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“Or that he’d give the shirt off his back to help any one of you out if you needed it?” Hunter said. “In fact, didn’t he do just that when you had that fire in the back of your store a few years ago, Mr. Henry? Wasn’t Finn one of the few people who showed up to help you clean up the water damage?”
Mr. Henry’s eyes shifted to Finn and a glimmer of guilt appeared and Hunter knew that the man hadn’t remembered Finn from that time.
“I’m going to take a leap here and guess what bothers you about Finn is who he loves.”
“It ain’t natural,” Mr. Henry snorted.
“You like my dad, right? You respect him? Admire him?”
“Your dad’s a fine, upstanding citizen. God-fearing. Respectable.”
“So your definition of a good, God-fearing, respectable man is one who beats the shit out of his kid because he got a B on his homework instead of an A or because he didn’t make the Varsity football team on his first try or because he spilled cereal on the living room rug while he was watching his favorite Saturday morning cartoon. Tell me, Mr. Henry, is that natural?”
“Well, no…”
“Was it the natural thing for Finn’s dad to beat him unconscious because of a lieItold just so I wouldn’t have to admit to people like you that I couldn’t make my body react to girls the same way it did to boys?”
Hunter looked at the people milling around the counter. “Finn never assaulted me. I lied to protect a secret that I was too ashamed to admit because I didn’t want to lose the only people who were supposed to love me. That’s what’s unnatural, Mr. Henry,” Hunter said as he turned his focus back on the clerk. “That God-fearing, fine upstanding citizen that you admire and respect so much would rather his son be rotting in a grave somewhere as a straight man instead of living in this world as a gay one. There’s nothing more fucking unnatural than that.”
Hunter shook his head and finally said, “If you can’t accept who Finn and I are, then just leave us alone to love whomever we want.”
The store was so silent that Hunter could swear he heard crickets. Finn shot him an “I told you so” look and Hunter gave him a little nod. They both moved for the door when Mr. Henry called out, “Wait.” He leaned down to pull something from beneath his counter and Hunter actually wondered if the man was about to pull a gun on them or something. But to Hunter’s surprise, Mr. Henry pulled out what looked like a small picture, the kind that people used to carry around in wallets before everything went digital. It was wrinkled and bent like it had been handled countless times. Mr. Henry reached across the counter and handed Hunter the picture. He took it and then lowered it enough so Finn could see it too.
“Her name was Billie…Wilhelmina actually but she liked it when I called her Billie.”
Hunter studied the picture of the young black woman. She appeared to be in her late teens or early twenties and from the dress she was wearing he guessed the picture to be from the sixties or seventies.
“I met her in college in Georgia. I asked her to marry me on our second date. She said yes,” Mr. Henry said as a slight smile spread over his lips.
“I took her home to meet my folks.”
“What happened?” Finn asked when Mr. Henry fell quiet.
“They were real nice to her, polite, asked her about school, her family. When I told them we were getting married, they congratulated us. Billie and I were so happy that we started making plans for our wedding as soon as we got back to school. The next weekend I went home to talk to my folks about where we should get married. They told me I couldn’t marry Billie and that if I did, they’d stop paying for my school and kick me out of the house. I told them I loved her and that I wanted to spend the rest of my life with her but they didn’t care. They said they didn’t want no…”
Mr. Henry hesitated, his voice breaking. “They called her a real bad name and said they didn’t want her as a daughter in law. They said the same thing about the kids we were planning on having.”
To Hunter’s shock, Mr. Henry reached up to dab at his eyes. “I was only nineteen and didn’t know how I’d support Billie with no job and no money. So I told her we couldn’t be together. She cried and begged me not to leave her…that we could figure it out together but I was too scared to go against my parents. She transferred to another school a few weeks later and I never saw her again.”
“I’m sorry Mr. Henry,” Hunter said as he handed the picture back.
The man traced his finger lovingly over the picture and Hunter actually heard him whisper, “My Billie,” before he looked up at them. “I can’t say I understand why you boys are the way you are, but we ain’t got no problems between us any more, you hear?” His eyes settled on Finn as he spoke the last words.
Hunter figured it was as good as they were going to get. “Thank you, Mr. Henry,” he said as he turned to leave. The old man let out a non-committal grunt in response.
As Hunter followed Finn towards the door, he glanced over his shoulder and noticed his father’s friend talking on his cell phone. The man’s small eyes connected with Hunter’s just before he turned and disappeared down an aisle.
“Hunter,” Finn called from where he was holding the door open.
“Coming,” Hunter said and he followed Finn outside.
“Wow, that was…wow,” Finn said once they reached his truck. “Thank you for that.”
“It was a long time coming,” Hunter said. A contented feeling went through him as Finn hugged him and as he watched Finn climb into his truck, Hunter felt his spirits lift. Even if Roman couldn’t work a miracle and get him his grandparents’ land back, he had a hell of a lot to be thankful for.
Hunter waved at Finn as he drove past and headed back out of town. He took his time walking across the park towards his car but stopped when he heard the loud rumble of an engine behind him. He could tell it was a diesel truck from the way it sounded and as he looked over his shoulder, he saw the vehicle in question stop in front of the hardware store. A niggle of uncertainty went through him as he recognized his dad’s poker buddy come out of the hardware store and climb into the bed of the truck. The truck was too far away to make out the driver or the passenger so he started walking back towards the store so he could get a better look as it passed. None of the occupants seemed to notice him as the truck drove past him but he sure as hell recognized the passenger. Fear went through him as he trotted across the park to the other side to watch which way the truck went and the second it turned right at the stoplight, Hunter raced to his car. He already had his phone out and was dialing Roman’s number as he put the car in gear.
“Hey,” Roman said as he answered on the first ring.
