Page 27 of Finding Molly Parsons

“I have the cutest outfit for you, Faith,” Mateo said, answering her question without her needing to ask it.

“Mateo, do you think that’s a good idea?” Carmen asked. Faith’s heart immediately sank. Carmen didn’t want her to go with them. Faith couldn’t blame her. Who wanted a kid hanging around when they were sure to be with their friends.

“It’s okay. I can stay here.”

“Absolutely not. Faith, this is Pride, an essential rite of passage for any baby gay.”

“But you don’t think it’s a good idea?” Faith asked Carmen.

Carmen smiled at Faith and then looked at Mateo. “I fully understand that Faith attending Pride would be a great experience. But Mateo, I don’t think taking her with you and your friends is a good idea.”

Faith slumped her shoulders. “It’s fine, really. You guys have fun.”

“I’ve already called Luis and told him I won’t be with them,” Mateo huffed. “Do you really think I would subject Faith to those crazy bitches?”

“Well, alrighty then,” Carmen laughed, her posture instantly relaxing. Faith wondered why the idea of Faith being around Mateo’s friends would be a problem.

Mateo pulled Faith by the hand and twirled her. “My friends are intense. They party hard and I… no, we want you to really enjoy your first Pride. We will follow the parade and then…” Mateo paused for dramatic effect, which worked because Faith was on tenterhooks. “We will go to our friend’s place. Rita is a doll. She throws amazing parties at Pride. There will be a bunch of people of all ages, so hopefully you can meet someone your own age. I can’t imagine how awful it is for you to be stuck with us old folks.”

Faith laughed. “I can’t wait. Really, thank you. Oh my gosh, I’m so excited.”

“I knew you would be. Oh girl, we are gonna have a blast.”

“Okay, before you kidnap Faith to play dress up, we need to tell you what we found out.”

In all the excitement, Faith had totally forgotten that Enid had given her Molly’s location. A pang of guilt buzzed through her stomach. “Yeah, Enid knew Molly.”

“Who the hell is Enid?”

“Enid is our neighbor, and she knows things,” Carmen laughed. Mateo gave her a puzzled look.

“She also has the tongue of a sailor, oh and one leg, I think.” It was a complete guess that Enid had a prosthetic leg, but from her comment and the way she limped, Faith would bet she was right.

“What do you mean, she knows things?” Mateo asked in a hushed voice, his eyes darting around the room comically.

“That woman is the neighborhood curtain twitcher.”

“Oh, I have to meet her,” Mateo chuckled. Faith shared a look with Carmen because she knew damn well what Carmen was about to say.

“Enid also mentioned… you’re as smooth as a Ken doll, and to tell you to stop all the manscaping.” A beat of silence settled in the space between them before Faith giggled, Carmen slapped Mateo on the shoulder with a shit-eating grin, and Mateo stood aghast.

“Smooth as a Ken doll. Well, shit.” Mateo huffed. “Did she happen to notice that you have enough hair on your body for the both of us?” His quick comment earned him a jab in the ribs by Carmen. Faith giggled before running to the bathroom. These two were gonna make her pee her pants.

???

Pride morning arrived, swept in with a shimmering sea of sequins and glitter. If it were possible, Mateo had somehow become even gayer. His limits for all things shiny and queer were endless.

After the conversation with Enid, the three of them decided to drive to Vermont the Monday after Pride. Faith was happy with that. Carmen and Mateo needed the rest of the week to organize themselves so they could travel without worrying about work.

“Faith, get your cute behind in the bathroom. I need to start your makeup.”

Faith had been looking forward to Pride all week. Mateo’s enthusiasm was infectious. He treated the whole thing so seriously, as if it were an integral part of Faith’s lesducation, as Carmen liked to refer to it. Not only had they had multiple fashion shows that week, but Mateo had also given Faith homework. Every day, she had to watch something queer. It hadn’t taken her long to exhaust Netflix’s LGBTQI+ content. Carmen had set Deezer up on her phone so that she could listen to the list of songs Mateo had instructed her to get familiar with. By Friday night, Faith was feeling gay as hell.

Wrapping her fluffy robe around her body, Faith sat diligently in the salon chair. Mateo laid out a myriad of tools to help him complete his work. “Let the magic begin,” he announced, turning up the music.

What felt like hours passed as Mateo painted Faith’s face. They agreed to a rainbow flag on one cheek and the lesbian flag on another. Glittery eyeshadow and blush. Her hair was given a slight curl and, of course, sprayed with more glitter.

“Okay, you’re done. You only need to get dressed and you’re good to go.”

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