The Queer Stories

06. The Cure

There should be no such thing as a tragedy. Tragedy is defined as a story that essentially involves human suffering during sorrowful events. But it isn't enough. Human suffering alone can't make a tragedy; sorrowful events alone can't make a tragedy. What really makes a tragedy a tragedy, is that people think the suffering and events could have been avoided. But, if we could turn back time and go back to the beginning, back to when it was about to happen, at the same moment, under the same circumstances, people would still do the same things and make the same decisions. Nothing can really be avoided.

Comedy, however, is defined as a story characterized by its humorous or satirical tone and its depiction of amusing people or incidents, in which the characters ultimately triumph over adversity. In that case, no matter how sad the story is, no matter how miserable the characters are, as long as it is told in a funny, sarcastic tone with a triumphant ending, it should be regarded as comedy.

Before we really figure out this whole tragedy and comedy thing, let me tell you a story.

So, in a cozy living room, there were four women, two women were crying. A young lady was holding one, and a slightly older lady was holding the other, both trying to calm the weeping women down. Two college boys were standing in front of them, obviously stunned and overwhelmed, and didn't know how to react. Anyone that stopped and saw this would assume it was a dramatic, dreadful tragedy. But what caused this heartbreaking scene? How did they get here?

It all started six decades ago. Stella and Vivian had been good friends since childhood. They were neighbors and always played together... Oh wait, perhaps it's unnecessary to go that far back ...

So, let's go back four decades. Stella's daughter Stephanie and Vivian's daughter Vanessa became good friends also. They spent every summer together and built a very good friendship... Um, maybe this is still a little bit too long ago?

Okay. Almost two decades ago, Stephanie gave birth to her son Skylar and Vanessa gave birth to her son Vester. Skylar and Vester were born the same year, grew up and lived in the same city, and went to the same church. Their fathers both abandoned them when they were very young, so they were both raised by their mothers. They had similar weights and heights, and coincidentally they both chose to dedicate themselves to Brazilian Jiu-jitsu.

When the boys were little, they lived far away from each other. Being single mothers, both Stephanie and Vanessa had to work hard and take care of the kids, so they were too busy to hang out. Stephanie's mother Stella passed away early, and Stella's younger sister Sophie helped out a bit by babysitting. Vanessa lived with her mother Vivian and her younger sister Victoria, both of whom helped take care of her kid.

Later when Victoria married Sophie's son Lorenzo and moved in with them, Stephanie and Vanessa decided to move closer to each other. When the boys started middle school, Stephanie and Vanessa started to hang out more often like once a week, and when the mothers were away, the boys would stay at Sophie's house. At first, the boys got along. They liked to play video games and Lorenzo would play too sometimes when his wife and mom took over taking care of his own baby boy. But as time passed, as the boys grew and became more complicated, the differences in their personalities grew more marked.

"Dinner is ready. Can you hurry up and make up your mind?!"

"Dude! Relax!" Skylar seemed way too laidback walking in the supermarket. "No rush, please. We are not Russian."

"Why are you taking so long?"

"It's important to decide what I want to drink!"

"It's just a drink!"

"Take a chill pill, man!" Skylar didn't seem bothered. "Let me see..., juice from nuts, eww!"

Vester looked at the bottle, and it said coconut juice. Vester rolled his eyes.