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“Well, I think she likes you,” I offered up, falling into step alongside him once again. “She was looking at you with those gooey eyes.”
“Gooey eyes,” Darren chuckled. “You’re a dope.”
“Shewas,” I laughed. “I’m surprised she didn’t swoon when she saw you.” Clearing my throat, I pressed a hand to my forehead and mimicked, “Oh, Darren Lynch. Is that you my eyes can see? Be still my beating heart!”
“You’re such a little shit,” my brother laughed.
“And you’re a dark horse,” I shot back with a wink, ribbing him with my elbow. “Got anymore blondes lurking around school, waiting to fall at your feet? Because I’ll be happy to take them off your hands.”
“Pack it in,” he chuckled, with a rueful shake of his head. “Honestly, it’s not like that. She’s just a good friend.”
“Don’t worry, Dar,” I laughed. “I know you’re gay. I’m only messing with ya—“
“Jesus Christ, Joey!” Darren hissed, clamping a hand on my shoulder. He looked around us, eyes wild and panicked, before he released a breath and muttered, “Not so loud, okay?”
“Why do you do that?” I demanded, good mood forgotten, as I shook his hand off, feeling my temper rise. “Why do you hide who you are?”
He shook his head, blue eyes laced with pain. “Joey.”
“No, it’s bullshit, Dar,” I pushed, unwilling to let it go. “I’m not ashamed of you, and you shouldn’t be either.”
“I’m not ashamed of myself,” he replied quietly.
“Well, good,” I snapped. “Because you don’t have shit to be ashamed of.”
“Yeah, well, according to Dad, I have.”
“Yeah, well, fuck Dad,” I spat. “He’s the one who should be ashamed of himself, not you.”
“You do realize that up until six years ago, being gay was a punishable crime in this country?”
“Yeah, and so were condoms and any other form of birth control,” I growled. “Which just goes to show that the laws are bullshit.”
“Joe…”
“This country is backwards, Darren, you know that,” I argued. “Yeah, it’s getting better now, but we both know that the foundations on which our laws are built upon have a lot less to do with common sense than religion.”
“I really don’t want to talk about it, Joe.”
“Well, I don’t want to see you walking around the place with your tail between your legs when you have no reason to,” I countered. “It’s bullshit, Darren. Every word that comes out of that man’s mouth is utter bullshit, so don’t let him make you feel bad about yourself. Dad’s living in the dark ages, so don’t you dare let him drag you back there with him.”
“What do you propose I do, Joey?” he asked in a weary tone. “Go toe to toe with him?”
Yes.“You can take him.”
“No, I can’t,” he replied. “Besides, not every disagreement in life has to result in a dog fight.”
“In our lives it does,” I corrected hotly. “So, you better get your head in the fight and make damn sure that you’re the biggest dog.”
“Like you, squeaky?”
“I might not be the biggest dog in the fight,” I begrudgingly conceded. “But I always have the sharpest teeth.”
“Kind of like the saying; it’s not the size of the dog that matters, it’s the fight in the dog?”
I nodded. “Now you’re speaking my language.”
Darren gave me a strange look. “So, in your mind, it’s a dog-eat-dog world that we’re living in?”
