This chapter is dedicated to @MrsBossPlaya who recently just started commenting, voting, and reading the story. I remember seeing her blow up my notifications as she read the story! Thank you!
Chapter 42
Stephen
2016
"You need to tell your mother, your family."
"I know. I know. I'm trying," I sigh as I sit on the phone. "It's hard. I don't know if they'll be as accepting as your family was."
"You never know unless you tell them. I have to go. I have a photo shoot in a few minutes. I love you, Wally."
"I love you, too, Riah." I smile into the phone before hanging up. I sigh as I get up and walk back downstairs to the backyard of my parents' house. We had the entire cast of the biopic movie— The New Edition and SJC Story— over for a pre-filming cast party.
Everyone was swimming, eating, playing cards, singing, dancing, and overall having a good time with each other before we start filming the day after the 4th of July.
"Wally!" Mom smiles at me from the pool lounge chair she had declared as hers when the party started. "Where did you go? Mike wanted you to play ball with them."
"I had to take a call, Ma." I kiss her cheek.
"The mysterious lover you never want to talk about?" She says and I choke on the air.
"What?" I gasp after momentarily dying.
"Oh, come on, sweetie. You and I are just alike: Can't hide our emotions for the person we love. I know you've been seeing someone for over a year. You just won't tell me who the person is. I know you like to keep things under wraps, but I thought you would at least tell your own mother," She waves her hand. "It's fine. Whenever you're ready, I am."
"It's not that simple, Ma." I sigh.
"Love never is, sweetie. But you can make it that simple. If you really love this person, you'll bring her around." She says, but the smirk on her face says something different.
Yeah. Her.
"Yeah. Okay," I roll my eyes. "You seen Dad?"
"Playing pool in the garage. You know how they are." She waves her hand again before reclining back in the chair.
I kiss her cheek again before walking to the front of the house and into the garage where my dad, Tre, Will, and RJ were playing pool.
"Wal!" Dad smiles at me. Mom always says that Tre and I got his smile and that it was her favorite feature of ours.
"Hey Dad," I smile back. "Wassup y'all?"
"Just whooping Dad's ass," Tre says as he makes a tricky shot and gets the last of the striped balls in the pocket. "And hustling these two out of their money."
"Yeah. Whatever, lil nigga. You still owe me two hundred from the last time we played. So I don't owe you nothing." RJ laughs.
"It's one fifty. And now you owe me fifty for," Tre says before hitting the eight ball in. "This shot."
They all smack their teeth as I laugh. "Dad, can I talk to you?" I make sure I sound extra serious.
"Sure. Boys, can y'all give us a minute?" Dad asks and they leave, patting me on the back for support. They don't know what for, they know I need it. "What's up?"
"I have a problem, Dad," I start but stop because I don't know how to finish. "It's, uh...I, well, I am..."
"Just say it, son. It can't be that bad," He walks around the pool table to stand next to me. "You know how we are in this family: No secrets."
"I just don't want you to look at me differently, Dad," I say and move away from him. I pace around the garage, a nervous tick I unfortunately got from my mom. "I don't want anyone to look at me differently. But they will. They always do."
"First, stop that damn pacing. You and your mom make me nervous with that," he grabs my shoulders and makes me face him. "What's going on? What do you think will make me look at you differently?"
"Dad," I sigh and looks at me hard.
"It's about the secret "lover" your mom thinks you have?" He asks and I frown. "Who is she? Is she someone you think we won't approve of? Any girl you pick will be amazing, Wal."
"That's the thing, Dad," my hands start shaking so I curl them into fists. "It isn't a girl."
He stops and stares at me as the words register in his mind. "The secret lover isn't a...He isn't a girl." I prepare myself for the worst response.
"Wow," He leans against the pool table. "Wow, Wally."
He just looks at me and that makes me even more upset. "I knew this would happen. You're looking at me differently. I knew I should have told Mom first," I start to storm out of the garage but Dad grabs me and pulls me into a hug. "Let me go."
His grip doesn't lessen. "You're my son. My flesh and blood. My firstborn. Do you honestly think I'd care if you prefer guys over girls? If you're gay?"
"I'm not gay, Dad," I stop trying to pull out of his hug. "I do like girls. I just don't like being in relationships with them. I love women, but he just makes me...I don't know."
He pulls back. "You do know, son. He makes you happy. Makes you feel loved. He accepts you for you. I get it. I understand," He smiles. "You need to tell your mom and the rest of the family. We can wait until the others leave."
"Thanks, Dad. Thanks for understanding," I feel tears of joy coming to my eyes. "I was afraid you'd shun me."
"My own flesh and blood? How could I do that?" Dad wraps his arms around me and kisses my forehead. He's been doing this since I was a kid and hasn't stopped. "Nothing can ever make me stop loving you, son. Let's go back to the party."
I smile as we walk back to the backyard where everyone is doing the Bus Stop. I join in with a lighter heart than before. Towards the end of the night, when everyone is slowly leaving, Dad gets the rest of the family to stay back.
"What's going on, JG?" Uncle Bobby asks as we all gather in the largest living room.
"Why can't we go home?" JJ asks with her husband Chance next to her.
"I have something to tell all of you," I step up. I take a deep breath before continuing. "This is hard to say. It's something I've kept secret for over a year now because I didn't know how you all would take it. I didn't know how to take it at first."
"What's wrong, Wally?" Ben asks.
"What's up?" Quincy questions. Tre looks at me with a knowing look.
"When we were touring in Europe last year and stopped in Paris, I met someone," I say and they all smile except for Tre who smirks. My little brother is too smart for his own good.
"And you didn't tell us?" Uncle Ronnie smiles. "Mackin' on the French girls, huh, Wal?"
"He does have that je ne se quais about him." Kim jokes and they laugh.
"Come on, everyone. Let him finish." Dad stops them.
"What's wrong? Why are you so serious?" Uncle Ricky asks and I sigh.
"When we were in France, I met a...a guy. His name is Uriah Owens. He was originally from New Orleans but his dad was French so they moved there and he became a French citizen. He came to a show one night and got backstage and talked to me. I met him at a café the next day and it...went from there." I let out the truth and I feel a weight leave my shoulders. No matter how they take it, it's out there now and I feel so much better for it.
"Oh shit," Lucy curses and we all look at her. "I fucking knew it. That explains why you would get in so late from the show. You were out seeing him."
"I wanna see what he looks like." Auntie Cassie says.
"I bet he fly as hell. Wally knows good when he sees it." Tre smirks at me.
"He's coming into town in a few days. I wanted to bring him on set so he can meet all of you. He's a film major too so I knew he would want to look at American film." I rub the back of my neck.
"So you're gay?" Uncle Ralph asks and I frown.
"Dad," RJ snaps. He never calls his dad anything other than Rizz. "You can't do that."
"No. It's fine, RJ. He can ask," I shrug it off. "No I'm not gay. I love women too, but he's different. I honestly have always looked at guys...a little differently. I just never acted on it because I was afraid of others' reactions."
"So you're bisexual?" Uncle Ralph asks. This time, Auntie Cassie slaps him on his head. "It's serious questions. I'm trying to understand my nephew."
"I'm not calling myself anything, Uncle Ralph. I'm just Wally Gill. I don't want to identify as anything. I just want to be me. Rather that's with a girl or a guy." I answer.
"More power to you man," Chance speaks up and I smile. "If we had more people like you in this world, it would be a better place."
"Thanks, Chance," I smile. "So that's it. I'll see y'all in a few days with Uriah."
Kim, JJ, Lucy, Mom, Auntie Cassie, and Auntie Jacque crowd around me in a group hug. When they let go, Will, Ben, Q, RJ, and Tre wrap themselves around me. All of my uncles and Dad hug me separately except for Uncle Ralph. He hangs back.
"I'm not homophobic, Wally. I'm just trying to understand. I know it's not my place, but you're my nephew. I want to understand so I can help you better." Uncle Ralph tells me as he walks up to me.
"Just love me like you did ten minutes ago, Uncle Rizz. That's it. I'm the same guy." I say and he nods before hugging me.
"So you got a beautiful black man?" Uncle Bobby asks and I smile.
"The Black Boy Joy is so real with him. His dad is French but he's African French. His grandparents were born in Ethiopia and his dad in France. When I tell you he is Black Excellence." I smile widely.
"Awww," Mom pushes Uncle Ralph out of the way to hug me tightly. "I knew it. I knew my baby liked him some French baguettes."
Everyone groans at the horrible, nasty joke. "We're open but not that open. It's time to go." Will shakes his head and they all leave.
"So I'll have a brother-in-law?" Tre asks me as we sit in the living room together. Mom and Dad went to watch everyone leave.
"Ehh...we'll see. It could turn out to be a sister-in-law later in the future," I lean back in the sofa before looking at my little brother. "I'm happy, man."
"I can see that," Tre smiles. "Is he one of those flamboyant gays? Because I can't deal with those. They make me want to punch them in the face."
"No. He's like me. You wouldn't know it unless you know him," I sigh. "To answer your nest question: yes he has a big dick."
"That's what's up, Big Bro!" Tre daps me. "Ma! Wally said Uriah has a big dick!"
I grab a pillow and start to smother him with it.
***
"Babe!" Uriah smiles when he sees me in LAX airport.
"Riah," I breath a sigh of relief when I see him. I tightly wrap my arms around him. "I'm so happy you're here."
We get a lot of looks from the other people in the area. I can honestly say I don't care what they think. That makes me even more happy.
"Moi aussi," he pulls back. "We 're going to zhe set? Zo I get to meet everyone?"
"Yes. Yes you do." I grab one of his bags and lead him out of the airport. We get into my Cadillac and I drive us over to the center where a lot of the performance scenes were being filmed.
"Zoes everyone know?" He asks me as I get us inside.
"My family. Not the crew and cast but that's not important. If they don't like it, that's them." I smile.
"J'adore ce Wally." He kisses my cheek.
"There's Wally!" Tre shouts when we finally get into the main stage area. "And he got Uriah with him!"
My entire family looks at me with the biggest smiles. "Ayo. That's yo mans?" Woody asks. He does a stupid dance with a smile on his face.
"Daammmnn," Bryshere laughs. "Yo, Wal. You gotta talk to Jussie now."
I roll my eyes at them as my mom, brother, and dad come up to meet Uriah.
"Everyone this is my boyfriend Uriah. Riah, this is my mom Steph, my dad Johnny, and my little annoying ass brother Tre." I introduce them and wait nervously for the reactions.
"Enchanté, Monsieur et Madame Gill. Et toi petit Monsieur Tre. Je m'appelle Uriah Owens." Uriah introduces himself in French.
"Bonjour, Uriah! Enchanté. Je me sens heureuse tu es avec mon fils." Mom responds in French, leaving Dad and Tre confused. Tre never bothered to learn French with so many of us knowing it. He's opposite as hell.
"English please?" Dad asks and Uriah laughs.
"I just said it's nice to meet you Mister Gill. And your beautiful wife said she was happy that I am with her son." Uriah translates with a smile. I wrap my arm around his waist and his goes around my shoulder. Being the same height was perfect for putting our arms around each other.
"You don't have to call me Mister Gill. It's Johnny. It's great to finally meet you too, Uriah," Dad smiles. "Now, take him to meet everyone else. Will and RJ look like they might bust. You know those two."
I just smile at my dad before taking Uriah around to meet all of my family. The cast even comes over to meet my boyfriend with open arms.
"I said five minutes. Why isn't anyone on set and ready to shoot?" Chris Robinson asks as he walks on set. "Oh. Wally has his boyfriend on set. Great. Just delay my schedule. Hello French film boy," Chris rolls his eyes. A smile plays at the corners of his mouth. "Now everyone get to work."
I pull Uriah back so that we aren't in the way of the camera and crew. He watches in wonder at how American filmmaking works.