Chulito by Charles Rice-Gonzalez

in a chair in front of him. He leaned the chair back and balanced it on one leg and rocked. Chulito nodded a greeting to him and Brick responded by raising his eyebrows.
    Chulito was about to take a seat on the couch when Julio waved him to the empty chair beside Brick.
    Julio covered the receiver on the phone with his slim hand. “Have a seat, papito. I got your tickets.” Julio placed a thick envelope on the desk. “Just sign for them, and I’ll print out a receipt.”
    “You taking a little trip?” Brick asked as Chulito sat next to him.
    “Puerto Rico with my moms.” Chulito leaned forward to sign for the tickets, not making eye contact with Brick.
    “For about six weeks,” Julio added as he hung up the phone.
    “Wow, that’s a long vacation. Did Kamikaze give you time off?”
    “Not yet, but it’s not a problem.”
    “Kamikaze must have changed.” Brick got up and served himself from the water cooler. “You want some, Chulito?”
    Chulito looked over and nodded. Above the water cooler there was one of Brick’s posters. The seductive stare in his dark eyes was familiar. He had a tight fade haircut and his skin glistened. His chest was small, but his arms and shoulders were big.
    Chulito’s gaze traveled from the poster back to Brick who had his back to them. Brick’s crucified Jesus tattoo could be made out through the worn white ribbed tank top.
    “Bring me some, too.” Julio snapped his fingers, then answered the phone.
    Brick handed them their waters and took a seat next to Chulito.
    “That poster’s dope,” Chulito said.
    Brick craned his long neck to look back at it. “Thanks.”
    “Was it fun to do?”
    Brick nodded. “It’s always fun working with Julio.”
    Julio smiled and covered the receiver. “Gay boys from all over were booking their cruises with me. Great for business.” Then he returned to his call.
    Brick leaned toward Chulito over the chair’s armrest. “And I make good clean money here. I don’t have to be risking my life.”
    “So it’s worth all the shit the fellas be giving you?”
    Brick snickered. “In the big scheme of things those fellas don’t matter. Half of them don’t work, and they definitely don’t sign my paycheck. Besides Julio is good people, and good people are good people. Period.”
    Chulito felt defensive. “Well, Kaz’s good people and he got my back.”
    “No doubt. You a cool cat, but you playin’ a dangerous game. You may be tough enough to be in it, but you can’t think about just you, you gotta think about the people in your life, especially the ones closest to you.” Chulito remembered how Brick usually walked around with his daughter on his shoulders. He had a family with Jennifer and her son from a previous man, and he helped with the neighborhood barbecues and block parties. Whereas Kamikaze didn’t reveal whether he had family and as far as Chulito knew, he was the only close person in Kamikaze’s life. He imagined it was because of that danger Brick had alluded to.
    Chulito nodded. “Right now, it’s just me and my mom.”
    Brick leaned back in his chair and put his feet up on Julio’s desk. He wore flip flops and the nails on his long toes were clean and clipped. Strong veins ran up his feet, across his ankles and up hairy shins.
    Julio slid an envelope to Brick and shoved his feet off his desk with one hand and handed papers to Chulito with the other. He then raised one finger signaling him to wait a moment.
    Brick counted money from the envelope, then folded and pocketed the bills. He flashed Julio a bright smile. “A pleasure doing business with you.” He extended one of his large hands and offered it to Julio to shake. When Julio shook it, Brick bent over and playfully kissed Julio’s hand. Julio pulled his hand back and hung up the phone. Chulito wondered how clean that money was and if he were being paid for more than just maintenance and handiwork.
    “You’re a fucking tease, a fucking bugarrón. I only put up