Page 38 of Me Three
“What drives anyone to the arts, anyway?” they say. “Repressed childhood, a creative streak, middle-class parents, a writer mom, and a painter dad. I don’t know.”
“Your dad paints, too?” I ask.
“Just as a hobby, but he’s really good. And he taught me everything I know.”
I smile with a heavy heart.
“Sounds like a great family,” I say.
“They’re pretty awesome. I mean, don’t get me wrong, they didn’t understand me for a long time. Or why I was so angry all the time. Or depressed, but I didn’t know either so…”
“But they accept you and love you as you are, which is more than I can say about my parents,” I say.
Tru places their hand over mine.
“Did they kick you out?”
“Oh no. Nothing like that,” I chuckle. “God forbid they let their shame out in public. No, they just chose to ignore that side of me. Which has driven them to completely ignore my personal life. Which was fine by me while I still lived with them, but as soon as I left home, I realized how much of a wedge there is between us. We’d talk on the phone sometimes, but other than asking me about my studies, there wasn’t really anything else to ask, so the calls got shorter until they stopped altogether.”
“Aw, I’m sorry, hon,” they say.
I look at their hand rubbing the back of my palm soothingly and a warm sensation climbs up my arm to find a home in my chest.
“It’s okay. Really. Their whole existence is toxic. Hail Marys every Sunday yet they can’t love their own son as he is. I’m better off without them. Besides, Ruth is a great surrogate mom.”
They tilt their head to the side, and I explain she’s Carter’s mom.
“My mom and Ruth used to go to church together until Ruth had a crisis of faith and stepped back from all the proselytic bullshit that teaches people to hate everything instead of loving it.”
“I’m glad you at least had someone,” they say. “And why the move here?”
“It was my idea. I thought it’d do Carter some good to get away from home where everyone knows him and what happened is painted on the walls,” I say. “So we applied for colleges around the East Coast, and we both got a job here.”
“Best decision ever,” Tru smiles and leans over to plant a kiss on my lips.
But it’s more than a simple kiss. They jump off their chair and sit on my lap, deepening the kiss, yet it’s not sexual. It’s heartening, sweet, romantic even.
And we spend the rest of the evening talking, cuddling, and kissing.
Eventually, we get to my bedroom and we suck each other off, but we end up sleeping in each other’s arms.
And it almost feels perfect. Almost. There’s something tugging at me that there’s a piece missing, but I try to ignore it. To ignore the stray thoughts wondering what’s happening with Carter and where he is and why he isn’t here with us. With me.
Twelve
Carter
“Virginia Beach? Are you serious?” I shout at him when he announces his little trip with Tru a day after their “date night.”
“Why the hell are you shouting?” he shouts back.
“Because you’ve lost your mind,” I say.
How can I not be shouting? As if blindsiding me with a date I knew nothing about wasn’t enough, now he’s going away with Tru? Is he trying to prove a point?
This is exactly why I never do repeats. I was hoping what we did on Monday wouldn’t fuck it all up, but of course it did. How could it not?
Now Tru has picked their favorite, and I’m being dumped to the side one step at a time. Although a getaway is a huge step if you ask me.
