my tio bato and i sit in his jeep
in the parking lot drinking beer
to pass the time
because there is nothing
to do or drink or really connect to
inside the venue
where joining families
dance and eat and cherish
this holy matrimony
of my cousin
who i remember as a baby
and now has grown to be a man
that thanks and praises god’s only son
for bringing everyone together
for this very special day
in which i watch him dance
awkwardly to cumbias
and merengues
and polkas
because that’s what you do
in a tejano wedding
and i remember
him showing me his entire
frank zappa collection
on his laptop
in his bedroom
when he was still living
with my tia irene and tio rudy
i remember him a toddler
and from this teenager grown
into a man who is now married
to a woman he met at church
and i wonder if he still listens
to frank zappa
if his soon to be wife allows him to listen
to frank zappa
but it’s not all about frank zappa
it’s about my cousin’s wedding
and how buzzed i am in my tio bato’s
jeep drinking cheap beer
because there is no alcohol inside
because the newlyweds
didn’t see it important
to have at the beginning
of the rest of their lives together
but it didn’t matter to my tio and i
because we felt like drinking beer
was the right thing to do in this moment
to pass the time quicker and let
all marriages go on without us
Reynaldo Hinojosa Jr is a Tejano-born writer and musician who considers the blurring lines of identity and discovering new selves within the in-between. He finds humor in dark places. Love in the abstract. And is constantly questioning how stories can be told. You can find his work in Runner Magazine, Wayne Literary Review, and The Woodward Review.