Chapter 49
Jannis
One year later
It’s a beautiful, sunny Saturday in May and we’re sitting in the car on our way to Gengenbach. The magnolias are in bloom, but we’ve been so busy over the last few weeks we haven’t made it to our tree yet. We come at least once a year when the tree is in bloom to visit Dayyan’s parents and Danny.
We lie on a picnic blanket and look up while Flocke sniffs around.
“Firas has a crush on Emely from 9c.” The secret must have been brewing in Nael for a long time.
“Dude, why are you telling them?”
“Mom is asking if we need to talk about protection again.” Dayyan is grinning.
“Urgh, no.”
“I don’t want to sleep with her. Not right now, I think.”
“Dad says no sex before marriage.”
Firas and Nael laugh, and I have to try hard to keep myself together.
“Bullshit! Mom and Dad got married when you were already five!”
These trips used to be less boisterous. And this time, too, Dayyan has his ten minutes when he becomes very quiet, tears run down his temples and I hold his hand. This is his time with his parents, mostly with his mother. Later, I will ask him, and he will tell me about it.
We never talk about how long we’ll stay, it always varies, and somehow everyone knows when it’s time to leave. As always, we pick up some Yufka on the way home, and as always, everyone except Dayyan has eaten it by the time we get home. Then he disappears into the bathroom for about fifteen to twenty minutes and comes out freshly showered.
“You guys aren’t as subtle as you think you are.”
Dayyan looks at Firas with a raised eyebrow. “You sure you’re using the word subtle correctly?”
Nael nods. “Definitely. I’m not so sure about you guys though. If you were subtle, we wouldn’t know that you’re on your way up to your room to fuck.”
That’s exactly what we had in mind, and since we want to raise them with the understanding that sex is normal and don't want to make it a taboo, we both suppress the urge to loudly disagree and tell them some nonsense.
“Are we too loud?”
Firas and Nael grin so widely the corners of their mouths almost touch their earlobes. The question was such a perfect setup it would be embarrassing for Dayyan if it weren’t so funny.
“Oh, fuck, sunshine, harder.”
“Ah, right there, don’t stop. I’m coming.”
Okay, it is embarrassing after all.
“Suggestion: If it bothers you, put your AirPods in your ears and go play darts in the basement. You can come back up in an hour.”
Firas looks at us, almost disturbed. “You need an hour to come? Is that what happens when you get older? It only takes me five minutes when I jerk off.”
“Maximum,” Nael interjects.
The conversation has been going in completely the wrong direction for far too long, and before Dayyan, in his desperation, tries to explain the time component of anal sex, I reply. I had a little time to think about something. And yes, it took me a bit, but I’m speaking.
“Sex isn’t necessarily about coming quickly. It’s nice to take your time. You may not be able to imagine that right now, but we’ll talk again when you’re with someone for the first time and sex really becomes an issue. Now off you go.”
Giggling and grinning, the two of them head for the kitchen and I push Dayyan up the stairs.
