Same Love ~ A Short Story

7

"Isaiah, you don't have to do anything you're not ready for," Imani said stopping him.

"No, mom. I'm ready," Isaiah replied. "Dad, I'm gay." I looked at him, then looked at Imani- who was crying, then looked at Tierra- who was holding his hand, and then at Mrs Shaw- who was just as shocked and appalled as I was.

I looked down at the floor as I started to put all the pieces of the puzzle together. Trevor, the jumping, the secrets, the sneaking around, everything. My son is gay, I thought.

"My God," I said with bug eyes. I wasn't mad at him, I wasn't sad either, I was just extremely surprised.

"My son is gay," I blurted as I rubbed my fingers through my curls. I repeated the sentence again and then leaned my head against the wall.

"W-when did this happen?" I asked looking over at him with tears in my eyes.

"My whole life... If that answers your question," he answered. I looked down at the floor again.

"Why didn't you tell me?" I questioned. "All those girls I set you up with, I feel like a know nothing fool."

"I was scared, dad," he replied. I became angry once I realized that I was the last to know.

"Tierra and Imani, you guys knew too?" I inquired. They nodded their heads and I became filled with rage.

"What happened to telling each other things? What happened to this family?!" I yelled angrily. "Why am I always the last to know everything?!"

"This is why, Daniel. You get so mad when you find out the truth," Imani replied. "Look at you! This is why you never know anything!!"

"Well what do I have to do? How can I make myself trustworthy?" I asked all of them.

"Daniel, maybe you should calm down, take a deep breath, and tell them how you feel," Mrs Shaw said. I wiped my face with my hands and took a deep breath. I couldn't believe this was happening.

"I feel like... I feel like I'm a monster or something... No one wants to tell the big bad wolf what's going on and if anything THAT'S what makes me angrier. The fact that no one trusts me... Isaiah, you are my son and I love you. I don't care what your sexuality is, just as long as you're happy. All I ask is for everyone to be more open with me," I explained. I felt Imani place her hand on my back, something I hadn't felt in a long time.

"That's a great idea! You guys go around and admit to anything you've done or kept a secret from each other. No consequences," Mrs Shaw suggested.

"I lost my virginity to Shad the same night he jumped Isaiah. I swear to God, I didn't know what happened to him until after Shad left. I just wanted to be loved and I thought that was the right way to do it... But I was SO wrong. I should've listened to Isaiah when he said Shad was bad news... But, I'm so stubborn and hard headed! I cry about it... A lot... He told everyone I'm a slut and I beat up him and a couple of his friends today. I'm suspended from school for a week," Tierra admitted. It took everything in me not to yell and scream, which I felt was necessary since some nappy headed boy stole my daughter's innocence.

If I knew that Tierra was going to make that big of a mistake I would've tried harder, when I gave up and let her learn on her own I thought that meant he would cheat on her, not take away her purity. I took a deep breath and looked down at the floor simply nodded my head and thanked her for telling me.

"Who's Murder?" I asked her. That had been bugging me since yesterday.

"Auntie Jazz used to date him when I was little, he's a drug dealer... Well THE drug dealer. He's not a bad person, he just sells drugs is all. He became a good friend of mine actually," she answered. I cleared my throat in order to keep my composure.