Yasmin Majeed

May 21, 2024 | joylandmagazine.com | Yasmin Majeed

My mother always claims my first memory of her is a false one, but I have never believed her. The memory stuck, and it stuck because it’s true. I was four years old; we were living in the apartment complex in Alhambra with crooked palms in the courtyard. It was my birthday. I wore my favorite dress and was seated in the kitchen with my father, the ice cream cake dotted with wax, and a pile of  plucked candles.

Apr 16, 2024 | joylandmagazine.com | Yasmin Majeed |Michelle Lyn King

Back when we were friends, we spent Saturday nights in the tunnels. This was sophomore year, the cusp of fall in California, and at midnight, I waited in my bedroom for Vijay and Jun to drive up, so I could shimmy out my bedroom window and into that ’93 Honda Civic rank with bud and body spray. At that hour, the suburbs were so quiet it was like we were the only ones alive.