From the Ground, Up -- PUBLISHED

Gejo

Gejo

            “Damn him!” Gejo whispered vehemently as he hung up after another phone call with his mother. It had only been a week and a half since he had last seen her. The man whose existence Gejo was cursing was his father, the man who had finally found a way to manipulate Gejo. With the possibility of losing Bestia’s love hanging over Gejo’s head he did as his father wanted, and stayed.

His mother had sounded sad, hurt and most of all confused. But Gejo couldn’t tell her the real reason he had stayed behind, his mother means more to him than any other person on the planet; and Gejo couldn’t hurt her with his secret.

His secret, the only thing his father had over him - that and how it would affect his relationship with his mother. At fifteen, Gejo already knew how cruel the world could be to someone with a secret like his. Well his father at least. Gejo smiled as he thought of his friends, twin girls who know everything there is to know about Gejo Nuada - secret included.

Suddenly, Gejo heard the sound of tires on the driveway.

            “Damn him!” Gejo muttered again as he quickly erased his call history, it wouldn’t do for his father to know that Gejo was still in contact with his mother; or the twins for that matter.

The front door opened.

            “How’s the little homo doing this afternoon then?” Gejo’s father Kane called out. Gejo struggled to hold in a hissing sound, like a cat makes when making its personal space clear.

            “Fine.” Gejo barked, oh how he hated his father for this.

            “Pack a bag, you’re staying at Nani’s for the week.” Kane announced. Gejo raised an eyebrow in query, not really expecting an answer to the unspoken question ‘why’.

            “I could do without the aggravation of having a queer in the house, and maybe Nani will be able to talk some sense into your thick head.” ‘Ah, so that’s it.’ Gejo thought, as he walked into his bedroom to pack his school things and clothes for a week. As soon as he returned to the lounge with his things Kane snapped at him,

            “Well, get in the car then. Unless you’d rather walk?” Gejo quickly climbed into the back seat of the car with his bags, and ten minutes later he was walking into Nani’s house on his own.

            “Gejo! You’re here! Oh I’m so glad to see you!” Nani warbled as she grabbed Gejo in a shaky hug. Gejo smiled at his warm welcome, he wasn’t expecting it.

            “Nani, how are you?”

            “Oh, I’m fine. Come on bring your bags in and we’ll settle in for the night.” Gejo grabbed his bags and followed his grandmother further into the house. ‘She doesn’t seem to dislike me. Maybe he didn’t say anything to her at all.’ Gejo thought while plonking his bags on the floor by his bed. Relieved to be spending a week away from his father’s bile, Gejo went down to dinner.

Over dinner Nani was as cheerful as ever, curious Gejo asked a question that was bothering him.

            “Nani, why is Dad always so, so, Idon’t even know what he’s like. But why is he that way?” Nani smiled a little sadly.

            “I think he was always that way.” It seemed like there was more she wanted to say, but it was as if she wasn’t sure if she could or maybe should. Nani sighed.

            “Gejo, you’ve never been close with your father. Why did you move in with him?” Gejo looked down, and decided to tell Nani the truth; she would see through a lie anyway, she always did.

            “He wouldn’t let me go with Mum.” Nani looked up sharply.

            “Gejo, you are old enough that it was your choice. If you wanted to go, he couldn’t and shouldn’t have stopped you.”

            “He would, Nani, he hates who I am. He wants to hurt Mum, I think and the best way to do that is through me. He’s been trying to get the better of Mum for as long as I can remember. Anger drives him. And finally he has found a way, and he is hurting Mum by keeping me from her, he is counting on my unwillingness to hurt her to keep me here.” Nani snorted.

            “I am sad to say I can believe that. I knew that he was a boy you know.” Gejo looked up startled. Nani smiled at him.

            “Some mothers just know. I was not myself at all during my pregnancy, I’ve never been so continuously angry in my life. He wasn’t an easy baby either, he was never satisfied. It’s how he got his name. I spent a month looking for the perfect name, one that would serve as a warning to him, as well as everyone else.” She sighed.

            “Clearly he didn’t take the warning to heart, and now his anger rules him.”

            “Nani, what do you mean? I get that his name is weird, and that he only uses it shortened.”

            “Kaneonuskatew, it’s Cree and means ‘One-That-Walks-On-Four-Claws’. Appropriate don’t you think?” Gejo could only nod, Nani had basically just told him that the way his father is, is so much a part of his nature that he was even named after it. And that his father would never be satisfied, not with hurting Gejo’s mother by keeping Gejo, not by making Gejo miserable. That Kane had ever managed to marry Bestia was seen as a miracle by Nani, and now by Gejo. Neither of whom are surprised by the fact that it didn’t last long. Gejo finished the meal in silent contemplation.

As Gejo was helping Nani with the dishes, he asked a question that surprised them both.

            “Nani, do you think he would have liked me more if I were straight?”

            “No my darling, he would not; because he cannot. But I still love you anyway. Are Kane and I the only ones who know?” Gejo shook his head.

            “No, Cindy and Andy know, they are my friends at school; they are twins actually, and I think you would like them.” Nani smiled.

            “That’s good then. Go and watch T.V or read until bed, I’ll finish putting the dishes away.”

            “Goodnight Nani.”