The Wheel

67. Miguel

I work up the courage to say what has to be said.

"He sleeps with his mom! They do it! And the like it! Please, don't send out anything!"

The room got silent. Everyone turned toward me slowly.

"You..." Veronica started talking. "It's you? It's your fault we are trapped here?!"

This giant Mike started approaching me.

"Stop! Stop!" I screamed.

"Spill it!" he yelled.

"Calm down, Mike, calm down!"

"Speak!" the boxer raised his voice.

"I just...I read Chris' mom's diary, when we were partying in their house. Sometimes I wonder what adults do in their free time. I felt like they had a special life," I tried to excuse myself. "I was just wondering!"
"You bastard!" Chris shouted.

"I just got into Mrs. Royce's room and looked around. Having peeked into the drawer I saw the diary. There were a lot of entries about..."

Kate turned her head toward Chris and was looking at him silently for several seconds.

"Do you fuck your mom?" she clarified.

Chris closed his eyes shut, he was on the verge of crying and just nodded.

"And that's it?" she asked. "I will omit the fact that I was practically your lover, not a girlfriend. But do you, knucklehead, even understand that you almost flashed our lives and the lives of our relatives down the toilet? My parents! Maybe Veronica's and Emma's parents! Damn it, Chris, Ayama would make you talk one way or another!"

"You don't care about me and my mom?" he asked, surprised.

"Listen, you bastard!" Kate was nearly on edge. "I care about my parents' lives that you almost ruined, got it?! I don't give a crap about what you do with your mom! Nobody cares," she threw her arms up. "We want to get out of here! Out! Of! This! Freaking! Room!"

"Kate, Kate, chill!" Veronica told her.

"Chill? Do you know what my parents hide? I won't say it! But if it'd gone public, it would have been...the end! Some people hide not just fetishes and quirks, but serious stuff!"

The angry girl pressed herself against the wall and started breathing heavily.

"Start talking!" Emma screamed.

"My mom and I...we've always had a special bond," he began at last. "We were attracted to each other. So what? My father was asexual, he was trying to understand himself, but he was forced to marry my mom. It's exactly what Ayama said once. At least they built a business and earned a lot of money. Once they were named one of the happiest and the most successful couples of Chicago."

The silent boy, whose life appeared to be perfect on the outside, took a deep breath and looked up.

"My father tried to convince himself that at least someone attracted him sexually," he continued. "And my parents had sex only once, and that's how they got me. And what happened then? Mom understood it and made peace with that so they had no strings attached, but for the relatives, friends, and business partners they portrayed a perfect life: a big house, impeccable financial situation, the happy kid, joyful parents. And my mom needed a partner."

"How did everything happen between you two?" Ayama asked.

"Once when I was quite young I told my mom that I would marry her – that's when we got married, so to speak. Yeah, there is indeed a happy family in this photo: mom, me, and our son Christopher – but who would understand?"

"Wait, so it's not your little brother, it's your son?" Emma asked in shock. "Who your mother gave birth to? It's incest! It can lead to genetic mutations!"

"Luckily, our Christopher is okay. I don't know, maybe God sent us this wonderful child, because we really love each other?"

Emma wanted to say something, to protest, I guess, but she didn't.

"And the rest is simple: we need to keep the 'family tradition', creating an illusion of a perfect life. I need to show everyone that my life is perfect, so that nobody would ask any questions."

"Nobody cares," David protested.

"It's in your case nobody cares! Look at the guys: everyone forgot you had a diarrhea in the pool. My situation is a bit more complicated: I can't let anyone think I have even small problems, or else they'll know something's wrong! You won't understand!"

Everyone thinks about it for a moment and shakes their heads: they just want to go home.

"You know, it's a good thing I had to spin the wheel last," Chris said, smiling a little. "Would you react the same way if I was the first to speak? But, in general, my life is good. I'm happy, my life is truly perfect! I'm..."

"You're free, Mr. Royce," Ayama interrupted him.