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Back it right the hell up. “Kid?” I say as I stop.
“Yeah?” he sighs.
“Did you just say you couldn’t ask him to do that?”
He glances over at me before looking away. “The irony is just sickening, isn’t it? But yeah. That’s what I said. At least we know my life will never be boring, especially if I’m taking Bear’s trajectory. He really is my brother, isn’t he.”
Too many things are rushing through my head, the majority of which have to do with this sucker punch of a revelation, but not how it will affect the Kid. The Kid is strong. The Kid is the smartest person I know. He’ll be fine, I think. I hope. But Bear? Holy fucking shit, Bear? Bear’s going to have a nuclear meltdown like the world has never seen.
But then something else takes its place. Something that I need to know the answer to, and I wrack my brain to come up with a single name, a single friend of his that might seem to be more than just that. Someone I might have missed. But for the life of me, I can’t seem to pick out any one person.
“Is it okay if I ask who it is?” I say, unsure if I want the answer. How many times has the Kid had a friend over and the door to the bedroom has been shut? What if he was… doing things in there that he shouldn’t be doing?
There’s going to be some changes, that’s for damn sure. Those little punks, coming into my house, trying to get up on someone who is essentially my son. Like hell. The only person that I would trust from now on to be alone with him would be Dom—
Oh. Oh.
What’s that other thing that Bear says all the time? Oh yeah: Holy fuck me sideways.
“Dominic? ” I ask before the Kid can say a damn thing, trying to not sound like I’m about to have a heart attack, but not really succeeding. “It’s Dominic?”
“Don’t sound so shocked.” He scowls at me as he grabs me by the arm and pulls me through the doors out to the parking lot. “It’s not as if I planned it or anything. The social conservatives will point out that if it’s anyone’s fault, it’s yours and Bear’s for raising me in a gay household.
Thanks for turning me into a homosexual, Otter. As if life wasn’t hard enough.”
“Dominic?” I say again.
“Jesus, you’ve been married to my brother for too long. It’s like your brain is leaking out your ears. It’s really not that hard of a concept.”
Then suddenly I’m furious. I grab the Kid by the arm and stop him from walking away. “He hasn’t done anything to you, has he?” I growl. “He hasn’t touched you or anything?”
The Kid bursts out laughing. “You’re being serious?” he says incredulously. “Otter, this is Dominic talking about. He doesn’t even know I exist like that.” The Kid grins at me, and it’s slightly evil. “I wouldn’t say no or anything, if he did—”
“There’s no way on God’s green earth that’s ever going to happen,” I warn him. “If I find out you’re messing around with anyone, you’re going to be grounded for at least forty years, you get me? I’ll tell your brother so fast that you won’t even get to leave the house without him being all up in your business.”
The Kid is still laughing hysterically at me as we reach the car. We’re leaving the mall when he finally quiets down and looks out the window, tears streaming down his face. I don’t think they’re all from laughter.
There’s a storm coming off the ocean, the clouds big and black. I shiver slightly, sending a silent thank-you that the graduation ceremony is being held indoors, realizing how inconsequential that seems now.
“So,” I say casually, even though there’s nothing casual about it, “is Dominic still bringing Stacey to your graduation?” I watch for the reaction to the name of the woman Dominic has been dating off and on for the past few months. It’s a test, and one that I shouldn’t have to give. Not now. Not yet.
I
t’s immediate, that scowl on his face, that flash of anger. I’d wondered why the Kid hadn’t liked her, as she seemed perfectly fine to me. She’s a kindergarten teacher, one that Bear had met before he graduated and had introduced to Dominic. The Kid hadn’t liked her, not even at the beginning.
We all thought it stemmed from Dominic’s time being otherwise occupied with this new woman. Things make a lot more sense now, even if it makes it a whole hell of a lot harder. “She’s going,” the Kid grumbles. “She and her ginormous boobs. I thought my best friend wasn’t going to be shallow, but it looks like he fell into her cleavage trap like every other straight man in the history of the world.” He looks out the window at the gathering storm. “Is it too much to ask that she get hit by a train?”
“A bit,” I say. “You shouldn’t wish that on anyone, not even Stacey and her boobs.”
Silence, for a bit. Then, “I don’t know how I’m going to say good-bye to him.” It’s said quietly, as if any louder would make it real.
“Dominic?”
“Yeah.”
“You’ll get to talk to him all the time,” I remind the Kid gently. “We’ll come home for the summers and holidays, or he can come visit us. It’ll be a lot easier than you think, trust me. And you’ll be so busy with school and everything else that you won’t have time to worry.” I don’t feel like I’m saying the right things, but that look on his face is breaking my heart, and all I want is to make things easier for him, to protect him from the pain ahead.
I’ve crushed on a few straight guys in my time. Hell, I ended up marrying one of them (not so much straight as curved, my Bear is). I know how it can be. And it fucking sucks.
