The Riveting Lives of Russell and Sal

Chapter 26

Russell couldn't remember a thing from the previous night. Other than a few rounds of beer pong. How did he end up in his own bed? He thought he and Sal were going to spend the night somewhere together. And where were his clothes? All he had on was a pair of sweatpants. He struggled to recall what had happened, but only managed a few glimpses. Sal begged him not to drink. There was the beer pong. An AMF from Adam. A lake. Terry. Sal angry at him. A police officer... A police officer! "Shit!" Russell said out loud. Something must have happened involving the police, and Russell's parents must have picked him up. That's how he ended up home.

He gnawed at his fingernail, since both his thumbnails were currently worn down too far to chew. His parents were going to kill him. Not only that, but he would never see Sal again. At least not outside of school, and they were graduating in a month. He supposed he could sneak around and lie, using work as an excuse. He sat up slowly, holding his pounding head. Why didn't he listen to Sal, and stop after one beer?

The door flung open. "Jack Russell Cox! You are in so much trouble!" his mother shouted.

Russell held his hand over his head, wincing. "I already knew that."

His mother slapped him across the face. "Don't get smart with me." She held up a phone that looked suspiciously like Sal's, and dropped it in his hands.

All of the messages between him and Sal were on the screen. His mother had scrolled to the top, meaning there was a high chance that she read every message they ever sent to each other. And their very first text conversation might as well have been sexting. Especially that picture of Sal shirtless, which Russell had saved to his own phone and spent many nights admiring. He swallowed. "We were just... joking."

"Oh really?"

Russell lowered his gaze.

"I suppose all those complaints about me and Dad are a joke too? All those horrible things you've said about us, after everything we've done for you."

Russell struggled to think of everything he'd texted to Sal in regards to his parents, but came up blank. He absentmindedly scrolled through the text messages, and saw a rather nasty insult he said about his father. Then, came across a conversation where Russell made a suggestive comment about Sal's body, which he probably didn't pick up on.

His mother noticed it. "And that's a joke too?"

Russell chewed at his fingernail.

"I don't believe it. My son, my own son is... gay." She winced at the word, and sat on the edge of the bed.

"Pan," Russell corrected, fingernail in mouth. But his mother didn't seem to have heard him.

"What is our family going to think? And everyone at church?" She buried her face in her hands, and let out a sob.

"What's all this yelling about?" Russell's father entered the room, looking like he just woke up.

"He's brought shame to our entire family."

His father sat next to his mother, and patted her shoulder. "Now, I already yelled at Russell about the incident after I picked him up from the police station."

So Russell had ended up at the police station, and his father had picked him up.

"It's worse than that. Far worse." His mother took the phone from Russell, and handed his father the phone. "Look at it. Look at it all."

Silence filled the air, Russell trying to control his breathing. His head pulsated, but the tension in the room distracted him from the pain. After a minute or two of his father scrolling, he gave Russell a hard stare. "We're going to have a serious talk." His father looked at his mother. "Alone." Russell pulled his knees to his chest, and his mother left the room, wiping at her eyes.