Magic Trick

Chapter 16 - Listen To My Heart



FEI ENJOYED WATCHING HIS FIRST DRAG SHOW.

Although there is a bit of a tension earlier with Rakisha, I guess he loved the performances, the shade, the comedy, the entire show. Surprisingly, the bar is celebrating a Lady Gaga night, so it was extra special. Fei is more of a Gaga than a Beyoncé, right? He was cheering the entire time, and it was nice to see him having fun, after all the stress that he had.

Well, I had fun too. We\'re both singing the songs as the drag queen performs, even when Rakisha performed Paparazzi, we\'re both cheering. However, when we parted ways tonight, the thought of what he said earlier didn\'t leave my mind.

[We are joining the tournament.]

I slept on it and woke up early since I have my shift at work. Good thing Oakley was there in the shop and at least, I can talk to someone else who knows about these bizarre things that happened recently.

"Oaks, hi," I greeted him.

"Dude, what\'s up? I\'m still mind-blown," he whispered. "What\'s up with our honeys?"

I sighed. "I don\'t know, actually. Why did we meet those people?"

"Rakisha and I, we\'re new. Like, five, six months. And you and Fei, just a few days," Oakley mentioned.

"We\'re not yet together… Like officially, but… It seems that he had grand plans for us."

"Whoa!" Oakley exclaimed. "Ain\'t that great?"

I pulled Oakley in a corner where no one would hear us and confessed, "Oaks, he wants me to become a sorcerer."

"What?" Oakley shouted, and I immediately covered his mouth. Good thing, there\'s only one woman drinking her coffee near the door.

"Oaks, you have to keep it a secret, please!" I requested. "I haven\'t said yes to it, but… he also wants me to join the tournament."

"Mm-mm!" Oakley wanted to scream again, but his mouth is sealed so he only had a muffled sound, but I removed my hand already as he\'s struggling already. "Dude, Trick, you\'re killing me! But, hey, that\'s really wonderful, right? You get to have those superpowers? Last night, Rakisha did those incantations and ululations, like, is this the same person I knew back then?"

"You know what, I didn\'t know that too. I\'ve known her for quite some time, but she never really introduced a guy to us. You\'re the first, Oakley," I admitted.

"I guess that\'s because no one really accepted the T," Oakley said.

That might be the reason. Rakisha had guys but there\'s no relationship that gets pursued. She really looked like a girl, and maybe guys don\'t like not having the true V.

"And thank you for accepting her," I said.

"I love her, but it really freaked me out. I don\'t know if I can see her after tonight. I mean, I asked her a few days to cool down, because it\'s too overwhelming," Oakley stated.

"Oaks," I sighed. "I feel you. When Fei showed me his powers, I was 100% shocked. And now, he\'s telling me these things that make me wanna be involved."

Oakley shook his head. "No, buddy. I don\'t care whoever she is. My issue is keeping a secret. Trick, we\'re together for a few months and she didn\'t tell me these things? That\'s lying, you know?"

"Would you have accepted her from the get-go?" I dared to ask.

"Have you accepted Fei already?"

Whoa, that escalated quickly.

[Have I accepted Fei already?]

That question lingered in my mind. It\'s been a few days since we met. I\'ve known a lot about him in such a short time frame. He\'s been very honest to me, which is the opposite of Oakley and Rakisha\'s situation. So…

"I guess I have. I think I\'m already falling for him." Oh, gosh, Mama Oleander. Forgive me. I\'m such a slut.

"I would have too!" Oakley seconded. "Fei\'s good. He\'s marked his territory."

Now I understand Oakley. Perhaps, it\'s not the African voodoo thing. It\'s being true to your partner.

"A few days won\'t hurt… But Oaks, Rakisha is a good person, despite this. Maybe she didn\'t know how to tell you. She\'s a black African transgender witch. Imagine how difficult would it be to be understood by people."

"I guess so… I like her. I love her. I guess I just need to cool down," Oakley sighed deeply, then grinned at me. "And you, my dear friend, going back to your tea, do you wanna be a sorcerer?"

The question is… What do I really want?

I\'m 21, and I don\'t know what I want to be in life. Am I weird? Is it too late for this?

When I was young, teachers would ask me and the entire class that magic question: "What do you want to be when you grow up?"

Some would say they wanna be doctors. Engineers. Lawyers. Teachers. Even presidents. I don\'t wanna be all of those.

I guess life hit me so hard as early as middle school, so I never thought of what I really wanted in life. I just needed to survive, that\'s what\'s on my mind. Wants weren\'t as essential to me.

Being in a drag family somehow clarified the finest things in life that I could have. That I could be a part of something. That I could be loved. That I could love.

So, as a part of this family, my duty is to help them in any way that I can. I prepared food for them, helped them in their shows, sew and wash clothes, and I haven\'t had any complaints. They helped me with my GED test, and even get a job. So, what\'s wrong with that?

Upon realizing that, I guess… I never really focused on what I really wanted, because I had them. At this moment, I don\'t have them… What now?

At least, Ellis knows that he wants to be a drag queen. Oakley wants to be with Rakisha. And Fei wants to be with me.

[Oh… I guess that\'s it. Thank you, Mama Oleander.]

I want to be part of something. I want to be loved. I want to love.

And… is Fei the one? I need to listen to my heart and find out what it wants.

Then, Ellis\'s words registered in my mind again.

[You don\'t get another shot in life once opportunity arrived and you let it go.]

I\'m beginning to like Fei, and if I don\'t do anything about it, when am I gonna do anything about it?

I grabbed my mobile phone in my pocket and… Shit. I didn\'t have his digits. I didn\'t even have his Twitter account. I didn\'t have any connections with him.

Until I thought of something.

[Fei?]

[Hi, Trick. Good morning.] And he even yawned in my mind.

[You\'re still in bed?]

He yawned again. [Yeah, I have a hard-on too. Morning wood, as they call it.]

My eyes widened.

"What\'s happening, Trick?" Oakley asked.

I was startled by Fei. Well, Oakley\'s right. He\'s really the one who startle my mornings.

"Oh, sorry. I had a weird thought. I\'m gonna get back to you on your question," I said and immediately I walked out of the café. Technically, I still have twenty minutes before my shift starts, so I went out for a walk to talk to Fei.

[I\'m already at work!]

[Oh, I\'m sorry for disturbing you… Wait. You\'re the one who talked to me this early. Why? Did you miss me?]

I smiled, and I didn\'t care if people see me smiling like stupid. [Well… What do you think?]

[Of course, you missed me!] He confidently said.

[Fine. I miss you.] I rolled my eyes, but I giggled.

[I miss you too. I wanna see you.]

[Don\'t you have work today?] I asked.

[I do, but I can drop by at Robbie\'s to get an iced matcha latte… and to see you. By the way, have you thought about what I said last night?]

Oh, dear… Here it goes.

[That\'s why I talked to you here. I wanna talk to you about this matter in person.]

"What\'s up?"

Suddenly, Fei appeared in an alley wearing his pajamas. His hair isn\'t even brushed well. He still has pillow marks on his face and dried saliva near his mouth. And… his hard-on… Gosh…

I immediately removed my apron and covered his body, to, at least, hide his swelling erection.

"Aw, you\'re so sweet, or are you just too selfish to not let anyone see my hard-on?"

"Well, I\'m marking my territory," I uttered.

"So…" Fei nodded and grinned. "in short, you own me. I didn\'t know you\'re so territorial."

I swallowed. "Why are you wearing your jammies?"

"You wanna see me in person, yeah?" Fei replied.

"But not like this!" I exclaimed.

Fei laughed and returned the apron to me. "Okay, one moment." He went back to the alley for a second and appeared right away, in full black suit, well-styled hair, and of course, wearing his million-dollar smile. One second!

"What the… Do you do this, like, every day?" I asked.

"No, I don\'t use magic for this often. I still wake up early, eat breakfast, prepare for work. For urgent cases like this, I do," Fei said. "So… what do you wanna tell me? Do you wanna be my boyfriend?"

"I wanna be…"