white-passing- jamal turner

four

"Are you sure there's nothing going on between you and Cesar??" I said to Monse abruptly. We were at my house making lunch, and the boys were in the garage helping my dad. 

"There's nothing going on between us," she said.

"Mamãe!" I called out to my mom, "Onde esta o milho?"

"No congelador!"

"Obrigada!" I said, pulling the corn out of the freezer.

"Portuguese is such a cool language," Monse said, "It's like Spanish and Italian."

"Yeah," I said, "But anyway. I'm just saying if I lost my virginity and I was seeing someone currently, I'd tell you. You know, just because you're my best friend and all."

I used that method all the time, the if I were you method. It's a good way to get people to crack. And it worked.

"Ok, ok," she said, "Yes, it happened. The rumor's true, and we're still seeing each other."

"AHA!" I pointed my finger, "I KNEW IT!" 

"Keep your voice down!" she said.

"Or what? My Mom, who barely speaks English is gonna hear?" I said.

"Look, AJ, I don't want people to know about us. Not even the boys because they can't keep their mouths shut. And I'm sorry I didn't tell you. It's not a you thing. I just didn't want ANYONE knowing because I knew it would change things."

"It's ok," I said, "Just- please no more secrets, ok?"

"Deal," she said as we hugged.

"Ari! Deixe um pouco de almoço para Izabel, por favor!" my mom yelled, "Ela estará em casa em quinze minutos!"

"Ok!" I said. 

_______________________________________________

It was finally that time of the year for the homecoming dance. I was excited about it, but Monse wasn't. She hated dances and social events. Olivia seemed excited too.

"Dances in Houston are dope," Olivia, "And great opps to meet dudes."

"Ahhhh yes," I said, "Freeridge dudes."

"It's just a sex fest," Monse said, "And you're exposed. You can get roofied or pregnant, and I'm not just talking about getting it in on the dance floor, which happens all the time. I'm talking about slipping on something suspect on the way to the bathroom, and boom, you're immaculately concepted."

I snorted, "Olivia, ignore her. She's being dramatic."

"Besides, I heard the DJ they hired is some lame hipster from Silver Lake. But anyway, look at Sylvia and Jesus. They barely knew each other until he basically draped her."

"Draped?"

"Dance raped," Monse said. Sylvia and Jesus were always making out and couldn't keep their hands off each other. I respect PDA but that's just nasty. 

"It's basically Stockholm syndrome."

The more I thought about it, the more I really didn't want to go. I didn't feel like getting stared at and groped the whole night. 

We sat down silently at a table with the three boys until Ruby abruptly said, "I'm wearing indigo tonight. I thought we should claim colors to avoid outfit clashes. Indigo? Any objections? Oh, and my pants have red pockets. I know it sounds weird, but it works."

"What are the pockets for?" Olivia said, "Roofies?"

"What time should we meet?" Cesar said. 

I shrugged, "Let's just play it by ear. Not sure I really want to go."

"What? Why?" Ruby said.

"Not sure I wanna be objectified," Olivia said, "If I wanna see a bunch of boners, I'll just go online."

"Didn't you hear Principal Sarge?" Jamal said, "The dance is a no-bone zone."

"Dances are cesspools for bad behavior. I don't wanna go."

"Why not, Monse?" Cesar said, "You were pretty excited this morning."

"That was before I forgot how lame dances are," Monse said, "And maybe we're just not in the mood."

"Exactly," I said, "And she doesn't owe you an explanation, Cesar."

"Oh, is it your menses?!" Ruby said.

"Excuse me, Ruben?!" I said. 

"Her lady pond has runneth red."

"Lady Pond?"

"Shut up, Ruby," I said, "You know what? Forget it. I'm not going."

I grabbed my lunch tray and found a different table to eat at, and the girls slowly joined me.

"What is their problem?" I said.

"They just don't understand anything about being a woman," Monse said. 

A few hours passed, and we all made up. All of us minus Cesar went to Monse's house. It's a good thing I texted Jamal, or he would've been left hanging. I made him leave his cane at home, though. 

We tried to get Monse to wear a dress, but she caved and just went in a hoodie and jeans. When we got there, there was a sign on the front gate that said dance canceled.  Some dumbass decided to pull out a gun. Cesar had just shown up too. 

"So, what now?" I said to Olivia.

She shrugged.

"Yo, Monse's dad's out of town. Party at Monse's!" Cesar said. 

______________________________________________

We all ended up at Monse's, and I was on my second shot of Tito's. Izabel taught me how to take shots before high school with water. The first shot was always the hardest. By my third and fourth one, it was cake. But I was drunk. Really drunk. 

"Alright, that's enough for you!" Jamal said, "Here! Food!"

He grabbed some snacks from Monse's pantry. Chewing is the easiest thing to do, but for some reason, it was really hard. 

"Whoa!" I said, trying not to fall over.

"Here," Jamal said, "Hold onto me."

Jamal put his arm around me and I wrapped my arms around his torso.

"You ok?" 

I nodded.

"Thank you for watching me," I said, "I'm sorry I'm so drunk."

"Don't worry about it," he said. We were on the couch, and my head was almost in his lap.

"AJ, you ok?" Olivia said.

I nodded slowly. I ended up puking in Monse's bathroom a few minutes later, and a lot of that night was spotty, but it honestly wasn't a bad night. Better than going to that stupid dance.