“Then they actually met Theodore,” David plainly stated.
“Family gathering for my father’s birthday. I brought Theodore, promising him everything would be okay. The air shifted the moment we walked in. I introduced him to everyone, then it all fell apart.”
I looked up into the bright sky, following a bird that was flying by in the breeze. If only life could be as gentle as a bird’s glide, but the only gentle glide I felt was the wetness of a tear caressing my cheek.
I wasn’t expecting to still be emotional about this. It’s been five goddamn years. I wiped my face, “They didn’t want my kind in their home except for me. Theodore was not welcome. To them, it was fine to do what I wanted away from them, but I wasn’t allowed to flaunt it in their home. Which meant I could never bring Theodore around with me.”
“My God,” David growled.
“I asked Theodore to wait for me outside while I tried to reason with them.” I wiped my face again and huffed a breath of air. I had held myself together until this point, and I was finally breaking. “It ended with an ultimatum. Accept me and Theodore or I leave,” I finished in a quiet sob.
David’s hand wrapped around the back of my neck, and squeezed. I couldn’t look at him. If I did, I was afraid I would completely shatter.
“It was the last time I saw my family and friends. I left them, my dad glaring at me while holding my crying mother, like I was breaking her heart and not the other way around.” I sniffed, finally caving and pulled out my hanky to wipe my nose which was also now leaking. “It might have been my ultimatum, but it was their say on our relationship.”
I hung my head, remembering walking out the door and seeing Theodore standing there with a blank expression. “It was also the last time I saw Theodore too. I walked him home in silence. Neither of us said a word, knowing this was it.”
I finally looked up at David, his figure was blurry. “In one swoop, I lost everyone important to me,” I placed my hand on David’s knee, “except for you. It was why I didn’t tell you. I was going to, but then all that happened and I couldn’t risk it for multiple reasons.”
David nodded his head in understanding, processing my history. He never let go of my neck, keeping our connection strong, like he knew I needed his powerful electrical current to stay lit.
We sat there for a while like that until without warning David broke contact and stood up. “Okay. Let’s go.” He motioned me up. “Up. I need a beer after all that, and you probably do too.”
“It’s only the bottom of the fourth inning,” I stated in confusion.
“Yeah, well, I didn’t think this through. I didn’t realize I was going to need to drink to deal with the after effects of you revealing your history. It was brutal,” he huffed. “And since they refuse to serve damn beer during a game here, we have to go.” David waved his hands in my direction again, “So, Up up!”
So up I went.
twenty-nine
Tipple Me Over
Charlie
Yesterday felt like the longest day of my life.
It should have been happy, relaxing and full of comfort, but that got killed before I even opened my eyes. I’m glad David is going to be okay with Jimmy and me. I don’t think I could have lived with myself if Jimmy had lost his best friend over me, let alone said best friend running off to tell the world about us. It was bad enough Richard was loose and running his mouth.
I ended up going to see my dad, who was surprised to see me, to say the least. I gave him an update on Jimmy and why I was home. I braced myself for him to react to Jimmy and I officially being together and David finding out, without giving away too much explicit details, but all he did was ask if David was okay with it, and I eased his worry.
When I told him Richard got out, and that was the reason David stormed in, his face turned murderous. He couldn’t believe they would let him walk free, while the investigation was pending. I filled him in on what the plan was and that we should go do something together to spend time with each other, anyway. It had been too long since we had father-son time.
We ended up going to The Edge Diner along High Street and Annabell Street, which is the very edge of the mountain itself and was a straight shot out of the Village to the cliffside of the mountain and two blocks over. Dad was told about it from some of the men that frequent the establishment either before work in the mornings or to help cure their hangovers. We passed a bunch of people on the way, going about their day with the noise of children playing in the park floating through the air.
We arrived at an old square brick building, dirty from the years of smoke, smog and dust that hazed this city. The front windows were dirty and hard to see through except for silhouettes of people sitting at tables and a plain wooden door off-center to the right that wasn’t welcoming and if not for the sign above it, which simply statedEDGE, I wouldn’t have looked twice.
There were eight booths with metal tin tables and red vinyl seats with an additional eight tables scattered throughout. The menu was a giant board on the wall, including the daily specials. Service was simple and rushed since the place was packed with families spending their Sunday together, either after Church or for quality time.
I got the Landslide Platter which was two biscuits with white pork gravy rolling down them like a landslide with two over-easy eggs, bacon and potatocakes smothered with sour cream, apparently another Pittsburgh staple. Dad enjoyed a simple stack of griddlecakes with strawberries and a side of bacon. The food was amazing. Hard to believe that a place so grimy on the outside, cooked food so delicious on the inside.
Dad and I didn’t talk much, which was normal. He asked what I had been up to during the meal, which I told him I’d fill him in later at home since I didn’t feel safe telling him in public about going to the bar in the city. I asked if he was doing okay, which all I got was a blank stare and a nod that told me everything I needed to know. My dad was lonely, which broke my heart a little. I, up and left him with no warning and now he had no one, even in the quiet non-verbal solitude that he was, at least I had been there physically.
On the way back, we detoured to the company store right outside the Village, to pick up some basic items Dad said he needed for the week, which was only a straight shot down Annebell Street. While there, he asked if I needed anything, the look in his side-eye peripheral asking the real question. I replied that I was okay for now and I’d let him know if that changed. I was sure Jimmy would have me go to the store soon since he would be home for the rest of the week.
While roaming, we saw Karen and her sister-in-law Patricia scurrying about. When I glanced in their direction, Karen made direct eye contact on chance and started to storm over. Before I could warn Dad or brace myself, a loud voice stopped them them in their tracks, “Now, I know you aren’t about to make a scene in this store in front of all these families?”
I whipped my head around to my savior.
