Electric Tacos (Wattys 2023)

THIRTY SIX

It was the evening after Easter, and Ricky was at Tito's with Mateo, Gerardo, Jaime, and Nick.

There was plenty of leftover Mole, tequila, beer, tortillas, churros, and all sorts of leftovers in his fridge, which Tito was going to heat up and share later.

They were in the lounge; the air was full of marijuana smoke, chit-chat; Oldies played from the record player in the corner of the room, along with the faint voices on the television, playing some telenovela that Mateo was engrossed in.

Ricky was sitting beside Tito on one of the sofas, near the television. Tito passed him the blunt and Ricky took a long drag from it, before passing it on to Nick.

"How you doing at school?" Tito asked him. "Good? Bad?"

"Muy chido. We're getting good grades in our study group, and Mateo came second in a track race. He came last in his swimming heat, though." Ricky smirked. "He quit swimming and cried because of that."

Mateo was in earshot, and he glared back at Ricky. "It didn't happen like that. Coach Robles and I had an argument, and I fell out with him when he told me I wasn't good enough. I cramped up in the water, and then he didn't accept that, so I stormed off and told him that I quit. I did it on my own terms."

"What about the crying part?"

"What about it? Men can cry too. Why do you care so much? Why are you so insecure in your own masculinity that you think men can't cry?"

Ricky glared. "I never said that. Don't put words in my mouth, Duende."

Mateo sighed. "You act so petty sometimes."

"Look who's talking." Ricky shook his head. "Mr. Dramatico himself."

Mateo folded his arms across his chest. "Callate, Ricky."

"Whatever." Ricky shrugged and looked at Tito. "He's moody today."

Tito nodded. "I see that. Did you tell him?"

"Yeah, I did, and we're still working through that."

"Good," Tito said. "Come for a walk with me."

Ricky let out a yawn and finished up his tequila shot quickly. "Aight, where are we going?"

"Around the block to the stores. We need some more coffee and liquor. I'm gonna make us some Carajillo."

Gerardo let out a sigh of relief. "Take your time."

Ricky and Mateo left the apartment. They went to Sapo's to buy some coffee, milk, and then to the liquor store to buy some Kahlua, and Licor 43:

"We're going to experiment tonight," Tito said with a smile etched across his face. "Lent is over. We can have some fun."

Ricky nodded as they walked down the street. "Why did you really drag me out here? Do you wanna give me another pep talk, or something? Save it for another time."

Tito rolled his eyes. "Be honest with yourself, carnal."

"What the hell do you mean?"

"Accept that you like men too."

Ricky nodded. "Aight, already do."

Tito looked into Ricky's eyes. "I've seen the way Mateo pines for you, and how much you want to explore things. You should give it a chance."

"Nah, not right now." Ricky retorted as he folded his arms. "Now's not a good time."

"When is a good time?"

Ricky shrugged. "Not during school. I wanna get good grades."

Tito nodded. "Fair enough, but you can't hold it in forever."

"Aight, I know. I'm tired of talking. I want this year over and done with so I can just enjoy my pinche summer you know?"

"I know," Tito said as they made their way back to the apartment.

"Great, now leave me alone," Ricky said as he walked back inside to the lounge. "Aight, Mateo?"

"Aight." He grumbled back.

"Still pissy, I see."

Mateo glared and looked over at Ricky, before hissing. "When are you gonna make up your mind?"

________

Over the rest of Spring Break, Ricky thought about things. He thought about how repressed he was, and about how much Mateo was crushing on him. And how good he looked in his tight jeans, and those fruity, floral shirts.

He was gaining muscle, slowly but surely, and growing up.

Chuck was styling his hair now, and it looked better than it had ever looked. It was perfectly faded on the sides, and natural looking on the top; messy, with some curls showing through, instead of being stuck to his skull with Tres Flores paste.

He was turning into a fine specimen of the male kind.

Ricky was impressed by how much he was beginning to clean up. He'd started to use coconut oil on his lips, too, and that made them super plump looking.

When they went back to class, Mateo was beginning to notice Ricky staring at him when they went to P.E. classes and soccer practice, but he gave him the time and space to 'figure things out' himself (as he said).

He was getting impatient, but he had to stick it out.

Over April and the first two weeks of May, they'd work together in finishing their projects, and work; they both got an A in Science, B in Math, and B in English, Mateo came second overall in the district track heats, and they were set to win the soccer league, and their Art Project went down well.

They were set up for their senior year.

All they had to do was beat the pinche Imps on the final day of the season to secure themselves a place in history, by being the first-ever team to win the Oro trophy for the Angels. Everyone was hoping for the best, but fearing for the worst.

Sr. and Pops said that they'd both be there to watch them play. Tito, too. They were keen to watch them try and make history, for the first time. They'd put in too much effort to lose it all now. To end up the second best. Coach Lopez was fired up for this, too.

They were so close, yet so far away.

Ricky was hungry too, for success.

He tackled Mateo for the ball, and he fired it into the net.

He wanted this so badly. He attacked as much as he could, without tiring.

Mateo tried his hardest too, until he couldn't no more.

Coach Lopez was so impressed, that he wanted them both to play upfront, and Max to drop back to midfield, which he was alright with. The formation was going to be the classic 4-4-2, as opposed to the 3-3-4 they'd been playing previously.

Everyone was fit enough and ready to go. Determined, more than ever.

Hungry, like the coyotes that surrounded them in the mountains.

They only got one shot to prove themselves as an unstoppable force of nature.

The school had put so much into this final, that they themselves were feeling the strain, unlike previous years, when they ended up mid-table. They, too believed that they had something special on their plate, and were determined to fund it in whatever way they could.

The onslaught was on, as the Imps' bus showed up at the Angelino Playing Fields.

They were booed as they stepped off the bus by the Angels. The Imps yelled back at them and were ready to throw punches back.

Both sides were fired up, and ready to tear into each other.

It was finally time to fight to the death.