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8 - l'ange effecute

8 - l'ange effecute
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The day had finally come for Edwin and Gabriel to perform their skit in front of their drama class. The two jittery students were preparing for their debut backstage. Edwin nervously knitted his tie while Gabriel struggled to apply his eyeliner with shaking hands. "God, I'm so nervous, Edwin," he muttered, putting down the liquid eyeliner pen and shuddering.

"You're gonna do great, Gabriel," Edwin assured, fixing his hat. "The skit's hilarious, we both have the whole thing down pat, everything will be okay, I promise."

Gabriel smiled. "Thanks, Edwin."

"No problem," Edwin breathed. "Now get out there."

The lights were still down on the stage, so Gabriel slipped on and stood with his back to the audience, who wouldn't be able to see him until the lights went up. He was wearing a light blue polka-dot dress, a blonde wig, a pink apron, little black high heels, pantyhose, and a shit ton of makeup.

Suddenly, the lights came on, revealing Gabriel, as Mrs. Farber, in all his glory. The class let out a collective chortle just on sight of the boy in the getup. Elvis music began playing, and 'Mrs. Farber' happily whistled and hummed along while cooking.

Edwin readied himself, then entered the stage from the wing and confidently announced, "I'm home, you miserable shrew!"

The class erupted with laughter. After the reaction died down, the boys continued their lines. Gabriel raised his eyebrows and sarcastically said, "Wonderful. Why don't you go into the other room and wait for me to deliver you your food?"

"Don't take too long," Edwin griped, then critically looked his 'wife' up and down and added, "And don't eat any of it. You don't need any more food, woman." Gabriel gasped in offense, and Edwin walked upstage and grumpily sat down in an overstuffed armchair, sitting his hat down on the end table next to him.

Gabriel turned to the audience, huffing and saying, "That man has no respect for me whatsoever! All I ever do is cook his dinner!" He then jumped with an idea, pulling a bottle clearly marked Hot Sauce from the cabinet and dumping the entire contents of the bottle into the pot on the stove.

Meanwhile, Edwin was flipping through a newspaper and laughing heartily every few moments. "What on Earth are you laughing at?" Gabriel yelled frustratedly, turning away from his cooking.

"The obituaries!" Edwin replied, throwing his head back. "I'm imagining they're all you!" Gabriel rolled his eyes and went back to cooking.

A few minutes later, the two had finished the majority of their skit, and it was time for the big reveal. "I'm going to bed," Gabriel stated loudly, stomping offstage. Edwin sighed, then walked over to the old landline phone mounted on the wall of the kitchen. He dialed a number, then paused to encompass the other person's answer. He then cleared his throat and said, "Jerry, I've got a problem. I think I'm in love with my wife."

The audience roared with a mix of laughter and gasping at the statement. The lights went down, and when they came back up a few moments later, Gabriel joined Edwin on the stage, and the both of them took a bow as the others clapped. Edwin noticed, right in the front row, the flirting girls from earlier clapping hard and excitedly with their legs crossed over one another's.

Reynold stood up from the back row, this time wearing a giant white Cuban-style hat. "Great going, Farbers. Now, it is my policy to do a photo shoot after every performance. Pose!"

Edwin and Gabriel immediately began goofing around, glaring at one another and throwing fake punches, with Reynold madly snapping photos all the while. But suddenly, Gabriel pulled Edwin close, planting a gentle kiss on his lips. Whistles arose from the front row, and after a few snaps, Gabriel pulled away with a laugh. Edwin realized with a pang that Gabriel had grabbed a prop knife from the kitchen counter and held it above Edwin's back as if to stab him. But somehow, he felt as if it meant something more than that. People didn't just kiss like that if they didn't really mean it. He felt a light blush dusting his cheeks as they both continued to pose.

As Edwin started to leave lunch the next day, he realized that a pair of guys were trying to catch up to him. He slowed his pace, and before his very eyes, Jakob Jones and Daniel Cael, the richest and most popular kids in school, ran up to him.

"Um..." Edwin trailed off.

"Saw your performance," Daniel said, squinting at him. "Very creative. Fag."

The bile rose in Edwin's throat, and his eyes began to tear up. "Tell us, you sucked your girlfriend's dick just in the drama room, or somewhere else too? A parking lot, maybe?" Jakob snarled.

Edwin pushed away from the boys, darting into Mr. Watts' classroom and breathing heavily, wiping away tears.

"Woah, what's wrong, kiddo?" Mr. Watts asked, moving up from his desk to greet the crying boy at the door.

Edwin sniffed loudly. "No offense, Mr. Watts, but I don't think you'd understand."

Mr. Watts clicked his tongue. "You think so?" He walked over to the blown-up 1987 Latin club photograph on the back wall and directed his attention to one student in particular.

Edwin blinked the tears from his eyes, then looked at the portrait in a way he never had before. He looked to the overjoyed, upside-down Mr. Watts, then looked to his left, where stood an attractive young man, looking at Mr. Watts with an expression Edwin recognized all too well, full of love and adoration.

"Michael died a year later of cancer," Mr. Watts said, his voice making it clear that he was choked up. "His immune system was weakened by HIV. Which I gave to him." Mr. Watts cleared his throat, wiping away a tear. "I am currently living with the disease that the love of my life couldn't survive." That was when Mr. Watts broke, his hand flying to cover his mouth as he deteriorated into strangled, pained sobs. Edwin rushed over to his teacher, hugging onto him tight. This was all brand new for Edwin; the thought that his hilarious, spontaneous Latin teacher was so fragile and hurt inside seemed almost impossible. But it was indeed possible, which was proved as Edwin quietly comforted the teacher for nearly twelve minutes. After he'd calmed down, Mr. Watts sent Edwin back to his desk, and before either of them knew it, Mr. Watts was cheerfully presenting to the class with only his red eyes left to testify to what had just happened.

That, Edwin decided quietly to himself, was a true hero.