“TAKIS, TAKIS, TAKIS!” Julian crowed, running up to the display rack.
“Limón or fuego?” Yadriel asked, holding up the two bags.
Julian’s face contorted, like he’d just tasted something bitter. “Tch, fuego, obviously.” He shuddered. “I don’t like stuff with too much lime.”
Yadriel laughed and tossed the bag in. “You’re a disgrace to your people.” He bought the snacks with the cash he’d been saving over the past few weeks. When they stepped outside, there was an older man with a cart. Bags of fried dough in the shapes of pinwheels were tied around it.
“OOO, DUROS, YADRIEL!” Julian shouted so suddenly it made Yadriel jump.
“Okay, Jesus,” he whispered under his breath. He went up to the man and asked for a bag. The vendor opened one of the bags and dumped in chamoy, a pickled fruit and chili sauce that reeked of vinegar.
“No lime, no lime, no lime!” Julian panicked when the man reached for a small green bottle.
“Sin limón, por favor,” Yadriel told him. When they got a safe distance, he stopped to shove the contraband into his already stuffed backpack. “Ugh, my bag is never going to smell the same again,” Yadriel said, crinkling his nose.
Julian, on the other hand, inhaled deeply, sending his eyelids fluttering. “Mmm, I’m literally drooling right now,” he moaned.
“Have you decided where we’re going?” Yadriel asked.
Julian tapped his fingers against his chin. “Hmmm. I’ve got a couple ideas, but nothing Last Day on Earth worthy.” He frowned.
Yadriel’s phone vibrated in his back pocket. He pulled it out and checked the screen. He was paranoid someone from the school would report him as absent to his dad and he’d be in deep trouble. He was trying to put off any impending panic until later in the afternoon, when he didn’t come home from school. He felt terrible about it, but it was for a good reason. It was for Julian.
“Who’s that?” Julian asked, hovering over his shoulder.
“Just a group text from Letti,” he said, scrolling through the message. There was a location and lots of exclamation points. “Looks like they decided where the Halloween bonfire is going to be.” Yadriel shrugged.
When he looked up, Julian was staring at him, mouth open in an excited smile. Yadriel’s shoulders sank.
“Julian, no—”
“Yes, Yads!”
It was Yadriel’s turn to complain. “Come on, there’s got to be something else you want to do!”
Julian happily shook his head. “Nope, I wanna do this!”
“Jules—!”
“Hey! I’m the one dying!” he said, tapping a finger to his chest. He paused. Frowned. “Er, dying again—getting deader?” Julian shook his head, waving off his own confusion. “I get to choose!”
“But—!”
“Them’s the rules!”
Yadriel groaned loudly and crossed his arms over his chest. “I really don’t want to go party with a bunch of people from school.” He didn’t even want to be around his classmates during school. The idea of hanging out with a bunch of them at a party where most of them would be drunk and belligerent sounded torturous at best and dangerous at worst. Yadriel was antisocial out of self-preservation. “I’m going to stick out like an awkward, sore thumb,” he added.
“Then it’s a good thing it’s Halloween, ain’t it? We’ll get you a disguise!” Julian told him, taking off down the street.
It was the day of Halloween, which meant the party-supply store was nearly cleared out. There were empty racks everywhere, and feathers and glitter littered the floor.
“How about this?” Julian said, toying with a mask made of peacock feathers.
“Yeah, that’ll help me blend in.” Yadriel glared.
Julian chuckled. “Okay, okay, okay.” He flicked the corner of a sugar skull face-painting kit. “This?”
Yadriel scoffed. “No. I’m not supporting the mass appropriation of calaveras in Western culture—”
“Okay, then.” Julian laughed, moving onto the next rack.
Yadriel made sure there was no one else down the aisle before quietly continuing his rant. “Sugar skulls are a sacred part of Día de Muertos, they’re not a Halloween costume for—”
But Julian was already onto the next option. “What about this?”
“This” was a black face shield one wore pulled up over their nose. It had the lower half of a skeleton’s face on it.
Yadriel hummed, uncertain. “Isn’t this what bikers wear?” he asked, picking up the mask and tracing his finger over the skull’s broken teeth.
Julian leaned his shoulder against the rack and gave Yadriel a look. “I don’t think anyone’s gonna mistake you for a Hells Angel.” He smirked.
Yadriel gave him a dubious look.
“Look, it’s basically a mask! It’ll cover half your face, no one’s gonna recognize you, and it matches your whole look,” he added, gesturing to Yadriel’s entire body.
He glanced down at his hoodie, torn black jeans, and combat boots. He squinted up at Julian. “And what’s my look?”
Julian tipped his head side to side. “Gay goth witch?”
Yadriel grabbed a stack of jack-o’-lantern napkins and threw them at Julian’s head. They went right through him and bounced off the rack harmlessly.
Outside, Yadriel tugged the mask on over his head and let it sit around his neck. “It’s going to take a while to get to the beach,” he said, pushing his hair back into place before pulling out his phone to look up the bus schedule.
Julian frowned. “Why?”
“We’re going to have to make at least two bus transfers and some walking, depending on which beach you want to go to,” he said, scrolling through the app.
“No way, we’re not taking the bus,” Julian scoffed.
“I can’t afford an Uber—”
“Do you know how to drive?” Julian asked.
“Well, yeah—”
“Stick shift?”
He did not like the look on Julian’s face. “Yes, why?” He could see Julian’s mind working. That sharp grin meant nothing but trouble.
Lots of trouble.
A short time later, Yadriel was standing on the sidewalk, facing the gate behind the mechanic shop that led to Rio and Julian’s apartment.
“I shouldn’t be doing this. I can’t believe I’m doing this.” He looked over at Julian, desperate for him to say this was just a joke. “Am I really doing this? Are we really doing this?”
Julian smiled cheerily. “Don’t look so worried; it’ll be fun!” he said, striding up to the gate.
“Getting arrested for stealing a car is not my idea of fun!” Yadriel whispered, his neck whipping as he looked around for witnesses. The shop was closed on Fridays, leaving the place empty. A few cars drove by. A lady in high heels walked across the street with her two Chihuahuas. Yadriel rushed to catch up with Julian. “I can’t believe you’re making me do this!”
“I’m not making you do anything!” he rebutted. “Now hurry up, Rio is probably catching up on rest, and he is not a heavy sleeper.” Julian walked right through the gate, leaving Yadriel on the other side.
“How am I supposed to get in there?” he hissed, throwing a furtive glance at the door at the top of the steps.
“Oh, right.” Julian backtracked. He walked back through the gate and over to a small pile of cinder blocks against the wall. Eyes squinting in concentration, he reached into one of the gaps and pulled out a set of keys. Pleased with himself, he tossed them to Yadriel. “Here.”
He fumbled to catch them before they hit the floor. “Your brother keeps a spare set of keys out here?” he asked. That didn’t seem very safe, and Rio didn’t strike him as someone who would hide keys in such a careless spot.
“What?” Julian snorted. “Hell no, he’s way too paranoid! I put ’em there.” He smiled proudly.
That made much more sense.
“Got tired of losing them all the time and Rio chewing me out. Putting them there obliterated the problem.”
“Eliminated,” Yadriel corrected, thumbing through the keys in his hand.
Julian waved him off. “Same thing. The one with the duct tape on the handle is for the gate.”
Yadriel’s hand trembled as he struggled to get the gate unlocked. He just needed to hurry and get the hell out of there. Figuring out what to do after tonight—with the car, the keys, and himself—would be a problem for later. When Yadriel pulled the gate open, the squealing of metal and crunch of gravel felt deafening.
Julian appeared completely unworried. He went right up to the car and smoothed his hands over the hood. “Hello, gorgeous,” he sighed, leaning his cheek against the roof of the car. “1970 Corvette Stingray,” Julian hummed affectionately. “Pop’s pride and joy. He did all the mods himself. Took him years to get it just the way he wanted.”
“Great, so I’m stealing a car that’s priceless and holds deep sentimental value,” Yadriel muttered. Nervous sweat pooled under his armpits. Between his unsteady hand and constantly checking the apartment door, Yadriel struggled to get ahold of the right key.