Chapter 2

When Chupacabra opened her eyes, she saw that Pink Pussy and Angry Lesbian Death Machine were sitting on the edges of their seats, wringing their hands as if hanging on her every word. Not surprisingly, Eagle Man wore a scowl and would not even look in her direction. But what disturbed Chupacabra the most was the wide-eyed look of horror on Millennial Girl’s face.

Chupacabra paused, regretting her decision to open up about her tragic backstory. She had held it in for so long. She could have held it in a little while longer, if for no other reason than to spare this innocent young girl the realization that such evil exists in the world.

Chupacabra looked to Millennial Girl, silently apologizing and at the same time maybe asking for permission to continue her confession. A slight dipping of Millennial Girl’s head was all she got in response, but it was enough. A connection had been made.

“So, did you cut his balls off?” The first words anyone had heard from Angry Lesbian Death Machine. Pink Pussy was nodding and rubbing her hands together as if that would somehow hasten the conversation.

“No,” Chupacabra said. “I picked up one of his empty beer bottles off the floor. I held it up for him to see, and I said, ‘I bet I can straighten you out, cabrón. You just need the right woman to so you how it’s done.'”

Chupacabra looked around the circle and saw that several pairs of eyes had gone wide. She cleared her throat and continued.

“He only struggled for the first half hour. After that he just kind of checked out, like his body was there, but his mind was somewhere else. I don’t know, maybe I straightened him out.”

The room was enveloped in a heavy hush, though Angry Lesbian Death Machine was grinning rather maniacally.

Again it was Doctor Young who first broke the silence.

“And do you still carry with you the tragic consequences of your vigilante actions that night, Chupacabra? Does it leave you hollow on the inside? Is that why you became a superhero? Doing good deeds hoping to fill that void in your heart, to fight against the blackness that threatens to consume you, day in and day out?”

“What?” Chupacabra said. “Fuck no. I became a superhero so I could hunt down little fuckers like him and tear their balls off. I travel the city at night, on the lookout for rapists, pimps, scumbags. And when I find them and have them up against the wall as they’re begging God for mercy… I hold their balls in my hand. I look them in the eye and in a low voice I say, ‘For Esmeralda.’ Then, as I twist and squeeze, I hiss at them. Like this. Hiss.

“Nobody really knows what a chupacabra says anyway, it’s a mythical creature, so I figure I’m alright with a hiss. Though, if anyone has any suggestions…”

Chupacabra wound down her impassioned speech to a slow clapping and enthusiastic smiles from Pink Pussy and Angry Lesbian Death Machine.

“Nice,” said the woman in black.

Eagle Man and Millennial Girl just sat staring in wide-eyed silence, though Eagle Man looked like he had gone a bit pale.

“Holy shit, girl,” said Pink Pussy, “if you ever need a sidekick… ooh, you just look me up.”

“Thanks,” said Chupacabra, “I work alone.”

Part II — New Beginnings

“Thank you, Chupacabra,” said Doctor Young. “I’m sure we’d all like to hear more, but unfortunately we’re out of time. I hope to see everyone back here next week when we tackle the dynamics of sidekick relationships.”

The sound of chairs scraping on tiles filled the air as everyone rose to their feet and began heading for the door. Chupacabra found herself stopped by Pink Pussy who reiterated her sidekick offer.

As Pink Pussy’s words flowed in one ear and out the other, Chupacabra concentrated on Millennial Girl, who appeared to be engaged in some kind of heated discussion with Eagle Man and Angry Lesbian Death Machine across the room. When Millennial Girl met Chupacabra’s gaze and smiled, Chupacabra began walking toward her.

It seemed the conversation had ended by the time Chupacabra arrived. Eagle Man had already wrapped himself in the American flag and was heading toward the door while Angry Lesbian Death Machine simply thrust her hands into the pockets of her hoodie and stomped along beside him.

Pink Pussy winked at Chupacabra, held her thumb and pinkie finger out near the side of her head in a call me gesture, and turned to go as well. That left Millennial Girl and Chupacabra as the only ones in the room apart from Doctor Young, who was busy packing up.

“I told them you’d walk me home so I’d be safe.” Millennial Girl smiled. As she spoke she was thrusting her arms into a cardigan that was looked like it two sizes too big and was old enough that it may have been borrowed from somebody’s grandmother.

“Told who?” Chupacabra asked as she plucked her flannel from the coat hook.

“My parents. I told them there was nothing to worry about if Chupacabra walked me home.” Millennial Girl laid a finger on the bridge of her nose to push her glasses back into place. “You will walk me home, won’t you?”

Millennial Girl had wrapped her arms around Chupacabra’s bicep and seemed to be purring as she stroked it. “What you need is a good work-life balance. How about a little time out for some coffee? I know a good place.”

“Hmm. Sure, okay. Coffee. But no place with cops. I’m kind of in the country illegally.”

“No problem. I know just the spot.” Millennial Girl laid her head on Chupacabra’s shoulder. “Did you really cut that guy’s balls off?”

“What? No. I just…” Chupacabra made a circle with her thumb and finger and pushed her fist through it. “With a beer bottle… he deserved it. Fucking cabrón.”

Millennial Girl hugged Chupacabra’s arm in hers and smiled up at her. Chupacabra felt her heart melt just a little as they made their way to the door.

“So Eagle Man and Angry Lesbian Death Machine are your parents?” Chupacabra absentmindedly sloshed her coffee around in the cup in front of her. “That’s got to make for some interesting dinner conversations.”

“That’s only when they’re talking to each other, which isn’t very often. Mostly Dad rails about the me-too movement and how it’s painting all men to be insensitive jerks who can’t keep their hands to themselves, and that he doesn’t know anybody like that, but women always seem to look at men like they’re some kind of threat.

“Then Mom says, ‘Maybe it’s that ridiculous costume you’re always wearing, you ever think of that?’

“Then he does the thing with the egg, and the ca-caw, and it just turns into a shouting match.”

“I’m sorry,” Chupacabra offered. She tried to imagine Millennial Girl’s home life. “If they hate each other so much, why don’t they just get divorced.”

“Oh my gawd,” Millennial girl said. “That’s what I’ve been saying for months. But they’re all religious and stuff and their church views marriage as super sacred and all that.”

“So I take it your mom was not always a lesbian.”

“I’m not sure. I have a theory that she was all along, but she’s just been going along with their marriage because of pressure from her family and the community. I don’t know what things are like in Juárez…”

“Not that much different. My sister hid it from our parents too. She was afraid they would disown her.”

“That’s why I never told my parents.”

“Yeah, me neither.” Chupacabra paused. “Wait, you’re…?”

“Thought so. I have a sixth sense. Sometimes I just know stuff.”

“Oh, do you now?” Chupacabra looked into Millennial Girl’s eyes and grinned. “If you’re so good, what am I thinking?”

“You’re worried about your sister. What she’d think if she saw you here, drinking coffee and having a good time instead of prowling the streets and dispensing vigilante justice and all that. But don’t you see? That’s why you need a good work-life balance.”

Chupacabra’s smile widened.

“And you’re worried about walking me home. Wondering if it would be appropriate to kiss me goodnight.” Millennial Girl laid her hand on Chupacabra’s forearm and batted her eyelashes. “I assure you, that would be just fine.”

Chupacabra drained the last of her cup and threw some wadded up bills on the table. “You want to get out of here?”

Chupacabra and Millennial Girl stood bathed in the orange neon glow of a sign advertising Korean Barbeque, as Millennial Girl dug around in her coat pocket searching for keys.

“You live here?” Chapacabra said.

Chupacabra inhaled deeply, filling her lungs with the smokey smell that still lingered despite the fact that the restaurant had already closed. “Must be awfully tempting to smell that all day.”

“Meh.” Millennial Girl shrugged. “I’m a vegetarian.”

Chupacabra chuckled and laid a finger gently across Millennial Girl’s cheek. Though after a quick turn of the young woman’s head, the finger ended up trapped between Millennial Girl’s teeth. Chupacabra grinned at her playfulness.

“Except when it comes to my women,” Millennial Girl said around Chupacabra’s finger. “Then I’m all carnivore.”

Millennial Girl chomped her teeth and made a playful growling sound before letting go, and then leaped up to wrap her legs around Chupacabra’s waist. With her arms encircling Chupacabra’s neck, she pulled herself in tight.

“Wanna come up and find out?” she said and jangled her keys just behind Chupacabra’s ear.

Chupacabra was unsure of what happened to the timid creature she had met tonight in the group therapy circle, but she was not at all unhappy. With a quick ninety-degree turn Chupacabra had Millennial Girl pinned up against the door before the move even registered on the young woman’s face. A split second later Millennial Girl inhaled a sharp breath and smiled.

“Ooh, you’re quick.” Millennial Girl pulled her legs in tighter and began to grind against Chupacabra’s hips. “I bet you’d make a great sidekick.”

“Mmm, not tonight I hope.” Millennial Girl managed to slip her key into the lock while simultaneously plunging her tongue into Chupacabra’s mouth to silence any retort.

The two women burst through the outer door, barely managing to trip up the stairs until they came to yet another locked door at the top. Millennial girl was holding a second key in her hand, but seemed more intent on sinking her teeth into the skin of Chupacabra’s shoulder at the moment.

Chupacabra let out a low, lusty moan and proceeded to lift Millennial Girl up until she once again felt the warm, satisfying press of young woman’s thighs gripping her around the hips. Chupacabra steered her companion against the door and began grinding while Millennial Girl focused her carnivorous intentions on devouring Chupacabra’s mouth.

Eventually the key made it into the lock and the pair tumbled into the small apartment, almost landing in a heap on the floor.

Chupacabra shivered slightly as one of Millennial Girl’s hands worked to untuck her shirt, while the other kept a tight grip around her neck. Chupacabra moved her gaze around the room. She was looking for a couch or a chair, even a table—anything that might allow her to free her hands from the task of holding the young woman—so that she would no longer feel like she was on the defensive.