Adam and Stevie

Chapter 8:

I was taking Stevie to meet my parents over the weekend. They had retired in The Hamptons. We had reserved a little cottage on the beach as they did not know the reason for our visit. We arrived the Saturday morning and agreed to meet for breakfast at the clubhouse of the local golf club. I figured in a public setting my dad couldn't go too postal. They were waiting when we arrived. Stevie was wearing chino's and a baby blue button down. I was wearing black slacks and a taupe button down with white trim. I froze and he adjusted my collar and patted my chest reassuringly. We walked towards the table and Stevie whispered at me to breathe. I realized I had been holding my breath. Mom stood up and I kissed her cheek. Dad awkwardly shook my hand. I introduced Stevie and we sat down. Dad spoke first. "So, are you in this "band" of Adam's? He put air quotes around band. He did not consider music a profession as much as a hobby. He was still nagging me to attend college and get a degree. Stevie shook his head and looked to me. Well, here goes nothing. I took a deep breath before I started and rubbed my sweaty palms on my pants. "Mom, Dad, Ava left for Europe about three months ago. As you know, I got evicted and moved into her place. Stevie is her best friend and was her roommate. She moved on with someone she met there and I moved on as well." They were nodding but looked confused. "Well, that's lovely dear but where does Stevie fit into this?" mom asked, a little strained. "The thing is, I am in love. Deeply in love. I have not felt like this since high school...I am in love with Stevie." BANG! Dad slammed his fist on the table, earning us a few glances and whispers from the surrounding tables. "DAMMIT ADAM, not this shit again. I thought we'd fixed this." I shook my head and spoke through gritted teeth. "Dad, this is NOT something you can fix. I'm gay. I'm wired this way. I was in love with James and you just ripped him away from me! He told me he tried to call for months!!! You are not going to do the same with Stevie!" He looked at me, disgusted. "Love? LOVE? This is not love, this is a perversion! What you and THAT boy did. It was unholy! Disgusting! That boy put these ideas in your head! You need to realize what you are doing is wrong." Mom had started sniffing into her handkerchief. "Tom, leave the poor boy alone. Can't you see how happy he is?" she put a hand on his forearm. He slapped it away. "Goddammit Sheila! Don't you start again!" he stood up and thrust a finger in mom's face. "This is all your fault, you raised the boy to be a pansy! A fag! A fuckin' QUEER!!!" Stevie was shaking, he stood up slowly and squarely planted a fist to dad's jaw. Dad fell backwards and lunged at Stevie. "Don't TOUCH me you pathetic excuse for a man!" he had Stevie by the collar. His face turned bright red and the next thing I knew he grabbed his arm and fell down. "Oh GOD, Tom!!! Tom, are you okay? Call 911!" she was kneeling at his side and looked up at me. "Adam, do something!" she screamed. I couldn't move. I was rooted to the spot. I turned on my heel, grabbed Stevie's bloodied hand and walked away. Walking away from my mother was hard but she needed to stay with him. I was done. We walked to the bar, I got ice for Stevie's hand and we drove to the cottage. I was numb, no tears, no anger, just numb.

Stevie called my mom. I was catatonic. He told me they were on their way to the hospital but that he had had a heart attack and it didn't look good.