Even before Gabriel pulled to a stop in front of the house, Tyler started to shake.
“When we get in there, you let me and your aunt do all the talking,” Gabriel advised, and Tyler just nodded.
His Aunt Cory offered him an encouraging smile as they got out of the car and headed up the walkway. Tyler tried to smile back, but he couldn’t get over the idea that he was a dead man walking. Before they even made it to the door, his father had it open. The way his eyes blazed, he was the one who looked possessed.
“I hope you’re happy,” Tom snapped, glaring at Tyler. “This little stunt is costing me a day of work.”
“It’s costing all of us time off work, but I think helping Tyler’s more important than work,” Gabriel said.
When they stepped inside, Mary let out a gasp. Tyler figured it was for his face, but he thought it looked better than he’d expected. At least his eye was open, and he could still see. After the way it closed up on him last night, he’d been afraid he’d be blind in one eye.
“All right, Gabriel, what’s this all about?” Tom demanded.
“I think we’d all be more comfortable sitting down,” Gabriel pointed out.
“By all means, let’s have a seat then,” Tom said. “After all, you’re calling all the shots right? I don’t give you what you want, and you call the police?”
Gabriel gave him a cool smile. “You catch on pretty quick, Tom.”
His aunt and uncle took a seat on the couch, and Tyler dropped down between them. When he did, his dad sneered at him as he moved to sit on the love seat next to his mom.
“I suppose Tyler told you about his illness and the perverted acts he committed on that very couch you’re sitting on,” Tom guessed, Tyler’s neck lit on fire.
Cory laughed. “I’m sure a good steam cleaning will save your sofa.”
“This isn’t funny,” Tom snapped.
“You’re right about that,” Gabriel agreed. “It isn’t funny, but it isn’t the end of the world either, and it sure as hell doesn’t give you the right to beat the kid within an inch of his life.”
“It’s my right as a father to discipline my son,” Tom insisted. “If you had any children of your own you’d understand that.”
Both his aunt and uncle stiffened.
“I don’t have to have any children of my own to understand that not only did you break the law when you laid your hands on my nephew, but you betrayed his trust in you,” Gabriel said through clenched teeth.
“He betrayed us,” Mary spoke up. “He lied to us and said he was too ill to attend church last night, and then he committed a sinful abomination in our own home.”
“We need to drop this whole sinful abomination talk,” Cory said.
“I wouldn’t expect a godless jezebel like you to understand the power of sin,” Tom retorted.
Cory laughed again. “Isn’t there something in your religion about all sinners being forgiven?”
“There is, but that only applies to the sinners they think are worthy of being forgiven,” Gabriel answered for Tom. “The glory of the kingdom of Heaven is reserved only for God’s most perfect and most faithful followers.”
“That’s right,” Tom agreed. “And we’re not going to let our son’s homosexual affliction deprive him of his place in Heaven.”
“Do you hear how narrow minded and bigoted you sound?” Cory asked. “Tyler isn’t sick. Homosexuality isn’t a disease you can cure.”
“That’s right. It’s a lifestyle choice,” Tom sneered.
“No, it isn’t,” Gabriel countered. “Tyler didn’t choose to be gay any more than you chose to be straight. Given the choice, I’m sure he’d prefer to be the socially acceptable and Heaven worthy heterosexual you want him to be.”
Tyler’s heart soared. His uncle understood. Though he knew Uncle Gabriel supported him, he wasn’t sure his uncle understood. Just last night, he’d asked Tyler to explain to him when he chose to be gay. Now here he was schooling his parents on what it meant to be gay.
“I guess I should’ve expected this instant acceptance from you,” Mary said. “You’ve always tried to one up us where Tyler is concerned.”
“This is one case where I’m happy I didn’t disappoint,” Gabriel said.
“You can accept him if you want to, but at the end of the day Tyler is our son,” Tom reminded them. “That means we have the right to choose how to handle this, as you put it, and we’ve made our choice.”
“I know all about your choice,” Gabriel said. “And if you think I’m letting you send my nephew off to get the gay beat out of him, you’ve got another thing coming.”
“There’s nothing you can do,” Mary said. “We already found a place in Texas.”
“Texas?” Tyler gasped.
“That’s right, we’re sending you to Sinner’s SalvationAcademy in Bridgewater, Texas,” Tom said with a big smile. “The pastor was very accommodating when we explained our situation and explained your grandfather is a Baptist minister.”
“No way,” Tyler said, and his uncle gave him a hard stare.
“The only place Tyler is going is my house,” Gabriel said. “He’s moving in with me and Cory, and we’re going to assume responsibility for him, and you’re not going to do anything but thank us.”
Mary laughed, but it wasn’t a happy laugh. The sound was sadistic and scary and in perfect synch with the wild look in her eyes.
“So, Saint Gabriel Lincoln swoops in and saves the day?” Mary said. “You think after we’ve invested sixteen years financially and spiritually and emotionally in raising this child that we’re just going to hand him off to you and let you ruin him with your godless ways?”
“That’s exactly what I think,” Gabriel said.
“Then you’re the one who has another thing coming,” Tom said.
“I don’t think I do,” Gabriel said. “And I don’t want to sit here debating this all day. This is what’s going to happen, end of story.”
“It’s not the end of the story,” Tom insisted. “Tyler’s going to Texas, and I don’t give a shit if you call the police or not. I’ll sit here and deny every word, and my entire family will back me up. It’ll be my word against the word of a sixteen year old faggot.”
Tyler sucked in his breath. He hated the way his dad said that word. Sometimes he and Devin messed around with each other and said it. ‘You’re such a faggot’. ‘No shit; that’s why I’m kissing you’. This was different though. His father said it like it was the dirtiest word he’d ever heard.
“That ‘sixteen year old faggot’, as you so eloquently put it, is your son, and that attitude right there is why I’m not leaving Tyler with you,” Gabriel said. “Tyler is moving in with me and Cory, and you’re going to let him do it, and if you don’t let him do it, I’ll be calling the police. Not only will you be charged with child abuse, but there will be an added charge for the fact that his beating was the result of him being gay, which makes it a hate crime. If you don’t let Tyler move in with me and Cory, I’ll take you to court and fight you legally for him, and I’ll take this story to the press. Given our family is already such an interest to the media I have no doubt they’ll want to hear the story. I can see it now, ‘Gay nephew of war’s first P.O.W. beaten and disowned by his Family’. The whole world will know not only the shame of your son being gay, but you’ll be branded a bigot by those bleeding heart liberals you hate so much. Those damn tree hugging faggot lovers will probably start picketing outside your office and your home and maybe even your kids’ schools. Don’t worry though. Those Bible thumping right wing extremists from every Christian family values group will be demonstrating too. They’ll be standing opposite the hippies holding signs that say ‘God made Adam and Eve, not Adam and Steve’, and they’ll have your back. Hell, I’ve got goose bumps of excitement just thinking about it.”
Cory laughed harder than Tyler had ever seen before.
“Sounds like fun, doesn’t it?” Gabriel said, turning to smile at her.
“Hell yeah,” Cory agreed. “You and I can get rainbow stickers for our cars and make our own signs to hold while we stand on opposite sides of the protest lines from your family.”
“This isn’t a joke!” Tom bellowed.
“You’re right,” Gabriel said. “I’m not joking. Tyler is moving in with me today, and you’re going to support it. You’re going to be so supportive that when I file for both temporary and permanent legal guardianship of Tyler you’re not going to contest it.”
“Guardianship?” Mary gasped. “You can’t do that.”
“I can and I will, and you’re going to let me because if you don’t, I’ll tell the court all about your reaction to the news he was gay,” Gabriel warned.
“You know you can’t just get guardianship of him,” Tom countered. “The court will have to investigate your home and your life and make sure you’re fit to raise him.”
“Great,” Gabriel said. “The court will investigate me and find that I’m a former United States Marine Sergeant with three years combat experience who has a full time job with hours conducive to that of being fully available to my nephew as well as the ability to provide full financial and medical benefits without applying for public assistance.”
Tom smiled at Gabriel. “And your wife? What will they find out about your wife?”
“Your attempts to provoke anger from me are both pathetic and useless,” Gabriel said and smiled back at Tom. “So, do we have an agreement, or do you want to fight me on this?”
“I don’t know,” Cory said. “I kind of think protesting outside Tom’s office could be fun.”
“Maybe we should just let him move in with Gabriel,” Mary said as she looked at Tom. “Let Gabriel deal with this problem for a while.”
“You could be right,” Tom said. “Your brother thinks this is all fun and games now, but he doesn’t know the first thing about raising kids, let alone teenagers. At the first sign of trouble, he’ll be begging us to take Tyler back.”
“And when I do, you’ll get your chance to deprogram him,” Gabriel said and then turned his attention to Tyler. “Go upstairs and pack your stuff.”
“Oh no,” Tom said when Tyler started to obey. “You want to be the kid’s father then you buy his clothes and his food and anything else he needs.”
“Fine, we can play that way if you want,” Gabriel said. “Just makes my guardianship case easier.”
“Happy to help,” Tom said. He got to his feet and came to stand over Tyler. “And you can give back the cell phone you stole from me and your mother last night. You want a cell phone then ask your uncle to buy you one.”
Tyler looked to his uncle, and Gabriel nodded. Though he did what his uncle told him to, Tyler screamed inside. This wasn’t fair. All his numbers were in there, including Devin’s. He didn’t even have Devin’s number memorized, and they didn’t go to the same school. Without that phone, he didn’t have any means of communication with Devin. From the twisted way his father smiled at him as he handed it over, it was clear his dad knew what he was doing to him.
“We can see ourselves out,” Gabriel offered.
When he stood, Tyler and his aunt did too. None of them spoke as they trudged down the walkway and got into the car. Tyler didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. Being free of his mom and dad and the fear of getting his ass beat or having to go to Texas was a relief. The problem was they were still his parents. Even if they could stop loving him in one instant, he couldn’t do the same.
“That went pretty much like I thought it would,” Gabriel said.
“You handled them pretty well though,” Cory said. “You seemed very convincing with the whole going to the media thing.”
“Yeah, I can’t believe they fell for that,” Gabriel laughed. “Like I’d really do something that dumb and ruin my nieces and nephews lives.”
“You didn’t mean any of that stuff you said?” Tyler asked.
“I meant the guardianship thing if that’s what you’re asking,” Gabriel said.
Tyler exhaled. “Does that mean you’ll buy me a new cell phone?” he asked, and he wasn’t really kidding.
His uncle laughed anyway. “Yes, I’ll buy you a cell phone. First thing’s first though. We need to go to the courthouse to file the petitions, and then we’ll go shopping for some clothes ”
“Gabe, you think maybe we could get something to eat first?” Cory interrupted. “I don’t know about you two, but I’m starving.”
“Yeah, we can eat first. You hungry, Ty?”
It occurred to Tyler the last time he’d eaten was the early dinner his parents served the night before. Dinner on Wednesday was always at five because church was at six. Since his aunt and uncle were atheists, he didn’t have to deal with that garbage anymore.
“I’m fucking starving,” Tyler said.
“Tyler, don’t be cursing around me and your aunt,” Gabriel said.
Just for a second, he thought his uncle was serious. When both his aunt and uncle started laughing, Tyler realized he was kidding. For the first time in two days, Tyler laughed out loud. Living with his aunt and uncle was going to be way better than living with his parents.
The first person Tyler texted when he got his new phone was his sister. He didn’t remember Rebecca’s number. Instead, he got it from his uncle. Tyler wanted to make sure he got to his sister before she got home from school. He didn’t want their parents to find out she knew he had the cell phone. If they did, they might find out she was the one who gave it to him last night.
As soon as school let out, she called. By then, Tyler was home from the shopping trip. His aunt and uncle were very generous with him. They didn’t just buy him clothes. They bought him the name brand clothes that would keep him from getting his ass kicked for looking like a total dork.
There was only one thing he loved more than shopping, and it was shopping for new clothes. At the beginning of every school year, his mom always marveled at how lucky she was to have a son who didn’t mind shopping for clothes. Tyler snorted at the thought. Now his mom was probably kicking herself for missing this love of clothes shopping as a sign that he was so obviously gay.
Shopping with his aunt and uncle, he didn’t have to worry about that. He was free to pick what he wanted and act any way he wanted about it, and they let him. Not only that, they bought it all for him. Tyler came home loaded down with everything from jeans and T-shirts and hooded sweatshirts and button up shirts to boxers and socks and shoes.
And of course, they’d gotten him the new cell phone they’d promised him. The phone he ended up with was better than the one he had before. His sister was the first person to call him on it.
“How come you got a new phone?” Rebecca demanded. “What happened? Mom and Dad were flipping out this morning. Dad was stomping around the house yelling about how he wasn’t going to let some punk kid like Uncle Gabriel push him around.”
“Take a breath,” Tyler laughed. “I took off last night and came to Uncle Gabriel’s house and told him and Aunt Cory everything.”
“Then what happened?”
“Then he called Dad and told him we were coming over today.”
“And?”
And Tyler filled his sister in on everything that happened from their uncle’s phone call last night to going to their parents’ house this morning to the shopping trip that followed.
“Uncle Gabriel’s adopting you?” Rebecca said.
“No, he’s getting guardianship of me. It gives him custody of me and lets him make all the decisions Mom and Dad would get to make.”
“That’s crazy. You’re lucky though. I’d so rather live with Uncle Gabriel and Aunt Cory than Mom and Dad.”
“No shit. Now, I don’t have to deal with that church crap anymore, and I don’t have to hide my relationship with Devin.”
“I’m happy for you, but I’ll miss living with you.”
“Yeah, me too. Listen, can you give me Devin’s number?”
Rebecca laughed. “Now I see the real reason you called. You don’t care about me. You just want your boyfriend’s phone number.”
“You know it’s not like that, Beck.”
“I’m just kidding. I’ll text it to you in a second.”
“Thanks.”
“This is just weird you know. I mean, everything’s changing in our family.”
“Yeah, I know.”
“Hey, change isn’t always bad. I always wanted a sister to go shopping with and do hair and nails with.”
“Fuck you,” Tyler retorted, though he laughed when he said it.
“First you turn gay, and now you want to have sex with your sister?” Rebecca joked. “You are an abomination.”
“Rebecca, promise me you won’t say anything to anyone about me being gay,” Tyler pleaded. Despite being alone in his new room, he’d dropped his voice.
“I won’t say anything,” she assured him. “You think I’d be talking like this if anyone was around? No offense, but I don’t want to deal with peoples’ reactions to me having a gay brother.”
“I get it,” Tyler said, but her words cut just a little.
“Anyway, I’ll text you the number now. Later, Ty.”
She hung up before Tyler had the chance to even say goodbye to her. Within a few seconds, she made good on her promise to text him the number. Just as Tyler started to make the call he’d been dying to make all day, there was a knock on his door.
“Yeah?”
His uncle opened the door and stepped inside. “Getting settled in?”
“Yeah.”
“Listen, Tyler, we need to have a serious talk about what all of this means.”
Tyler frowned at him. “What do you mean?”
“I mean, you moving in here changes things for us. Being your legal guardian is a huge responsibility for me, and I can’t just be your cool uncle now.”
Tyler studied his uncle. All his life, he’d idolized Uncle Gabriel. When he wasn’t wishing his uncle was his brother, he wished his uncle was his father. Now that wish was pretty much coming true, but it didn’t sound like he should be happy about it.
Gabriel shoved some of the clothes off the bed and sat down. “I don’t want you to be afraid of trusting me and telling me things. I still want us to have the same open relationship we had before.”
“Then I don’t understand what you’re trying to tell me.”
“I’m trying to tell you there are rules in this house too. They may not be the same ones your parents had, but there are rules your aunt and I will make that you’ll be expected to follow.”
“Like what?”
Gabriel grinned at him. “I probably shouldn’t say this, but I’m afraid we’ll have to make them up as we go.”
“Uncle Gabe, you don’t have to do this. I know it’s a lot of trouble and a lot of money and stuff.”
“I do have to do this. I have to do it because I love you, and I want you to be safe and happy, and I don’t think you can do that at your parents’ house anymore.”
That was no joke. His parents hated him. His brother was disgusted by him, and his sister was ashamed of him. There was no way he could deal with all of that in his face every day. At least here he could be who he really was. At least he thought he could.
“Uncle Gabe, about those rules.”
“What about them?”
“Is one of them that I can’t see Devin or have him come over?”
“Of course not,” Gabriel said, and Tyler heaved a sigh. “In fact, I want to meet him someday.”
“Like tonight?”
“It’s a school night.”
“Do I have to go to school tomorrow? Can’t I just go back on Monday when my eye won’t look so bad?”
Gabriel gave him a long look before he answered. “That’s fair, but do me a favor, Ty.”
“Anything.”
“Don’t take advantage of me. Don’t use my ignorance as a parent to get what you want from me. I may be ignorant about being a parent, but I’ve got way more life experience than you.”
“I promise I won’t take advantage of you,” Tyler said, and they shook on it.
“Wow, this is totally intense,” Devin said when Tyler finished filling him in on what happened since last night.
“I know. I didn’t expect all this.”
“Me either. I’m glad though. I’ve been freaking out since last night. I tried calling you all day, and I kept getting this message that your number was disconnected.”
“I should’ve known they wouldn’t waste any time shutting down my phone.”
“Um, Tyler, can I ask you something?”
Tyler’s heartbeat quickened. By now, he knew Devin well enough to know when something serious was on his mind. “You know you can.”
“Are you sure you don’t want to just break up?”
Tyler drew in a sharp breath. “Is that what you want?”
“I’ve just been kind of scared that maybe your dad beating you up and trying to send you away would make you change your mind about being with me.”
“Are you kidding? I thought maybe you’d want to dump me because my dad’s such a psycho homophobic Jesus freak.”
Devin laughed. “I knew that when we met, remember. This is a relief though.”
Tyler thought so too. Breaking up with Devin after all that happened would’ve been like it was all for nothing.
“No one’s ever told me he loved me before,” Devin said softly. “None of the guys I’ve gone out with anyway.”
A stab of jealousy pierced Tyler’s gut. It wasn’t a shock that Devin dated other guys before. Devin dated other guys and kissed other guys and even had sex with another guy before him. Knowing it didn’t mean he liked being reminded of it.
“Don’t be mad, sexy boy,” Devin said. “You know I’ve never loved anyone before you.”
“Do you say that to all the guys you want to fuck?” Tyler demanded.
“Screw you if you believe that,” Devin snapped.
Tyler’s heart swelled in his chest. “I don’t want to fight with you. I can’t take anymore fighting.”
“Then don’t say fucked up things to try and hurt my feelings. It’s not my fault I’m not a virgin.”
“Um, who’s would it be then?” Tyler said and then laughed so Devin would know he wasn’t serious.
“You know what I mean,” Devin said, and he laughed too. “God, Ty, you make me so crazy sometimes.”
Tyler felt the same way about him. Being with Devin was like riding a roller coaster. It thrilled him at the same time it scared the shit out of him. It was a ride he wanted to go on over and over again though.