House of Boys

Chapter 5

Moses

My dad and I are sitting in silence on the couch/ my bed.

"Are you angry?" Is all I can say still too scared to look at him.

"No," my Dad huffs out, "I'm not angry, I'm just sad you never told me."

A couple more beats of silence pass before Dad says, "What did I do wrong to make you not feel safe?"

I can't answer him, mainly because there's nothing he did wrong, well not always. He didn't always protect me from Mom, he was scared of her too. She always took things out on us in different ways.

Dad would get things thrown at his head and kicked out in the middle of the night. I would get locked in my room for not finishing dinner mostly. We almost got CPS called once because the neighbor heard me screaming at my Mom to stop hitting Dad. But none of that is why I never told him.

"A couple months ago, Mom caught me and George kissing in my room."

Dad turns to face me for the first time since we have been sitting on this couch

"She said that I couldn't tell you because you wouldn't be okay with me, well being gay."

Dad pulls me into a hug and holds me tightly, I begin to cry.

"I promise kid, I love you and will always love you," he starts to choke up too, "nothing could make me stop caring for you, okay."

I nod my head as I lean into his hug, "Okay dad, okay."

That night Dad lets me take his bed while he sleeps on the couch. I feel a little uncomfortable but I am so tired I fall asleep as soon as my head hits the pillow.

The next morning I hear Dad in the kitchen, probably cooking the eggs we bought on our quick grocery stop before we got to the house yesterday. I wipe my eyes and sit up then make my way to the living room.

"Your kid is up." I hear Mr. Joseph say and look over to see him and Jordan sitting on my bed, the mattress is pulled out.

Jordan jumps up and walks over to me, "Are you okay?"

I smile and brush his cheek with my thumb, "Yes, and I need to go pee."

"Oh, sorry." Jordan goes back to sitting on the pulled out bed and I run to the bathroom.

I wish I had some kind of a warning, instead Jordan saw me with messy hair, morning breath and my comfy under shirt with holes in it. I try to hurry and put myself together some and head back out to grab a shirt from my new wardrobe.

"Joseph wants to set up some rules for you and Jordan." My Dad holds up a plate with fried eggs and bread and puts it on the counter for me.

Mr. Joseph says in a kind voice, "My boys are usually up by eight but I guess that's not normal for you?"

I smile and nod as I pull on my MF DOOM t-shirt. Jordan looks over at his dad who points at my shirt and smiles.

"I have that same shirt!" Mr. Joseph says with excitement.

"Of course you're a DOOM fan." My Dad laughs and fist bumps Mr. Joseph.

"Remember when we drove to Atlanta to go see Warren G?" Mr. Joseph says with a large smile on his face.

My Dad burst out laughing, "I remember my Mom having to hold my Dad back because we took his car without his permission."

They both laugh , so does Jordan. He joins me at the small table and watches me eat my breakfast.

"My boss gave me today off because I went in yesterday. Still getting paid thankfully." Jordan smiles at me as I try to look dainty while eating my food.

Jordan pulls out his phone, giving me some slight relief so that I can eat a bit more comfortably.

"So rules!" My Dad says a little too loud.

"Yeah rules," Mr. Joseph says in a more neutral tone.

"Rule number one, no sex?" Jordan turns in the chair and smiles at our dads, who are both not amused.

"No jokes, but yes no sex before," Mr. Joseph seems to be trying to figure out what to say next, "not marriage but adulthood."

Jordan leans over to me and smiles, " I turn eighteen in three years."

"Jordan!" Mr. Joseph says as he throws a pillow at his son.

"Sorry," Jordan laughs as the pillow hits him then smiles at me. "Do you want to maybe hang out today? If you aren't too tired of course."

"Hanging out sounds fun," I say as I take a last big bite from my fried egg sandwich.

"Bring your brothers." Mr. Joseph chimes in.