[Story Context]
“Drinking Coffee Elsewhere” tells the story of Dina, a black woman who’s possibly queer, but most definitely a troubled freshman at Yale University. The story focuses on her trying to process loss, sexuality, and identity as a black woman in a predominantly white community.
[Story Plot Summary]
Dina gets to Yale and feels out of place at Orientation
During Orientation, all the freshmen are forced to play typical orientation games such as trust falls and a game in which you choose which inanimate object you would be—the answers are pseudo deep as to be expected
Dina chooses to be a revolver
That comment lands that ass in therapy with Dr. Raeburn as well as meetings with the dean (Dina says her revolver comment was cuz of the architecture and previous slave-owning students)
But she got a single room so ayeeee, but counselors walk into the room unannounced all the time so like yikes
Heidi is a queer student that one day knocks on the door and Dina assumes she’s a lesbian, but regardless Heidi is slut shamed for sucking a bitch’s wee-wee at a party and she then promptly inserts herself into Dina’s life
Dina and Heidi start working as dishwashers and around the same time Dina starts to somewhat process her love life and think about the boy with the nice shoes who she met as a teen while shopping one day
They kill a mouse which reminds Dina of her mom’s death
Dina and Heidi also hose each other off at work one day and there’s mad sexual tension
Then they start sleepin in beds together
Later, once Heidi comes out about being a lesbian, Dina’s like “nah” and avoids her for literally months until Heidi shows up one day crying telling her that her mom has cancer. To which, Dina responds in the worst way possible
Dr. Raeburn checks Dina for always pretending and pretending nothing is serious
Dina’s gonna go to the Heidi’s mom’s funeral, but she and Heidi get into a stupid ass fight so she doesn’t and just moves back to Baltimore with her aunt, but thinks of Heidi daily
The story ends on a bittersweet note of longing and hopeful future acceptance
[Story Thoughts and Feelings]
Being black and emo
Overcoming internalized homophobia