Kira shot me a look over her shoulder as she hurried upstairs. I followed my mom outside on the front porch. She faced me full-on, brow furrowed and hands wringing at her waist.
“You were probably wondering what Aunt Leona was here for,” she began.
I nodded.
She hesitated, playing with the hem of her blouse, then blurted it out, “It was about Parker.”
Parker was Leona’s son, my parents’ only nephew, and my favorite cousin.
“Okay. And?”
Another slight hesitation. “He told Aunt Leona and Uncle Cliff that he was gay.”
My eyes widened, then I grinned, “I knew it. Didn’t I tell you that you were going to have a gay nephew and a gay son?”
My mom’s returning smile seemed strained, “Well…he told Aunt Leona and Uncle Cliff one other thing.”
“Which was?”
The silence that followed that only seemed to heavy the air, seal the promise of a scandalous secret that I would be drowning in the heavy paste of the following words.
But I never expected the words that came out of her mouth.
“He told his parents he was in love with you.”
The world stopped. Started turning again. Suddenly, it wasn’t so dark, because the moon was out and shining like the sun. And the stars were my diamonds.
I took a step back.
Two steps.
My butt made contact with the railing. I gripped it, gaping at my mom. I felt ripped apart by the ecstasy I felt, and yet, the confusion…the confusion was burning deep in my gut.
“Oh,” was all that came out of my mouth. “He told them a day before the trip?”
My mom nodded, “If you don’t want to stay with him, then that’s fine. You can stay with Kira.”
I shook my head, “That’s fine. I’ll be all right.”
“Are you sure?”
I nodded, “Yes.”
She nodded back, “Okay. We’ll leave tomorrow, per usual. If anything happens, you can call me. Don’t worry about cutting the trip short.”
We went inside. Kira pounced when we were safely ensconced in my bed.
“Well…?” she drew out the word right in my ear.
“Turns out someone’s in love with me.” I replied.
“Who?”
“Parker.”
A short silence, then Kira’s triumphant, “HA-HA! Oh, Jesus…”
Giggling.
“Keep it down, Kira.”
Kira giggled, “God, I’m sorry.”
We both laughed, then I drew out my iPod and we listened to Kelly Clarkson’s “Save You”, our favorite past-emo song.
“It’s gotta be all right…It’s gotta be all right…” Kelly sang among a heavy bass thrum, a Mozart-influenced piano and a complicated drum pattern.
“Do you think that song could apply to those hard-ass Christians trying to convert gays?” Kira asked me.
“I dunno. I think it’s a response to Leona Lewis’s ‘Bleeding Love’.”
We listened to a lot of my songs, then we talked about random stuff. We avoided the Parker love life thing, instead talking about Parker’s GarageBand, Parker’s music studio…
Then, the next thing we knew was that Mom was shaking me awake.
“We’re leaving, honey,” she was telling me. “I just wanted to let you know. Have a good month with Parker. Behave.”
It wasn’t until I heard the baritone growl of my uncle’s car engine that it finally sunk in.
We were alone for a month. Kira and I.
“Yes!” I screamed, bolting up. “Kira!”
I started shaking the lump next to me. “Kira, you lazy lesbo slut! Get up!”
“Get me coffee, you Satan spawn,” was her muffled reply.
“Get it yourself! Get your fat ass up!” I shoved her on the last word. Then there was a shriek, the bedcovers coming off my bed and my nightstand crashing over.
Kira herself was mummified by my bedcovers, her dark eyes open and promising vengeance. At my returning grin, she growled. Then she tottered up, her body hidden under the covers.
We both hurried down to the kitchen, where Kira beamed as she saw a fresh pot of coffee brewing, compliments of my uncle, the coffee addict in our family. She poured herself a mug and sipped, sighing.
“Thank you, God, for Java,” she grinned at me. “Onward to your cousin’s crib?”
“This early?” I checked the kitchen clock. “It’s only eight o’clock. And Parker sleeps much later.”
“How later?”
“Like eleven. I don’t know.”
“We’ll have to drag him out. I wanna explore our playground. And you should probably explore him, also.” Kira winked in a way that made me want to hurl.
“Very much not needed, Kira.” I peered over my glasses at her. “Get breakfast, take a shower, get dressed, then we’ll leave at ten.”
It was 9:30 when we took my new car—a high school graduate present that I’d gotten two weeks ago—down to my aunt and uncle’s estate.
My aunt had come from a rich family, and combined with the wealth of my dad’s family, they had a fortune to rival Bill Gates’. And they blew almost a billion purchasing a sizable amount of land and building the estate.
I knew it well, but Kira had only seen it once—during which time she’d been rendered speechless for a full ten minutes. And she was silent as I opened the gates and made my way down the winding driveway. Then we parked in the cul-de-sac. The valet was already hurrying out when we got our luggage. And that was quickly taken care of by the butler.
“Remind me again why this exists,” Kira gaped at the mansion towering before us.
“Because my aunt and uncle are luxury whores.”
“Got it.”
We went in the lobby. Then in one of the three elevators, I pressed 3. The third floor was devoted to Parker’s entire, personal bedroom.
“Holy shit!” Kira blurted when the doors opened and we stepped into an actual sitting room. I walked up the steps to the raised level to the bed part of the bedroom. Parker was sleeping, his handsome face angelic.
I smiled. Sat on the bed. Studied Parker as his forehead creased. His lips parted—full shapely lips. Lips that I now wondered if I’d ever be able to kiss. His fluttering eyelashes made me push that fantasy aside.
Parker opened his eyes. Looked at me. And smiled.
“Hey, Justin,” he said.
