"More than anything, I tried to push away the fact that my power was beginning to dictate my decisions. It was stripping away my inhibitions and my fears, and as much as I dreaded to admit it - my morality."
Miles Boswell and August Sylvan are two t...
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August
When my mom told me that I was moving from one Valley to another, I couldn't believe my luck. My bad luck, that is. August Sylvan, eternal Valley girl. I get that my dad having an affair was enough to send my mother over the edge and cause her to run away to her sister's house, but come on. Did anybody ask me who I wanted to live with? Of course not. The assumption was that my dad was the villain in this story, so why would I ever choose him?
To be completely honest, I probably would have chosen my mom anyway. My dad and his new boyfriend were most likely being all couple-y and gross, a way that he and my mom hadn't been for years, and I really don't think that I could handle being around it without constantly retching anyway. And no, I didn't misspeak. Turns out my dad is gay -- bi, maybe? -- much to all of our surprise. Maybe even his own.
We've never been close exactly, mainly because my dad is the strong silent type who finds more purpose in being tuned into work than spending time with his kids. Even during church (when I still used to go) he would always be on his Blackberry, checking his email instead of paying attention to the sermon. I couldn't blame him, really. More than anything, I was jealous that I didn't have a distraction. There were the family trips here and there, camping, the Grand Canyon, stuff like that. It's not like he never spent time with us, but even then I feel like there's so little that I know about him. He's a Taurus, he has green eyes, his favorite part of the newspaper is the Lifestyle section...and now, I guess he likes dudes. He met his boyfriend through work, actually. Most of my information is learned by eavesdropping on my mom's telephone conversations, but apparently his boyfriend was a client of his and they hit it off. It's still super weird to even think about. Although to be honest, my mom kind of did always seem like more of the "man" in the relationship.
We were a little closer as a family unit before my big brother Eric moved out a couple of years ago to go to college, but even then I've never felt like those families that you see on TV who go through these adventures together and come out stronger in the end. Speaking of my brother, he flipped when he found out we were going to be moving to the San Fernando Valley. Like, hung up on me and wouldn't return my calls for an entire day and even still, weeks later, he's being all weird about it. He moved there while he went to California State University, Northridge (CSUN) and I guess he never figured that our paths would cross in his new hometown. He's probably selling pot. It wouldn't even surprise me. There goes a perfectly good film degree.
In the meantime, I'm trying my best to be nice and help my mom, who is the preachiest little church lady that ever existed and who can't just shut the fuck up about how much of a sinner my dad is and how he'll be spending an eternity in Hell. So that's fun.
On the bright side, she doesn't constantly harass me about going to church anymore. Not because she's given up on me or anything like that. Mainly because I embarrassed her so many times that it's just easier for her to leave me alone than force me to go. I don't feel like going to church makes my life any better, plus the fact that my ex goes to the old church that we went to and...let's just say it only takes so many scenes before the Sylvans start getting annoyed glances from the other constituents.
