Page 7 of 4-Ever

He wanted to tell his parents tonight. Not that I thought anything bad would happen. His dad and mom were kinda hands-off when it came to parenting Ronin and his sister, Ciara. To be fair, his mom was busy working two jobs to make ends meet so she had little time or energy left. His dad was another story. The guy didn’t always pay child support—on time or at all. When his dad did show up to visit, it was usually not more than a day or two. Ronin was more of a father to Ciara than their dad was. Ro made dinner for him and his sister when their mom was working, and he helped Ciara with her homework. He even took her to the doctor if his mom couldn’t.

Surprisingly, when we got to his apartment, his mom, Callie, was already home and cooking dinner. She smiled and nodded when she saw me.

“You boys get washed up. Dinner’s almost ready,” she stated.

“I’m just here to grab my stuff,” Ronin replied. “I’m going to Faise’s for the weekend.”

“Again? Okay, but—” she paused and turned back to the stove to stir the pot of what smelled like marinara sauce. “Your dad will be here in ten minutes. Don’t you want to spend the weekend with him?”

“Why? He’s always on his phone or asleep on the couch. We don’t do anything,” Ronin snapped and stomped off to his bedroom.

Leaving me alone with his mom.

“Is he keeping out of trouble?” she asked me.

I nodded. “He’s good. We spend most of our time in the music room at school. He’s a great guitar player.”

“Ronin doesn’t get that from me,” she smiled at me. “Or his dad.”

“Well, he’s really good.”

“I wish I could afford to send him for lessons,” she sighed and turned back to the stove.

Ro came back into the kitchen, his gym bag in hand. He’d thrown on a clean white t-shirt and a denim jacket.

“Actually,” Ronin started. “There is something I want to talk to you and Dad about. So, we’ll wait until he shows up.”

“Everything okay?” His mom turned off the stove and walked over to face us.

“Yeah. It’s just something that I’ve been carrying around for a while. And I need to tell both of you.”

His mom frowned. “You didn’t get into a fight at school, did you?”

“What? No.” Ronin shook his head. “Nothing like that.”

“Then what is it?”

A knock at the door interrupted her question.

A few seconds later, Ronin’s dad, Brad, appeared. He said hello to me and then reached over to hug Ronin. The hug was brief, almost awkward, and so unlike Ronin. When my best friend pulled away, he walked over to stand beside me.

“Like I was telling Mom earlier, I’m heading over to Faise’s for the weekend, but first I wanted to tell you guys something.”

I glanced at his face and noticed the beads of sweat and the paleness of his skin. His expression was suddenly so full of fear I nearly reached for his hand.

“Okay, so, the thing is, I’m gay,” he blurted out.

Callie dropped the tea towel she’d been holding, and stood there with her mouth open, her blue eyes wide. Brad’s expression, though, was shuttered. I couldn’t tell what he was thinking.

Until Callie reached over and pulled Ronin in for a hug, holding him and rocking him in her arms even though he was four inches taller and twenty pounds heavier. She whispered to him that no matter what, she loved him and supported him.

“No,” his dad snapped and shook his head. “Where did you get this idea? You’re only thirteen for god’s sake. You can’t know if you’re… if you’re… that. No.”

Callie pulled away to face Brad and I watched Ronin’s face turn a sickly grey.

“I am,” Ronin replied, his voice so low it was barely a whisper. “I’ve known for a while now. I’m gay. This is who I am.”

“No!” his dad yelled.

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