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Myself included.
“What are you talking about?” my mother barked.
“He took five hundred dollars from me the last time I saw him,” I responded. “That’ll keep him high for at least a week, if not more. My guess is the money will be gone inside a day or two.”
My mother’s face went from irritated to downright spitting mad. Her skin turned a blotchy purple. “So you’re spreading lies about my boy now too?” she practically yelled. I couldn’t remember a time I’d ever seen her this angry and I realized it was probably because she truly was worried about Jimmy.
I was shocked to realize that her denial ran so deep.
“The boy’s on a bender, Edith,” Uncle Curtis murmured. “Like Ford said.”
My mother crossed her arms. “You all can just get out of my house,” she snapped. “My Jimmy’s a good boy—”
“Enough,” Uncle Curtis bit out. “That boy will be back when he needs more cash or bailing out again… whichever comes first. You want to protect him like you always do, that’s fine. But that shit ain’t gonna get easier with the new sheriff. So if you’re smart, you’ll help me make sure that fucker gets fired. I’ve already got one of the committee members on board with hiring me back.”
“What are you talking about?” I blurted when Uncle Curtis mentioned Cam. He waved me off like I was a fly in his face.
“That queer likes messing with little boys,” he said, a grin splitting his face. “Got one he was fucking back in Detroit staying with him right now.”
“He’ll burn in hell twice,” my mother muttered as she primped her hair.
“How do you know about that?” I asked.
No one seemed to take notice of the fact that I knew about the accusations against Cam.
“Art Tobin told me. He says that queer called the kid’s family to tell them he was staying with him. Ain’t even trying to hide it.”
I knew who Art Tobin was. He was on the town council and one of my Uncle Curtis’s few remaining supporters. He was also the attorney for Pelican Bay. I didn’t know if he was on the committee that had hired Cam, so I wasn’t sure how he’d found out about the whole thing. The only thing I could think of was that as the town’s lawyer, maybe the lawyer representing Riley’s family had called him.
“Cam doesn’t have anything to hide,” I snapped. “The accusations against Cam were a lie. He was proven innocent and the hiring committee knows all about them. They hired him knowing exactly what he’d been accused of!”
My mother and Uncle Curtis both turned to look at me in surprise. “How do you know that?” Uncle Curtis asked.
“Because he told me,” I said. “In bed,” I added, not giving a shit anymore about how I broke the news to my family.
My mother gasped and actually put her hands together like she was going to drop to her knees right there and start praying for me. Uncle Curtis got up from his chair and took a step toward me. To my surprise, my stepfather stepped between us and put his hand out.
“You stay away from him,” he said, his voice low but firm. My stepfather wasn’t a big guy, but his deadly tone actually had me shivering a little. Uncle Curtis was shocked into silence for all of ten seconds.
“You fucking little faggot,” he hissed as he pointed at me. “I knew you weren’t cured! Ain’t no curing sick fucks like you!”
“Get the hell out of my house, Curtis!” my stepfather yelled in response. “Now!”
“Gladly,” the man snapped as he snatched his cowboy hat off the table. He practically ripped the doorframe off the hinges as he stormed out.
“Ford,” my stepfather began, but my mother cut him off.
“Have you been conspiring with that man against your own family, Ford?” she asked.
“No,” I said. “I’ve been falling in love with him. Despite my family.” To my stepfather I said, “I’m sorry, but I need to go. I need to talk to Cam.”
“You walk out of here, you don’t come back,” my mother bit out. Her voice was unwavering. But the finality of the order didn’t bother me. I barely even heard it.
“You take care of yourself, son,” my stepfather said.
I nodded. “I will.” I hurried to the door, ignoring my mother as she called my name, the outrage in her voice clear as day as I did exactly the opposite of what she’d been expecting.
What she was used to.
Uncle Curtis was waiting for me by my car, but I didn’t even have an ounce of fear in me as I approached him. Unlike my brother, Uncle Curtis was pure bully. He’d back down when met with someone he couldn’t push around.
And I was damn well done with being pushed around.
“You think you and your boyfriend are going to live happily ever after?” he sneered at me. He was leaning against my car door.
