“Thank you, Derrick, I think I do, too,” Evan’s dad says as he puffs out his chest. He’s so cute.
“And what is it that you do, Jake? You look like you’ve just stepped off an island or something.” I look him up and down. He’s dressed in jeans and a surf brand T-shirt with boots. His hair looks sun-bleached, and he has freckles across his nose. The man looks like he is always at the beach.
Jake burst out laughing. “That’s because I have.”
“Jake is a professional surfer. He lives in Hawaii,” Evan adds.
Oh. I look between the two brothers, how the hell did this family produce two such opposite guys? One’s a rock star and the other is a surfer.
“I ride big waves,” Jake adds proudly.
“I’m sure you do,” I tease, letting the innuendo hang between us.
“Derrick.” Evan gasps. His dad chuckles, and Jake stares at me. I give Evan an innocent face. “Ignore anything and everything Derrick says, he has no filter,” Evan warns his brother.
“And that’s what you love about me,” I say, fluttering my eyelashes at him. Evan rolls his eyes but smiles. “So big waves, hey? That must be dangerous,” I ask Jake.
“It can be,” Jake says.
“Sienna’s family has a place up in Byron Bay, there are heaps of surfers up there,” I say, knowing nothing about surfing other than the guys are hot.
Jake nods. “I’ve got a heap of friends that surf there, great spot. I stick to the North Shore of Hawaii, but I travel a lot around the world chasing the biggest waves.”
“Much to his parents’ horror,” his dad adds.
“Sounds interesting. Where has been the best place you surfed?”
“Antarctica.” Jake grins. “We filmed a documentary about it, it’s not out yet, it’s with the editors.”
“Um, isn’t that cold? They have waves down there? Did you have to dodge icebergs?” I ask, utterly fascinated.
“Funnily enough, there were some, but it was freezing and we wore dry suits. They were twenty-feet high, not the biggest, but certainly the most out-of-body experience I’ve ever had. That was probably the scariest surf we’ve been in, ’cause if you crash out, you get pushed underwater and it’s like being hit by a cement truck, but this is like a cement truck encased in an iceberg. The cold takes everything out of you. Luckily, no wipeouts for any of us.”
“That’s insane,” I say.
“He’s insane,” Evan adds.
“He’s a rock star of the sea,” I add, which has everyone cracking up.
“Oh my god, I love it. I think I need that tattooed on me.” Jake laughs.
I love Evan’s parents, they are lovely, warm, funny, and they love taking the piss out of each other, which makes them honoraryAussies in my book. They are just like Sienna and Ness’ parents, bloody awesome people. I hate that there’s a twinge of jealousy when I’m around people who have normal parents. I don’t know what it’s like to have grown up with unconditional love or support like they have. I’m not trying to be allboo hoo poor little Derrick,but I kind of am.
We’ve all had one too many drinks at dinner and have moved outside to sit around the fire as the night is cool.
“Derrick, are your parents as fabulous as you are?” Evan’s mom asks. The party stills at her question. She looks at Evan for help, realizing she might have somehow put her foot in it. “Did I say something wrong?” she asks.
I shake my head. “No, you didn’t. I don’t have a relationship with my parents. They weren’t thrilled that they produced a gay son.” Evan’s mom gasps. The thought is so foreign to her that a parent and a child would have no relationship with each other. “My parents are ultra-religious. They are part of what I would call a cult, it definitely was not a normal religion. We were semi-isolated from the real world on the outskirts of town. We did go to a normal school, which was a blessing, but it was only because the government made us. That was where I could be me. Once I was out of those stifling walls of the commune, I felt free, I felt like me.” Everyone is quiet and listening intently. I don’t share what happened to me much because I don’t want people to pity me, lots of people have shitty childhoods. “Then one day when I was fifteen, someone told them they had seen me kissing a boy in town. It was my first kiss. That solidified to me that everything I felt about the same sex was real. That it felt right. When I got home I was on cloud nine, but as soon as I stepped across the threshold, I knew something was wrong. It was like a suffocating dark cloud was hanging around the house, and that’s when my father grabbed me and beat me to within an inch of my life for bringing shame on the family for my disgusting habits. Iremember a group of men watching on to make sure my father dealt with the problem sufficiently, and when they were happy, they walked out of our home, and my parents left me there.” I can see Evan’s mom is trying not to cry. “Once I was healed from my injuries, the same men who watched me get beaten came back and took me away. I was sent to a conversion camp where gay teens were sent to be straightened out.” I chuckle. “Yeah, putting a group of hormonal teens in a camp together was never going to work. We all realized that the camp was wrong, so we agreed to pretend to be the perfect little angels for the camp, otherwise, the punishments were brutal. Then at night under the cover of darkness, in the shadows, we were able to be who we truly were. It’s where I lost my virginity.” I smirk. “I was at this camp for a year, and then when I came back, I hid who I was and became a robot. I couldn’t trust the people at school or my friends and neighbors, one of them had ratted me out. Once I graduated high school, I told my parents where to go and that I was a proud gay man, and if they couldn’t love me for that, then I was no longer their son. They were happy with that. I used my life savings from my after-school job and took the bus to Sydney, where some friends I had made at the conversion school were moving to. It was so liberating to be able to go out and not hide who I truly was. And I guess that’s why I am so loud and proud and can be a little much for people because I had to be silent for so long.”
“I’m so sorry, Derrick,” Evan’s mom says through tears.
“I’m not because otherwise I wouldn’t be here with Sienna and all of you,” I tell them, trying to hold back my own emotions.
“You are an amazing young man, and they should be so proud of you for all you have accomplished and all that you are about to do. I’ve only just met you, but seeing what you and Sienna have created makes me so proud.”
Damn it, that’s sweet. I can’t stop the tears forming in my eyes,damn, dust. Evan’s mom panics when she sees me upset and rushes over to where I am sitting, pushing Evan out of his seat beside me, and grabs my hand.
“Don’t cry. I’m sorry.”
