It’s been a long fucking day, and we’re headed back from the the traplines when Marcus suddenly tells Gannett, “You’re awfully quiet today. Trouble in paradise?”
Gannett snorts. “Caleb’s quiet all the time, but I don’t hear you askinghimwhat’s wrong.”
I flip him the bird, one of the few signs Gannett has managed to pick up throughout our time together, and he smarmily blows me a kiss back.
Marcus huffs, “Well, pardon me for giving a shit. Was just wondering if everything’s alright with you, Cap.”
Bullshit. Marcus is fifty percent caring, fifty percent fishing for information regarding our bet about Gannett’s sexual awakening. I’m about to become twenty dollars richer soon, I can just tell. There’s no way Gannett, being as laid back as he is, will freak out about discovering that he likes some dick.
Gannett sighs hard. “Not really, no.”
Oh shit. Wait, am I about to lose this bet?!
He continues, “I’m going to be alone for Christmas. I’m temporarily living out of my houseboat, since Gordy’s fuckin’ pissed at me. I went out on a date with a guy last night, had this whole big epiphany about my sexuality, but I totally flopped in the connection department. I just—gah, I want a drink so fuckin’ bad. I won’t though. I need to stay sober for my girls. Set a good example and whatnot.”
Marcus appears just as wide-eyed as I am as Gannett finishes his bout of verbal diarrhea.
Finally, I puff out a huge breath. I turn to Marcus and sign, “Looks like you owe me some spending money, big guy.”
Marcus grumbles, fishing a twenty dollar bill out of his billfold, and slaps it in my hand.
Gannett rolls his eyes. “Which one of those things did you lose a bet on?” he asks Marcus.
“The fact that you aren’t having some epic, dramatic existential crisis over your epiphany,” he replies matter-of-factly. “The rest was all pretty much inevitable. You’re stubborn as shit, so staying sober, despite the craving, is pretty much a given. You share custody, so that’s how holidays are usually run—you take turns. Gordy being pissed at you isn’t anything novel, since him being pissy is pretty much his entire personality—”
“That’s whatIsaid too!” Gannett chirps, snickering.
Marcus continues, “And you having some sort of revelation about your sexuality? I can’t say as I’m entirely shocked.” He turns to me. “Did it surpriseyou?”
I shake my head.
“Yeah, no. There’s no surprise there,” Marcus reiterates with a chortle.
“Seriously?” Gannett squabbles.
“Seriously. You don’t think we can’t spot one of our own out in the wild?”
I’m so stunned by Marcus’ sudden admission, that all I can do is laugh—becausethat’show he chose to come out with our relationship? It’s ridiculous just how casually Marcus tossed that out there! Truly andepically ridiculous.
I love it, and there’s so much more I want to expand upon that, but I’m stopped by two things. One, Gannett’s struggling right now, so I don’t want to overshadow that by hitting him with our own admission, and two, what if Marcus didn’t actuallymeanto let that slip?
Instead, I simply sign, “newbie” as a joke, unsure if Gannett even understands that particular sign.
He sighs, rolling his eyes again. “Whatever,” he mutters. Ah, so he must have understood me, I guess.
Then, it appears he really takes in what Marcus said before. “Wait, doesone of our ownmean you’re hooking up too? Kinda suspected that about you, so I guess we’re even. Although—wait, don’t you both have girlfriends?” He gasps. “Ohdaaamn, you guys are cheating on your women, together?”
Marcus snorts. “We’re a throuple, Cap. Caleb and I arebothwith Lauren, andwe’retogether.” He gestures between me and himself.
Gannett nearly spits out his swig of water. “Whoa, that’s fuckin’ wild. Nowthat, I had no clue about.”
We joke around a bit more after that, but all the while I’m left reeling over the fact that Marcus Antonucci just came out to someone, all the while knowing that word of our very unique relationship may very well flood throughout Ternbay in no time flat, and had no existential crisis about it himself. In fact, he seemed rather proud to admit it. He showed no fear or shame. He just worked it into casual conversation, and look—
Nothing bad came from it.
Only good reception. Is it realistic to think that it’ll be like that one hundred percent of the time? Fuck no. Ternbay is full of conservative-minded people, but I do have hope that the tides are changing. I think the more people we can get who are brave enough to live authenticallyand out loud, the better. The folks around here? They could stand to see that there are others in their midst who they’ve been too blind to see, and they could benefit from accepting them and making space for them.
Marcus’ admission is cause for celebration. How? I’m not quite sure, but I think I have an idea…
