Opening Up
By Grace (Schenectady)
Marco: “Her Kind”
“But Mom!! Why can’t I at least be friends with her!?”
“Because she’s a lesbian! That’s why! You know this family doesn’t accept her kind!”
“’Her kind’!?!? She’s just a normal girl! Nothings gonna happen between us!”
“I don’t care. This discussion is over.”
“Ugh!!” *Slams door*
“Marco, did I ever tell you that you’re my favorite child?”
“Once or twice… Maybe…”
So maybe right now isn’t the best time to tell my parents I’m gay. They were in a good mood… until Daisy had a friend over. Of all days and friends, she picked now and her. Maybe I’ll tell her in a week or two, when Mom is over it.
Danny: Bouncing back too quickly?
“Would David like to come over for dinner tomorrow night Danny?”
“Uhh… About that Mom… We split up two days ago…”
“Oh honey I’m sorry! What happened? You two really seemed to get along.”
Ugh, I hate it when she butts into my relationship problems! Like, is it any of her business anyway? I gave her one of those ‘not in the mood to talk about it’ looks. Works every time.
“Oh, okay. I get it. Don’t talk to you about your relationships. Sorry, I forget sometimes.”
Yeah I know you do. “It’s okay.”
“Anyway, are you done with your homework yet? You seem to be struggling a little. Do you need help?”
“Uh, no thanks, I’ll just call Sherman; he’s good at this subject.”
He sure is… He’ll totally know what to do.
Sherman: Here’s what you do sweetie
“Sherman! Your cell phone is ringing!”
“Coming!”
“Hey my bestie, tell me something.”
“Sherman! I need you!”
“Yeah, yeah, don’t we all? So what’s up?”
“You’ve dated before, is two days after a break up too early to ‘get back out there again’?”
“Hmm. Are you still hung up on David? Like, any feelings lingering around?”
“No. I’m over him, and I want nothing to do with him.”
“Okay, okay, Sassy, I get it. No feelings for David…”
“Well, is it too early?”
“Is it the ever so loved: Marco? Is he even gay? Because he doesn’t seem like it… *Gasp!* or are you leaving me, and joining their side!? Oh I can’t believe you’d do this to me! What happened to our PRIDE!? P-R-I-D-E! Pride!!”
“Woah woah woah, calm down! I’m still gay! I’m not leaving you. And I’m not sure if he’s gay or not, but I’ve been getting mixed signals. Should I ask him tomorrow, or is it too soon?”
“Oh okay, good. Because if you leave me, my man, it’s going to be a hard life for both of us. Because what’s a life without a bestie?”
“Horrible? Anyway, is it too soon? Or should I ask him if he’s gay? You’re totally ignoring the point of this phone call right now. You can’t do that man!”
“I’m sorry Danny. But yes, you should ask him tomorrow. Don’t wait until he’s taken. I hear Chloe’s had her eyes on him. Don’t let that girl get him before you do Baby!”
“Alright. Got it. Thanks Sherman! I’ll talk to him tomorrow. Gotta go. See you at school tomorrow.”
“Darn right you will Sweetie. Go get him. Sleep tight!”
Oh I sure hope Marco is gay. That poor boy just can’t take the embarrassment of getting turned down by a beautiful straight boy! Hmm. I need some sleep.
“Goodnight Mother!”
Marco: Hallelujah!
“Hey Marco! Uhm, can I talk to you for a minute?” Oh boy. Here comes Chloe. She never leaves me alone!!
“Oh sure Chloe, what’s up?”
“Marco!” AAAHH!!! Danny just called my name! I wonder what he wants!?
I might find out if Chloe doesn’t ruin it first: “Danny. Can it wait? I was just about to talk to him…”
“Uhh… I guess it could wait a minute…”
Oh Chloe, short, and strange Chloe, STOP TALKING!!!
“Great, thanks Danny. So Marco, I was wondering if you, maybe, wanted to go to a movie tomorrow night. With me?”
“Uhm, no thanks Chloe, I, uh, already have plans tomorrow night…”
“Oh. Okay then. Maybe another night then?
“I’ll think about it…”
“Great, ‘kay thanks.”
She’s finally gone! Now to find out what Danny wanted!
“Okay, so, uh, Danny, what were you going to say?”
“Oh. So, I don’t really know how to put this, but, you don’t normally come across as…gay…But, lately, you’ve been acting…you know, gay… And I was wondering…are you gay…?”
“You used gay a lot in that sentence. But yes, I am gay. Why? Are you…?”
“Uhm, yeah… I thought I was one of the obvious ones… I guess I was wrong?”
“No, I just, wanted to make sure, is all. But uhm, anyway, would you like to…I don’t know…maybe, go to a movie, or something tomorrow night?”
“Oh, great. Ha-ha yeah, I’d love to. I have a car, I could drive. How about I pick you up at about 7-ish?”
“Great, see you then.”
Oh, wow. I’m going on a date with the man of my dreams. Hallelujah!
Sherman: Give me the deets!
Danny better call me right now. He better, he just better. He said he was going to ask Marco out today. I have to know how it went! Or maybe he didn’t ask him out. He could be stalling to think of an excuse of why he didn’t. Oh, he’s such a sweet boy, but he doesn’t have to do that. I totally understand if he’s too scared. I mean, he just broke up with David. Like, really? David: the dreamy, tall, buff, blonde boy of EVERYBODY’S dreams. That’s a real heartbreaker there. Oh I hope he’s okay. But that boy better just call me soon and spill all the juicy gossip!
*Ring ring* Ah! Danny!
“Okay Sweetie tell me everything that happened today! Fill me in! Tell me how it went!”
“Oh Sherman. I had the most marvelous day today! Marco is gay! And HE asked ME out! We’re on for tomorrow night at the movies. I’m picking him up at seven, since I’m the one with a car.”
“Oh there you go Baby, there you go! So what are you going to wear tomorrow? DON’T wear the same clothes you wore to school. It’ll make him think that you don’t care. Wear something, sassy. Like your best pair of skinny jeans! And NOT the dirty Converse Honey, wear the new clean red ones. With that new red plaid shirt you just bought! That’ll look great! You’ll have to send me a pic of what you look like before you go.”
“Okay, great! Thanks Sherman! You always know what to do.”
“Duh. Now go tell your parents.”
“Okay, I’ll send you a picture tomorrow beforehand, and then afterwards I’ll call you with details on how it went!”
“You do that Hon. Bye bye!”
Danny: He smiled!
“Sherman! I just back from the date!”
“You sound happy! So, just tell me what happened tonight. No! Just tell me what happened when you dropped him off! Did you kiss him goodnight? Wait, no, start at the beginning! Just tell me everything!”
“That’s what I was planning on! So the date went great! We sat next to each other and held hands, and then we got in the car to go, and he looked at me, and just smiled. That was the happiest smile I’ve ever seen. It felt so good just to know I made him that happy! And no, I didn’t kiss him goodnight. It’s only our first date, we’re taking it slow. I don’t want to start kissing right away. Good kissing isn’t something to build a relationship on.”
“Oh! He smiled! And I know Hon, that’s not how you build a relationship. And speaking of that, why did you even break up with David. I mean, I respect your sights for Marco and all, but David was a tall, buff, blonde, hunk! I would have never thought that you’d break up with him…”
“Same reason I didn’t kiss Marco tonight. David and I started with that, and that’s all he ever wanted to do. I didn’t know anything about him, so it just wouldn’t have worked out. So I ended it. You can have David if you want. I know you liked him too.”
“Oh, thank you, but it’s alright. He doesn’t like sassy.”
“Oh yeah, he didn’t seem to like you too much, sorry Sherm.”
“Oh it’s alright; his personality isn’t my type anyway. So anyways, when’s your next date?”
“I have another one next Friday. And if that one goes well, I’m going to ask him about Saturday!”
“Well Sweetheart, I must say, you certainly plan ahead! “
“I totally do Sherman! I totally do.”
Lily Tanner: Of course it’s a date!
“Danny, do you know Marco’s parents’ phone number? I want to invite them and Marco over for dinner tomorrow.”
“Sure, here it is.”
“Thanks.”
*Ring ring*
“Hello?”
“Hello, is this Lauren? Marco’s mother?”
“Yes… Who’s this?”
“My name is Lily, I’m Danny’s mom. I was thinking about having you, your husband and Marco over for dinner tomorrow night. Would you like to?”
“Oh, okay, sure that’d be wonderful, thank you that’s very sweet. Their little friendship is actually starting to seem like a date, movies, and then dinner? Ha-ha, but Marco isn’t gay, so I know it’s nothing like that.”
“What do you mean? Of course Marco is gay, it is a date. Didn’t he mention it to you?”
*Stunned silence*
“Hello? Lauren, are you still there?”
“What did you say about my son!?”
“Uh, he’s gay? He didn’t tell you…?”
“NO! Not at all! He said they were just hanging out! I can’t believe he lied to me like that, I’m going to talk to him RIGHT NOW!”
“Oh… Well, I’m ever so sorry I made this such a surprise to you! But I’m sure he was going to tell you soon, so I don’t believe it’s anything to worry about. This may be bad timing, and please forgive me if it is, but are you still joining us for dinner tomorrow night?”
“NO! We will NOT be joining you!” *Hangs up*
Well, she’s very bitter. I wonder why she has a problem with that once she knows it’s a date…
Marco: “Taste of Betrayal”
Okay. Don’t be scared Marco. You can do this. They’re your parents. They love you. They probably won’t care. They’ll have to accept it, what could they possibly do? Ground me? Ha! Doubt it. They’ll be fine.
Why am I even talking to myself? Geez, I’m going crazy. I GOTTA tell them now.
“Hey Mom! Dad! Daisy! Can you come into the living room for a minute? I want to tell you something.”
Mom doesn’t sound happy: “How ironic, we we’re just about to call you in here. MARCO, DAISY, GET IN HERE NOW!!!”
“What’s up Mom? You guys don’t look so happy…” I wonder what happened that ticked them off this much…
“Yeah? Well no one does when they’ve been betrayed!”
Uh-oh. Betrayed? Did they find out!? Oh no, I’m dead! Oh man, please, PLEASE let it have just been Daisy bringing home another lesbian!
Looks like Daisy’s a little scared too: “Marco’s the one in trouble right…?”
“Daisy, you’re my new favorite child!” I think that answered both our questions.
“What’d I do Mom?”
“Guess who called earlier? Danny’s mother. Inviting all of us over for dinner. I laughed and said okay, thinking it was just to meet the parents of their son’s new friend. But then, she tells me it was a date. Apparently, your little shenanigan at the movies wasn’t two ‘dudes’ going to see a zombie movie. That was a date. You betrayed us Marco! You know how this family feels about gays! I can’t even look at you! How could you do this to us?”
“To you!? How could you do this to me!? What do you even have against gays and lesbians anyway? Nothing’s wrong with them! They’re just normal people too! I didn’t want to tell you because I was scared that you were going to do something horrible, because I know you don’t like gays. But I’m sick of hiding who I really am! I’m gay, and I’m proud! How can you just isolate your child’s life like that!? I’m your son. Don’t you want me to be happy?”
“Of course I do, I just want you to be happy with a girl!”
“Well that’s not happening. So you’re stuck with me being happy with a boy. So sorry to disappoint.”
If she wants me to be happy, then why is she so upset about this? This is my life, I control it, and this is how it’s going to be. If she doesn’t like it, whatever that’s her opinion. It doesn’t matter to me. She can kick me out for all I care!
“Daisy, Marco, go to your rooms! I’ll be speaking with you in a minute Marco.”
Lauren: Pack your bags
“MARCO!”
“Ye- hey, my room! Don’t you know how to knock?”
“I own the house, I don’t have to knock. And I suggest you watch your tone with me especially after I just found out how you’ve betrayed this family! Now pack your bags. Everything! Don’t leave anything but furniture behind.”
“Why? Are we going somewhere? Because a little while ago you didn’t quite seem like you were in the ‘oh let’s plan a vacation!’ mood.”
“Oh, no, we’re not going on a vacation. You are.”
“Me alone? What!?”
“Oh you’re being kicked out. You may be our son, but that doesn’t mean you’re an exception! This family doesn’t approve of gays! You’re not going to live here if you’re gay!”
“WHAT!? You can’t just kick me out! I live here! Where would I even go!?”
“I don’t care. You are no longer my responsibility! Why don’t you go stay with your ‘boyfriend’?”
“Maybe I will! I’m getting out of here if you really don’t care about me anymore, just for that reason!”
“Good. Give me a call and you can come back when you’ve gotten your sense back!”
Devil child. I want him out of my house! How could he betray us like that? It simply isn’t right.
Danny: I’m on my way
“Hello?”
“Hi Danny.”
“Oh hey Marco.”
“Would you or your parents mind if I stayed with you for a little while?”
“Why!? Oh my gosh Marco what happened!?”
“My parents kicked me out. They found out I was gay, and they were legitimately furious. Apparently I ‘betrayed’ them, even though; they don’t even care about my happiness. So I’m out on the streets right now with all my bags, and I have nowhere to go. I wouldn’t normally ask to stay with you, but I’m desperate. Please? Would it be okay?”
“Absolutely. I’ll have my parents make up the guest bedroom. You can stay as long as you need to.”
“Thank you so much Danny! I mean, it won’t be awkward or anything; us living together? Will it?”
“Oh no, my parents will be here, and they don’t make anything awkward. It’ll be fine. Do you need a ride here?”
“Please. I don’t know the way to your house, plus, all my bags are too heavy to carry.”
“Okay, I’m on my way. You’re outside of your house right?”
“Yeah. Thanks.”
Lily Tanner: Right Clyde?
“Marco, I’m so sorry your parents kicked you out! Why did they, if you don’t mind me asking?”
“I don’t mind. They found out I was gay. My parents are against gays, if that wasn’t already obvious…”
“Oh… Could it be because I told them you were? I’m so sorry Marco, I had no idea!”
“It’s not your fault. They probably would’ve kicked me out anyway, because I was just about to tell them that I was gay, and then they called me into the living room.”
He’s probably just saying that so I don’t feel bad about it. He’s sweet. I still feel bad, my fault or not.
“Oh… I’m so sorry about that. You can stay here as long as you like. Right Clyde?”
“Oh yeah, of course!”
“Thank you so much Mr. and Mrs. Tanner.”
“No problem at all. Now you boys can go get situated upstairs. Danny, you can show him around, and dinner will be ready in ten minutes.”
Danny: I have to call Sherman!
“So here’s your room, and there’s the bathroom. I have to return a phone call; I’ll meet you back in here.”
“Okay.”
Sherman: You need to slow down
“Oh, so you finally decide to return my phone call?”
“Sherman! Marco moved in with us!”
“WHAT!? You’ve only been on two dates! You need to slow down.”
“Not like, legit move in… He’s just staying here for a little while. His parents kicked him out.”
“Oh. Well then that’s fine. Where is he now?”
“In the next room over. I have to go, dinner’s almost ready.”
“Okay, just make sure you call me if anything happens Honey!”
“You know I will Sherman, bye!”
Clyde: Just don’t blame yourself
“But Lily, you don’t want to butt into this. His parents will realize how unfair and cruel they were being, and then they’ll call and take him back.”
“But do you realize how long that may take!? I don’t care if they will or not, I’m going over there and I’m going to talk with them about this. It’s not right to do this to a teenage boy.”
“Lily, please, just stay out of it, it may be better if yo-”
“Clyde, please, just back me up on this. You always tell me how you admire how caring I am. So please, let me be. I need support here. Please Clyde?”
“Huhmm. Alright, I suppose you might be able to do something about it, but if it doesn’t work out, just please, don’t blame yourself.”
“Thank you Clyde. I’ll be right back. Go ahead and start dinner without me.”
Lily: All that matters is your son’s happiness
“Can I help you Lillian?”
“It’s actually just Lily, and if you don’t mind, I’d like to talk to you about Marco and Danny.”
“I suppose. This might be an interesting thought to hear. Please, do come in.”
“Thank you. Now, I know you might be in a bit of shock from the news you were recently presented with, and please accept my apologies about that. But I do know how it feels to find out your son is gay. Danny started thinking boys were cute when he was eleven. His father, Clyde, and I were worried, thinking that he might be gay when he grows up, but it doesn’t really matter if they like boys or girls, or even both. All that really matters is our child’s happiness.”
“Well I’m sure you would know all about that now wouldn’t you?”
“Well you may be forgetting that my son is a part of this too and he’s also gay. So yes, I do, because I’ve had to deal with the dates, and the proms, and dinners. And it makes my son, happy, and that’s all I care about. I was a bit shocked at first as well… but I tried to accept it… and I got used to it… and I’m fine with it. It really doesn’t matter. The shock goes away, because it’s still your son, and his happiness.”
“So what exactly are you saying? That I should accept the fact that my son is gay, let him move back in? A happy ending for all, is that what you want?”
“Yes, it’s what everybody wants. Don’t you want you and your family to be happy?”
“I suppose I do. But how can I just accept my son’s gayness like that?”
“Just try, it’s not that hard. Over time you’ll get over it, and you won’t even care. You should just give them a chance.”
“Well Lily, you should feel pretty good about yourself, because your words have taught me something, and that doesn’t happen often. Normally I just ignore what people say, and go by my own thoughts and opinions. I don’t particularly like gays, but I suppose I could give it a try. For the sake of my son’s happiness.”
“Thank you Lauren. I’m sure that’ll make Marco very happy. I’ll go back and get him so he can move back in.”
Marco: Thanks Mom
“Marco, could you forgive me? I’m sorry, and I’ll try to accept you for who you are.”
“Thanks Mom, I appreciate you at least trying.”
“Do you need any help unpacking your stuff?”
“Yes, please.”
Sherman: Oh, it’s just so cute!
“A phone call twice in one day? Gosh Danny, don’t keep your man waiting!”
“It’s okay Sherman, he’s not here. My mom went to talk to his mom about him being kicked out, and she listened to her advice, and he moved back in. I was just calling to let you know.”
“Oh! Are you alright, I mean, did you guys break up?”
“No! We’re still together. And we’re still on for Friday too. Don’t freak out Sherm, I just wanted to let you know, ha-ha.”
“Ohh! I see! Alright Hon, thanks for letting me know!”
“You’re totally welcome! You know I always call you whenever something happens.”
“Absolutely! And is this a happy ending? You know I love happy endings!”
“Ha-ha, well I don’t see what’s ending Sherm, but it is a happy moment! And yes, I do know.”
“Oh! It’s just so cute!!”
“Sherm, man are you tearing up? Or are you just making your voice all high?”
“No, no, I’m fine, I’m fine! Just go celebrate your happy moment!”
“Ha-ha, okay Sherman, just call me if you need anything. Bye.”
Daisy: Are we all happy again?
“Mom, Dad, Marco, are we all a happy family again?”
“Ha-ha, yes Sweetie, your father and Marco and I all are a happy family again. And I’m deciding to give gays and lesbians a try now, so I don’t mind if you have one of your lesbian friends over.”
“Thanks Mom, I love you guys.”
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