Page 58 of Unrequited Sloth

“Mum and Dad know I’m with Dillon and they’re pissed off. They’re starting to believe what you said.”

“What? The truth?”

“Look, if you come and say we only got together after I broke up with Bobby, I’ll back up your story about getting married when drunk and it was a mistake.”

“That’s not a story. It’s the truth.”

“For fuck’s sake, Gabriel, I know you miss them. Mum hasn’t stopped crying since you walked out that day.”

Well, now he felt like shit. His mum had always supported him, and for her to turn on him like that had hurt more than anything he’d ever experienced, but this wasn’t what he wanted. If he went back into that house, it had to be because they wanted him there, and not because Alex was trying to stop them from seeing her true colours again.

“I’ll go when they invite me.”

“Gabriel, why do you have to be so stubborn? Don’t you see how this benefits all of us?”

“Look at this, babe,” said Dillon, walking into the room.

Where had he been? He was holding something in his hand, and Gabriel’s heart sank. It was the note from Bobby.

“What the fuck are you doing touching my private things?” asked Gabriel, walking over to Dillon.

He passed the note to Alex. She read it and smiled, and it wasn’t a friendly one.

“Oh my God. You actually turned him. It’s a good job I didn’t marry him.”

Dillon laughed.

“Come to Sunday dinner,” said Alex. “Or I’ll show them this.”

“Give it back.”

“Babes, wait outside. I’ll talk to him,” said Dillon.

Alex smiled at him before glaring at Gabriel. He wasn’t sure what Dillon was about to do, but on the off chance he said something he shouldn’t, Gabriel hit the record button on his phone when Dillon’s back was to him. Once Alex had left, his face told Gabriel he’d probably made the right decision.

“Do yourself a favour and don’t bother coming today. We’ll be showing your little bum chum note to them. Your dad told me he’s ashamed to have a son like you, but he had to accept it because your mum’s a soft touch.”

Gabriel knew that wasn’t true. His dad’s reaction when he came out had been genuine, but it didn’t stop Dillon’s words hurting.

“I hope Bobby’s using a rubber. Fuck knows what diseases you’ve got. I can’t believe he’d stoop so low as to fuck you. I mean, if he is into dick, he should probably stick to his own kind.”

“What the fuck is that supposed to mean?”

“I think you know. They kill poofs where you come from. Bit primitive, but I guess they get some things right.”

“If you feel that way, then why are you with my sister?”

Dillon snorted. “Means to an end.”

“What?”

“You’ll see,” he said with another smile before walking out.

Gabriel was boiling with anger, and he wanted to go after him and punch his face in, the racist, homophobic cunt. What the fuck did his sister see in a guy like that, and why had Bobby been friends with him? He remembered the recording and grabbed his phone and stopped it. Gabriel played it back; it had captured everything. He saved it and emailed it to himself as a backup. The temptation to just send it to his parents was high, but would they even believe it? A voice recording could be faked these days, and he couldn’t think rationally right now. He was still fuming about what Dillon had said. He could talk to Bobby when he got back about what would be the best thing to do. They needed to take a calm approach to this.

“I’ll smash his fucking face in,” said Bobby, after listening to the recording.

“And there I was thinking you’d be the calm one.”