“He didn’t just come out. He woke up.”
Set in 2015 Houston, Cake Walk follows Bryan Hicks, a high-achieving Black Senior Vice President in the oil and gas industry whose carefully constructed life begins to quietly unravel. On the surface, Bryan has it all: a prestigious job, a luxury condo, and the respect of his peers. But beneath his polished exterior, he carries questions about himself that he has never dared speak aloud—questions about desire, masculinity, community, and belonging.
Those questions begin to surface when Bryan meets Nadia, a vibrant transgender woman who lives boldly and loves without apology. Their growing relationship challenges the walls Bryan has built, but fear and shame keep him silent—refusing to introduce her to his friends, his colleagues, or his family. As his private life deepens, his public persona grows more brittle under the weight of secrecy.
Initially, Bryan turns to meditation to manage the anxiety of his high-pressure career. But what begins as a tool for corporate survival becomes a spiritual doorway. Supported by Buddhist teachings, Bryan starts to examine the suffering he carries—not as punishment for who he is, but as the result of resisting what is already true.
Cake Walk is a groundbreaking, first-of-its-kind work of literary fiction—an intimate story about identity, love, and spiritual liberation. For readers struggling with shame about their sexuality, for those afraid of being fully known, Bryan’s story offers more than just representation—it offers a path. Through meditation supported by Buddhist philosophy, Bryan begins to see that the labels he clings to are the very source of his suffering. What he ultimately discovers is not only a sense of community, but the possibility of freedom—the kind that comes from surrendering to who we truly are. A reminder that the pain we feel often stems not from who we are, but from resisting who we are. And that healing doesn’t always come with answers, but with the courage to listen.
