Between work, school, and the gym, 19 year old Ezra Ryan doesn't have much time for fun in post-pandemic San Francisco. He's leery of the older guys who get too forward with him when he's trying to work. But something about Anderson seems different...
"Your mom is so sweet!" Anderson told me when I came into the kitchen.
I'd slept in until 10:30, after all the craziness we'd had the night before.
"Uh yeah... your mom is too... probably?" I was confused since he'd never met my mom.
"No!" Anderson laughed. "I talked to your mom this morning. She called and your phone was buzzing and I didn't want to wake you up. We talked for a long time!"
"You talked to my mom? Bro, you can't answer my phone. What did she want? Was she upset or weird?" I had no idea how my parents would react to Anderson. I was upset that he would invade my privacy like that.
"She was surprised at first since I don't sound like you... I think she thought I was a girl until I told her you were staying with me. She knew my name! That's a good start. I told her we will come visit them when you finish all of your projects. I didn't know you were allergic to cilantro. She told me the recipe for the enchiladas you like. I will make them this week!" Anderson was so happy. He saw nothing awkward about this.
"Bro, that's so weird! Why would you think this was a good idea?" I was getting pissed. He had no boundaries with me.
"I thought you wanted to go see them? Oh! You don't want me to go with you?" He looked hurt.
"Of course I want you to go with me, that's not what I'm saying." I tried to soften my tone. He was just trying to be helpful and let me sleep in.
"I went too far in answering the phone. I should have just sent it to voicemail. I get it." Anderson put his hands up in surrender.
"How would you feel if I answered your phone and talked to your mom? I don't speak Chinese, but still. It's weird." I remembered that he wasn't out to his family.
"You're right... but now your mom has my number and knows me and she's excited that we are coming to visit. Your brother told her about us too... so I didn't think it would be too out of line.. But yeah, sorry... won't happen again." Anderson looked remorseful.
+*+*+
Friday morning I took my last final. We'd worked every day to complete the reviews and revise the projects so I felt confident about passing my courses.
Anderson made me pancakes for breakfast and had a bowl of nuts and a glass of fresh lemonade to enjoy while I took my test. I set up near the window in the kitchen where there was a solid wifi signal. I finished the test in two hours with one pee break. I thought I did well, but I couldn't get Anderson to check things since there was a live monitor watching every student's camera.
I finished up and then waited for Anderson to finish his work for the day before we got on the road to my parents' house. It took about 2 hours with minimal traffic.
I was wearing the new clothes Anderson had gotten me, but I had to tone things down for the Central Valley. I didn't want us getting messed with.
Modesto isn't too crazy, there's even a few gay bars that everyone knows about, but it's definitely not San Francisco. It's farm country mixed with growing suburbs. I didn't want us to stick out. Anderson insisted on a short-sleeve button up shirt with nice pants, and I wore a t-shirt with jeans.
I led Anderson on a little tour while we made our way to the house. I showed him my high school, the skate park where I used to hang out with my brothers, and the Sonic with the best icee drinks (not the crappy one by the freeway).
~Ezra's Family Home~
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
