“Yes?” she asks without turning.
“Theo’s my boyfriend.”
She sets the dish gently on the counter and crosses the kitchen to perch delicately on the stool across from us. “Theo’s your… boyfriend?” She tilts her head, like maybe she didn’t understand him and is giving him the chance to correct her English.
“Sí, mi novio. I’m gay, but Mom and Jay don’t know yet.”
“Oh.” Her mouth makes a little O shape, and she says it again in a different key. “Oh.”
“It’s cool, though. I’m going to tell them.”
“Yes,” she says with a nod. “Yes, you should, Cristiano. Soon.”
“Very soon,” he says.
“Okay, then I won’t say anything about….” She glances between us, then smiles at Chris affectionately, the same smile he got earlier when he asked for his flaky biscuits.
He nods. “Gracias, Paloma.”
“And you?” She looks at me. “Are you the gay too?”
I nod, suppressing a smile at the translation.
“Well.” She points at the biscuits. “Tienes hambre?”
“Sí, muy, muy,” Chris says, a grin breaking over his face. His Spanish, while not always grammatically correct, is adorable.
She slides them over, and we each eat our biscuits—already buttered—while Paloma finishes putting away the dishes. As we’re standing to go back upstairs, Paloma taps me on the shoulder. “Be good to him,” she says to me in Spanish.
“Prometo.”
“And change your shirt. That one’s Christiano’s. I know because I washed it yesterday.”
I glance down to discover she’s right.
The Part Where I Punk Out, Yet Again
AFTER SCHOOLthe next day, I catch a ride with Ryanne to her cousin’s house. On the way there, we talk about school—classes and workload, when we’ll be taking the SAT’s, and where we’ll apply. Ryanne is in a similar situation to mine in that she has a couple of siblings, and her parents can’t afford to help much. The conversation is pretty tame, and I figure I might as well get the elephant out of the room. Even though I’m guessing Ryanne doesn’t give a shit about my sexuality, I need to state it just to, as Lt. Knox says, clear the air.
“Hey, you know about that picture, right? What’s in Wooten’s mouth?”
She glances over at me. “I heard something about it.”
“So, I’m gay.”
She nods. “Yeah, I kind of figured that already.”
“Before the picture?”
She nods again.
“Is it because of my smile?”
She gives me a funny look. “No, I figured Chris was too.”
I don’t confirm it, because I’m not going to out him, even to Ryanne. “Why would you think that?” I ask like it’s the craziest thing ever.
“Something about that day in Sebastian. The way he was when you went under. And after. Like he didn’t want to leave your side, and you were just sleeping on the beach. I know he’s your best friend, but it was something deeper.”
