“You’re a Mean One, Mr. Grinch” by Pentatonix
“The snow in Chicago was so thick in November, outside the window looked like the beginning of the world.” This was how Mom used to always tell it. “I was twenty-eight. I was finishing my PhD and hosting a Friendsgiving. I had spent all week cooking dishes in my little studio apartment, moving around my furniture so I could fit two card tables together to seat eight of my closest people. But the snow—it had other plans. Sure enough, by ten a.m., my friends started to call and cancel. The whole city was shutting down, the snowplow couldn’t even keep up, and the L was stalled in too many places on its icy tracks. It wouldn’t have been such a big deal if it hadn’t been the first time I’d tried toreclaim the holiday. Just a few months before, I’d gone no contact with my parents, who couldn’t accept that I was queer. Thanksgiving used to be my favorite holiday, so I thought that I could just make a new tradition, host my chosen family in my home. But the weather thwarted that plan, and instead, I faced the holiday alone.”
“But one of your friends didn’t cancel.” This was when Mama Alice always jumped into the story. “I mean, one of us made it.”
“Yes, well, that was the surprise. There I was, changed back into my holey sweats and a stained Loyola hoodie, curled up on my couch with a plate of stuffing, potatoes, and a turkey leg, ready to binge-watchGilmore Girlsfor the millionth time and drown my sadness in a bottle of wine, when the buzzer went off.”
“And there I was!” Mama Alice always said. “Shivering like hell in my thin coat, a pair of rain boots, jeans, and not a long john in sight. I’d just moved to Chicago from Louisville that summer, and oh boy, I had no idea what I was in for that winter. Your mom had to help me get the appropriate winter gear, because I was a hot mess.”
“Yes, but that was the moment,” Mom always used to say, smiling. “I buzzed you up, and then opened my door and saw you there, looking like a frozen beanpole of a woman, and I wanted to kiss you! We were new friends, but fast ones, and I hadn’t wanted to mess up what we had, but there was no denying we both had little crushes on one another.”
“If by little you mean the size of the Red River Gorge, then sure.” Mama Alice again. “I was sweet on Mara the instant we met that August at some queer meetup group. But she was wayyyy outta my league.”
“Oh, I was not. You were just so shy. I never thought you’d make a move!”
“Well, that was my move, darlin’. Showing up in a snowstorm whennobody did. I didn’t want you to be alone. I knew how hard it had been with your family, I knew I had to get to you.”
“Oh, you got to me alright. You got right into my heart and stayed there.” Mom always smiled here, but it was the flutter of her long eyelashes that caught my attention as she closed her eyes mid-grin, savoring the memory. “I’ll never forget that day. It was the beginning of everything good.”
Just as the sun slides
into a purple darkness
I pull up outside of Lyric’s apartment building.
I glance around Chloe—making sure
I haven’t missed any trash or crumbs
on the passenger seat.
I gave her a good cleaning before I left
but I don’t want Lyric to think
I’m a slob.
I pull out my phone
and text her:
Here a little early. Ready whenever you are.
I glance up at the large brick building
imagining for a moment
I am here on a real date.
That we have already gotten past
the awkwardness of a first kiss
and instead of skating
we are in her room
sitting close, listening to music.
