it was 1965, paris, france and valentín was standing outside the concert hall with a massive group of mostly boys his age with some girls mixed in. he did his best to not bump into anyone as he tried to push his way to the front of the line. as the clock struck 9 o' clock, his efforts were to no avail as he was pushed back as the enormous group ran inside the building.
he eventually followed them, and made it into the concert hall. most all of the seats were taken, so he had to stand. he found an open spot next to a taller boy wearing a leather jacket. as he wedged himself into the spot he could see the taller boy's face a bit more clearly. he had curly dark hair and his skin was much darker than his own. it almost had the color of olives.
he took his eyes off of the boy and watched the band like he was supposed to be doing the entire time. he sang and clapped along to the music that was being played. he kept looking at the taller boy, who thankfully, didn't seem to notice him at all, but that's what he thought.
—
cassius had been following the beatles ever since his family moved from italy to paris. none of his friends knew that he was into them so he kept his interests quiet. he was enjoying the concert until the shorter boy shoved his way into the spot next to him. honestly he didn't expect someone who looked so small would even do something like that. he was shorter than cassius. cassius was 5'8" and this boy looked maybe 5'5". he swore that he was looking at him but he chose to ignore it.
after two hours the band bowed to the audience and people began to leave. the house lights had turned on shortly after the band left the stage and the curtains closed, and cassius used this opportunity to get the best look at the shorter boy.
he was pale, and his face was dotted with freckles, and his hair was a dirty blonde color. cassius really had no idea why he wanted to know what this boy looked like, but he figured it was fair if this boy was sneaking looks at him.
—
it had been a few hours since cassius had left the concert hall but he couldn't get that boy out of his head. on his way home he couldn't stop thinking of him. what kind of foods did he like? what was his favorite color? what are his hobbies?
he arrived at his home, sighing deeply before he walked in. he hated being at home. the only thing waiting for him was an angry mother who was full of hatred for his deadbeat father who had the heart to leave her after cassius turned 3 years old so he wouldn't give his son the burden of being associated with the mob. to his mother, this decision was wrong and that he was a terrible person for doing this.
cassius knew english and so did his mother but once he walked in his mother was sitting at the table, wine glass in hand filled to the brim with red wine, she yelled at him in italian, "where the hell have you been?!" she stood up, her wine spilling everywhere.
"you knew where i was going! or maybe you forgot because you're always drinking!" he wasn't afraid to raise his voice louder than his mother.
usually she would have gotten angrier than ever, but strangely enough, she sat there and took a sip from her wine glass. cassius went upstairs to his room, slamming the door behind him. he took his jacket off and threw it across his room and plopped onto his bed.
thankfully, he had the boy to think about.
