Page 103 of Floodgates

“Why?”

“If Breckin wanted to go to school, he needed his parents’ money.”

“But wait.” I had to get it straight in my head. “Breckin broke up with Turi, Turi committed suicide because of that, and then Breckin left, cutting ties with his folks anyway?”

“Yes. After Turi died, he couldn’t take their money.”

“Holy shit.”

“Yeah. I remember he called me, told me that he was sorry he and Turi had kept their relationship a secret from me, but now that Turi was gone, he couldn’t live a lie. He owed it to Turi not to do that.”

“Not to be trite,” I snapped, “but it’s too bad he didn’t have that revelation when his boyfriend was still alive.”

“Yes,” Lucien agreed, nodding. “I’ve always thought the same thing.”

“Man, that is a fucked-up story.”

“I’m sorry to have—”

I stopped him. “No. Are you kidding? Thank you for sharing it with me. I just… I feel so bad for you and for Turi.”

“Not Breckin?”

“Yeah, Breckin too,” I said thoughtfully. “I mean, the guilt had to have been just staggering.”

“I think it was for a while, but I think now, with friends like you and his relationship with Celia… maybe he doesn’t think about Turi much anymore.”

I was about to argue when he said, “Has he ever mentioned Turi to you?”

“No. This is the first I’m hearing of this.”

He nodded. “You see?”

“I do,” I assured him. “May I ask you a question?”

“Of course.”

“Were you in love with Turi?”

His smile was huge as he wiped at his eyes. “How did you know?”

I shrugged. “It just seemed like it.”

“I was, very much.”

“Did Breckin know?”

“Yeah, he did, because I told him.”

“It must have been hard to find out they were in love.”

“It was.”

“I mean, Turi killed himself over Breckin. Did you ever tell him you loved him?”

“No. I was waiting until after graduation. I wanted him to come with me when I left for Cornell. He was accepted to the University of Vermont, but he told me he had other plans. I had no idea he meant leaving with Breckin. I thought I could get him to go with me.”

“Sure.”