Chapter 30
30
Wednesday night, Ginny goes to drag trivia because, according to Sue, All work and no play makes Ginny boring and too stressed .
Except it’s two days before Valentine’s Day—which means it’s one day before Palentine’s Day, the holiday Ginny has celebrated every year since getting their license by going out somewhere fancy with Elsie. This does not help their stress level.
But Ginny is determined to be fine. She doesn’t get to spend time with Sue outside of woodworking stuff very often. She’s not wasting the opportunity.
Zina is already at the table when Sue and Ginny arrive, but she holds up her hand the moment Ginny starts an update on their bed.
“No work talk,” Zina says. “We’re here for a good time.”
“I have a good time with my work,” Ginny says over music that’s a touch too loud. “That’s the whole point of this LLC I still need a name for.”
“This one hasn’t helped you?” Zina asks, smacking the back of her hand lightly into Sue’s shoulder. “She’s the one who came up with our trivia team name.”
“Somehow I don’t think Ginny wants to name their company something like Dykes on Bikes,” Sue says.
“That’s the team name?” Ginny asks.
“We’ve been playing since before any of us could afford cars.”
“The same group?”
“Other folks have come and gone but it’s always been me and Sue,” Zina says. “There’s Shea and Brian and Aadi and Neena, who come when they can. The years Sue was dating Chloe we never lost, but the breakup ruined that.”
“At least I brought in someone good instead of that ginger you and Shea invited who kept insisting her wrong answers were right.”
“That was one time.”
“Yeah, and Chloe only left the team for a couple of months.”
“Are you talking about me again?” a round white woman asks, slinging an arm over Sue’s shoulders.
“Always,” Sue says.
The woman kisses both of Sue’s cheeks, then takes off her coat and drapes it over the next chair.
“Chloe,” she says, taking a seat and extending a hand to Ginny.
“Ginny.” They shake her hand. “You’re… the ex?”
Chloe cackles. “Almost a decade ago, sure. Now I prefer to go by my own name.”
Ginny’s cheeks flush, but Chloe doesn’t seem the least bit offended.
“We were just telling them the team history,” Zina says. She leans over to air-kiss Chloe hello as well.
“A rich and storied history, for certain,” Chloe says. “Did we get out the chart of who all has dated, fucked, or had a situationship?”
“Didn’t wanna overwhelm the kid,” Sue says. “How’s wedding planning?”
“June has been a lifesaver,” Chloe says. “She’s the most organized person I’ve ever met.”
“Grumpy June?” Sue asks. To Ginny, she says, “The florist from the market who’s always scowling.”
“I’ll be sure not to tell her you call her that,” Chloe says. “She may not believe in love, but her spreadsheets work just fine.”
They order drinks and talk wedding planning. Ginny tries not to think about Elsie.
“Ginny just went on a honeymoon,” Sue says, and Ginny wonders why God hates her.
There’s a chorus of congratulations !
“No, no, it wasn’t mine.” That gets a smirk from Sue and eyebrow raises from both Chloe and Zina. “It was my best friend’s.” Can they even still call Elsie that? “Or, well—it was supposed to be a honeymoon. The marriage didn’t actually happen.”
“Oof,” Zina says.
“Tell me about it,” Ginny says, for completely different reasons. “Anyway. Will you have a honeymoon?”
That sends Chloe into a long explanation of the decision process when she wanted to go somewhere they could lie on a beach and her fiancée wanted to go on a bike trip through the UK.
“Dykes on bikes,” Sue says, and it doesn’t slow Chloe down at all.
Her story only ends once “Say My Name” by Destiny’s Child begins, which is apparently the start to trivia.
“So, anyway, we’re going to Greece and taking a day trip around Crete on bikes!” she says in a rush, just as the curtain to the back opens and three drag queens emerge to lip-sync.
Ginny does a double take at the last queen to appear: it’s Shea. She looks even better than the last time Ginny saw her—makeup more exaggerated but still flawless. Her hair is in a high pony that she swings around her head during the chorus. The end hits a patron in the face, and they look thrilled. Thank god Ginny remembered to get cash for tips. There’s a QR code on each table, too, but it’s much more satisfying to hand a queen a bill while she sings to you than to tip through your phone.
All three queens end the song in splits, to raucous applause. After, Shea joins their table, squeezing in next to Zina while the other two queens greet the crowd. They’re the hosts for trivia.
“Perfect, as always,” Zina says, dropping a kiss on Shea’s mouth.
“Thank you, baby.”
“That was amazing!” Ginny says. “I didn’t know you did drag.”
“Gotta pay the bills, sweetheart.” Shea waves her wad of tips. “And how could I deny the people a face like this?”
“You give and you give,” Chloe says.
Shea puts a hand over her heart, faux sincere. “I really do.”
“You got another performance or are you gonna be able to focus on winning this week?” Sue asks.
“Excuse that sass,” Shea says. “I remember carrying the team on my back last week.”
“Only because one of the categories was fashion history.”
“Yes”—Shea sips from the straw in Zina’s gin and tonic—“and you get all of your clothes from Duluth Trading Company.”
“They have nice flannels!”
“You’re such a dyke,” Shea says, voice laced with affection. “And to answer your question, no more performances. They just needed a third for the intro.”
Zina presses a kiss to the side of her head. “And you’re always up for being a third.”
“Obviously.” Shea turns her body completely toward Ginny. “Darling. How are you?”
“Uh,” Ginny says, the intensity of attention from such a beautiful woman overwhelming. “Good. I’m good.”
Shea puts her hand on Ginny’s. “I’m so glad. What have you been—”
“Excuse me, Miss Mouth Almighty,” one of the other queens says into their microphone. “Are you here to socialize or for trivia?”
“Oh, I thought I was just here to lip-sync better than you,” Shea calls back, and the crowd laughs.
Ginny is grateful for the distraction of trivia. They’re not interested in talking about themself. And anyway, if they can’t talk about work, there’s not much to talk about. But trivia lets them become a part of this well-established group. Lets them soak in the queerness and community. Without a day job, they don’t see people very often. Apparently, even introverts need company sometimes.
Between rounds one and two, with Sue and Zina in the bathroom and Chloe off chatting at another table, Shea asks Ginny about the bed. “Sue very explicitly said we weren’t supposed to let you talk about work, but I can’t help it. I’m so excited.”
Apparently Sue was serious about this whole all work and no play thing, but Ginny is glad to get to talk woodworking. Work is fun, now. Sure, there’s the underlying worry about not making enough money and having to find a “real” job again, but in general, Ginny likes what they’re doing.
“The software I’m sketching plans in lets me do something called finite element analysis to determine the effects of different forces on the lumber and joints,” Ginny explains. “FEA is normally used for, like, making airplanes and stuff—it’s a bit overkill for most furniture, but it’s perfect for ensuring hard points can hold someone, whether they be your size or mine.”
“You’re brilliant,” Shea says.
Ginny’s insides go warm at the compliment. Admittedly that’s also probably from the alcohol, but either way, it’s nice.
“And you know, if you are ever interested in suspension…”
Zina and Sue return at that moment, and Shea clamps her mouth closed, barely suppressing a giggle.
Sue glares. “Leave you alone for two minutes and you’re hitting on Ginny.”
Ginny blinks. Is that what was happening?
Shea shrugs, all insouciance. “You’re the one who said they needed a little fun in their life.”
“Not that kind of fun,” Sue says.
Ginny stares at the ice cubes melting in their cup and pretends they’re not blushing bright red.
“They work for us right now, darling,” Zina says. “Maybe let’s wait until after they finish the bed to hit on them?”
“Speaking of the bed,” Ginny says, desperate for a subject change, “I really could use help naming my LLC. I want to, like, honor my grandpa with it, since he’s the one who got me into woodworking. But his name’s Ralph. ”
Even Shea’s laugh seems to sparkle.
“Ralph’s probably not the best business name,” Zina says. “What’s something your grandpa loves?”
“Me,” Ginny says with no hesitation.
“That’s the cutest shit I’ve ever heard,” Sue says.
The music starts for the next lip sync before they can brainstorm further.
By the end of the night, Ginny has run out of cash and tipped even more through the QR code, and the team has won a forty-dollar gift certificate to the bar for getting first place. Ginny’s thrilled, but this is apparently a common occurrence, given that the rest of them use a gift certificate from last week to cover half their bill.
“What do you think of Skylark?” Ginny asks Sue while she drives them home.
Sue glances over at them. “I don’t know what that is.”
“For my LLC. Skylark Furniture. Or Skylark Furniture and Carpentry.”
If the and was an ampersand, that could look really cute.
“Got a nice ring to it,” Sue says. “Does it have to do with your grandpa?”
“It’s his car.”
“Your grandpa still drives?”
Ginny furrows her brow. “Yeah? He’s only sixty-seven.”
“God, you’re an infant.”