Page 8 of Curtain Call
Riley carries the box to the living room where the tree was set up by his dad yesterday. A timer goes off in the kitchen and when the oven door opens, the whole room fills with the smell of sugar cookies. Riley’s stomach betrays him.
“Why don’t you put on some Christmas music while I put in the next batch,” Riley’s mom yells from the kitchen.
Riley hooks his phone up to the house speaker and plays the Christmas setlist he has stored in his music folder. It’s a wide range of show tunes, pop, country, and jazz. His mother approves when she hears the classic Jingle Bells echoing through the rooms.
Riley pops the lid off the ornament box and starts sorting them on the heirloom coffee table his grandparents passed down. Family is everything to Riley and he was glad to have such a strong relationship with his parents, especially when several chorus members were disowned by their families when they came out as part of the LGBTQ+ community. The holidays were hard for them at first, but they created their own little family. Every year they celebrate a Misfits Holiday, named after the Island of Misfit Toys. They also call it aholiday celebrationso that everyone who celebrates a holiday can participate regardless of personal beliefs. Riley is usually home for a couple of days for the holiday before heading back to New York, or to whatever city his tour is in.
Riley hears the mudroom door from the garage close and he knows his dad is home.
“There better be enough for me because I’m starving and those smell fantastic,” Riley’s dad, David, said while kicking off his boots by the back door.
David owns a towing company and puts in long hours. He does everything from fixing flat tires, towing someone to a shop, repossessions, and lockouts. Lynda is his scheduler and runs the books for the business. They like it because often she will ride with him just so they can be together for the day. She stayed home today so that she could bake and greet her only child when he arrived.
Riley stopped what he was doing in the living room and walked in through the other side of the kitchen.
“I see how it is,” Riley started to tease his dad when he turned around with a big smile, “the first hello goes to mom, the second to a cookie, and then me. I have been demoted underneath a cookie.”
“Never! Get over here and give your old man a hug.”
The bear hug that Riley gets from his dad is one that takes all his problems away. The hug was as tight as the one he received from Colin earlier but the energy he felt was different. This hug was soothing. The one from Colin was electrifying. Colin also smelled intoxicating. His dad smells like a mixture of oil and gasoline.
“Nothing makes a parent happier than seeing their children,” he loosened his grip and smiled down at Riley who is about two inches shorter. Riley gets his height from his mom. Clearly.
“I’m sure you’ll be singing a different tune by the end of my stay since I’m here for a month.”
“What’s that movie where one showgirl pushes the other one down the stairs to steal her part? We’re strategizing to do that to you and making it look like an accident,” David grinned. His eyes creased on the edges the same way Riley’s does when his smile is authentic.
“That would beShowgirls, and we have a ranch-style bungalow with no stairs.”
“Lynda, come up with a plan B,” he called across the kitchen as his mom pretends to write on her hand as if she were indeed creating a plan B. He wrapped Riley in another hug, “It’s good to have you home.”
Riley is transported to his childhood. His mom is in the kitchen baking and decorating cookies, his dad stealing bites of those cookies, his mom pretending she doesn’t notice some missing, Christmas carols playing throughout the house, and the warmth of the fireplace and love filling the air.
Riley misses this when he’s on the road and wonders if he will have this kind of love in his life someday. A cookie thief stealing his freshly baked Christmas cookies. Or would they spend the holidays with Riley’s family or his husband’s family? Husband. Riley is hopeful that one day it will happen. But Riley pushes the images away because his life is not stationary. He’s only in a city for three to four weeks living the life of a gypsy. No sane person would want that kind of relationship.
Riley’s phone vibrates against his thigh. He pulls his phone out of his pocket and swipes up to see a text that just came through.
Colin: So great seeing you today.
Riley smiles involuntarily. He pushes the phone back into his pocket before picking up another ornament off the table.
“I know that look,” his mom says coming in to join him at the tree.
She picks up an angel ornament made from yarn his grandmother made a few years ago. Riley still can’t believe his grandparents are going on a cruise this year instead of being here with them. It’s not going to feel the same.
“What look? There’s no look,” Riley retorts still grinning.
“You do know you’re a terrible liar, regardless of how good of an actor you can be.”
Riley pulls his phone back out and hits a few buttons.
Riley: You too.
“Only one person has ever made you smile like that. You had your heart broken once before because you misunderstood your friendship. He’s straight and you’re gay. That’s not something that can be changed,” his mom says with a very serious tone and matching facial expression. She’s just concerned and a bit protective.
Lynda takes her place on the sofa and pretends to sort through the already sorted ornaments on the table as if she is searching for a specific one. She is not as subtle as she thinks.
Riley was hopeful and heartbroken on several occasions and that’s when the eating disorder in his senior year of high school started. First, he ate food as a comfort and gained about twenty pounds between his junior and senior years. Then he went in the extreme opposite direction and lost that weight and a few extra pounds. He was still considered overweight with what some would call a ‘dad bod.’ It played in his favor when he arrived in NYC.
