Page 9 of Nights Without Night
“Okay, my turn. Let’s see…I’ve never had sex with a vagina.”
“That was a weird way of phrasing it.”
“I was trying to be politically correct.”
“You failed.”
“Two, I’ve done drag.”
“Believe it.”
“And three, once a customer left me a $500 tip.”
“The last one is the lie. That doesn’t happen in real life,” Isadoro chooses.
“You’re so right,” I sigh, downing the shot.
“When did you do drag?”
“Ages ago, really. It was a birthday party, but I got called on stage and it was so fun. I did it a couple more times. I was pretty good at the makeup and stuff, but that shit ishard,” I say, remembering the frustration of having to ruin one eye because you can’t be bothered to fix the other. “Your turn.”
“Hmm…Okay, once a girl called me Daddy in bed and I was sort of into it,” Isadoro admits. I gape for a moment before bursting into laughter.
“What!Wait, why didn’t I know about this?”
“Maybe it’s a lie.”
“It’s not a lie. Why didn’t I know about this?”
“It was during the leave you were caught up with your boy Rubio.”
“Okay, first of all, his name was Claudio and you know that. Second of all, I saw him like three times during your month-long leave!” I protest.
“Whatever.Two, I once went three weeks without bathing. And three…in training, a prank resulted in me having to stand to attention without any pants or underwear on,” he says.
“Number two, you already told me about number three. Losing your memory already, grandpa?” I tease.
“We’re the same age.”
“You’re like three months older. You’reold. Drink up, loser,” I say. He laughs and drinks. “Let’s see, let’s see, let’s see,” I say, thinking. “Okay, one, I lied to you about the runway I did two years ago for that friend. It wasn’t suits. It was male lingerie,” I say. I’d been so nervous at the start, but it had been an incredible power trip. For some reason, however, when I told Isadoro it came out as a lie.
Isadoro stills, looking at me, his mouth opening and nothing coming out. I smirk.
“Two-”
“Wait, are there pictures?”
“Two!My parent’s computer didn’t just break. I downloaded some porn and it got a virus, and I got so scared I’d be found out that I smashed it.”
“Total lie, you would have told me. Now, about those pictures-”
“And three, I used to have a crush on Mr. Tiller.”
“Wait, what? When we were thirteen?”
“Yep,” I say. He pauses.
“That guy was a complete sleaze-ball,” Isadoro says, narrowing his eyes. I gape at him.
