Summer, 1983 (I'll call you by mine)

University Dinner

The first signs of fall had come upon New York. The days grew shorter and the nights became colder. No more sitting on the back patio eating breakfast, having dinner or entertaining guests. Being a professor required frequent banquets and entertaining high profile patrons that donate money to the university. Oliver and his family were talked to and talked about the most at functions.

"Mr. Perlman, what languages do you speak?" A professor's wife asked him.

"I speak Italian, French, German and just a bit of greek, I only know the basic of it but the rest I know very fluently." Elio took a long sip of his wine. He watched as Oliver spoke with George and Freddie, his colleagues that had visited them during the summer months. Elio wanted to escape these women and go stand next to his Oliver. They liked touching his arms, hands, anywhere that they could. He knew some were trying to get their kids into Juilliard, it was the first things they asked him about. He did no favors, he refused to let a child in just because of who their parents were.

Christopher and Jona sat with the other kids forced to go to these things.

"Christopher why don't you go see if you can get some of the wine out of the kitchen." Jona prodded his brother.

"I don't think you remember the last time you drank wine you ended up doing some very dirty things with a girl whose name you don't remember." Christopher leaned over whispering to his brother.

"Come on Chris just this once do something I want to do."

"Alright, alright I will go to the kitchen and sneak some wine." Christopher followed the wait staff to the kitchen, he found Georges wine refrigerator. No one paid him any mind while he was in the kitchen, so he walked out with two bottles. He rounded the corner, stopping out of sight looking around to make sure no one saw him sneaking the wine. He heard his father name mentioned on the other side of the wall, it was two women that he could hear chattering like two old hens.

"I think it's terrible, just terrible that Oliver brings that man here."

"What man?"

"The one that he cheated on his wife with. Christ Jenny keep up do you not pay attention at these parties?"

"No, I had no idea Oliver was gay, which man is it?"

"That dark-haired man that just walked up next to him."

"Wait isn't that the one Diane is always going on about? The music teacher? He's so young."

"Oh, sweetheart you don't know the half of it. His wife, well ex-wife when she found out about the affair last year she went around telling everyone. The affair has been going on for years! Madeline just found out about it before he left her to go live in Italy last summer with that man."

"What an awful thing to do his poor wife, she raised his kids, kept his house and did everything for him."

"And do you know Devlin Foster still lets his son go over to that house. Judy Miller says it's mostly gay men that live in that neighborhood. How could Madeline let those boys go over to that house? I'd be afraid for their safety."

Christopher had been trying to stifle his laughter but the conversation between the two women was no longer funny to him. He walked from behind the door standing behind the two woman.

"You know if you are going to gossip about someone make sure no one is around to hear you. You hens need to worry about yourselves and if you have such high praise for my poor mother. When you see her ask her why she walked out on her sons, I would ask her but she's not called us in 4 months." Christopher smiled at them as the rush of adrenaline hit him. He turned to walk off to join the party.