An Open Window

Chapter 8

Myles throws his phone down angrily, after trying to call his father for the tenth time with no answer.

"What the actual fuck could he be doing?! His fucking wife, the one he fell in love with twenty years ago, is in her fucking deathbed right now and he can't be bothered to answer his phone for his only son?" I wince at the term "deathbed," considering that we only heard the news almost a week ago.

"Myles, he's in Seattle, there's different time zones there, he could be asleep or in a night meeting." I reassure, and he shakes his head.

"My dad is not a heavy sleeper. He would probably see about twenty phone calls from his son, and still he doesn't answer. This whole thing has fucking made my life a living hell, Sally! I'm going to lose my mom in less than two months, my dad has gone MIA on me when I need him most, and I'm starting to lose my grip on reality." He rants, and suddenly Myles just stops and looks at me, a shocked expression on his face.

"I just said....I just said I'm going to lose my mom." He whispers, and tears well up in his eyes.

"I thought I'd have a little more hope than that." He sighs, and plops down onto the couch next to me.

"Sally?" Myles asks, looking over at me.

"Yeah, Myles?"

"Why am I losing my mom so young in life? Is this God's way of saying "You're gay, screw you? Is that it?" I cannot believe he just said that.

"Myles, no! No, what are you thinking? What God makes an amazing, sweet, and innocent boy lose his own mother because he's gay? What kind of God makes a boy in his image, than snatch away his world? Who in their right mind would steal away an amazing parent and overall person, leaving them with a cold, unloving workaholic who won't even call back his son?!

"Myles, your sexuality? It costs you nothing!" He slams me into a hug, and I hold him tight as his shoulders shake.

"God, I don't know what I would do without you, Sally. I really, really don't." A loud ringing of his phone sounds out, and he runs over to the door, where it fell.

"It's Dad." He says, staring at the phone screen. He lifts the phone to his ear, and a soft voice comes out the receiving end.

"Dad? It's....it's Mom."

I stand next to him, holding onto his arm.

"What about her, is she okay, Myles?" I hear him say. He squeezes his eyes shut, keeping himself composed as he forces the next words out.

"Dad...she has two months. She took a bad turn." Silence from the other end.

"Dad?" He puts the phone on speaker, and I remain dead silent.

"Son....I don't know how to tell you this."

"What? What do you have to tell me now, after telling you that your wife and my mom is on her deathbed?"

"Just listen to me! Your mom..she always loved you, and always will. But we always argued whenever you were at parties or at Sally's. So, what I'm saying is-"

"Dad, please don't say what I think you're saying-"

"Your mom and I got divorced last week, because her cancer was too much for me. I'm living in Seattle now." Myles' face grows furious, and he steps away from the phone, pushing his hands through his hair.

I'm fuming, and he picks up the phone, keeping on speaker.

"Fuck you. I thought you were in love with her, and you're telling me now, while she sits dying, that you two got fucking divorced and you ran off on her when she wanted you most? I knew you were a dirtbag, but not like this. Abandoning your son and wife—pardon me, EX-wife! I never, ever want you back in my life again, and I will never call myself your son!" He yells, and his father is silent.

"Myles..."

"And by the way, I'm gay. I guess I'll tell you now, while we're being honest." He says, his voice dripping with venom.

He hits the End button, and pockets his phone.

"Sally?" Myles whispers.

"Yeah, Myles?"

He pales, and doesn't answer.

"What is it?"

"Do you know what this means? I'm losing both of my parents. My dad is leaving and my mom is dying. The only relatives remotely close to me is my aunt up in Albany." I shake my head, putting my hand up to my mouth.

"You can stay here, my aunt stays here once a week, and Mrs. Waters sometimes helps me with groceries." I offer, and he gives me a sad look.

"Sally, I appreciate it, and I would seriously love to stay here with you and be roommates, but I really think I should be with my family. My grandparents are already gone, you already know what's happening with my parents. As much as I would love to stay, once my mom officially....passes, I'll have no choice. I can't be alone, and I can't have a constant reminder of my mom and dad around. I'm doing this for myself, but you will always, always be my best friend." He says, and my chest heaves as sobs leave me, over and over.

Every sob I've kept to myself expel out of my body, out of fury and sadness, collapsing down with me as I fall to the floor. He sits with me, wrapping his arms around me, and letting out sobs of his own.

I'm not going to stop him from going. That'd be awful of me to do. But it doesn't mean that I'm not heartbroken about the thought of him leaving. He's been my best friend since we were literally one year olds, and now he's leaving.

Albany is two hours away. Two hours. He won't be able to drive over and have a binge-a-thon while arguing over what food to have in a snap. He won't be a twenty-minute walk away.

"Sally, you know I'll always love you right?" He whispers, and I nod.

"To the moon and back." I whisper back.

That night, he slept in my bed with me.