding up my skewer. "I like this- um, this thing. What is this?"

They said a Japanese word I didn't recognize. The boy put his hand over his mouth, smiling underneath. So cute. Our eyes locked, and mine went downward, and I saw what was in his other hand. He was trying to put it behind his back. 

"I um," I said, indicating to it. He brought it out, and he was smiling a little, his eyebrows up. I poked it. "I like your new cat skull," I managed to get out. He was so cute, obviously excited about it, just like he'd been on stage when it had first been presented. 

"Uh." He got in a little too close. The tips of my ears singed red hot as I heard his whispered words in them. "I'm going to bury it in the park. I wasn't um, going to keep it or anything."

"Oh- oh?" I asked. In my nervousness, I let some extra words spill. Unintended, but- "Can I come?"

His eyes went wider. Staring at me like that, my lips parted as I didn't know what to do. We stood awkwardly together, as it sunk in. What had I just said?