Page 72 of Two Friends in Marriage
She clucks her tongue.“I know, but I can’t understand why my son married you.”
I freeze.
“She didn’t mean it likethat.”Howie turns to Lynne, and they exchange heated whispers in Cantonese.
“It’s not that I don’t like you.”Her words aren’t enough to reassure me.“But the engagement came out of nowhere, and I didn’t believe you were in love.I know you’re friends, I know you’re fond of each other, so I thought maybe he was trying to help you out of a bad situation.”
“Like what?”I ask.
“Like your father would force you to marry someone you hated.I don’t know!”
“My dad would never force me to do anything.He barely even talks to me.”
I watch my in-laws’ expressions go from relieved to appalled.Though it can’t be too much of a shock because, well, he didn’t come to our wedding.
I wish Evan were here.I have no idea what to say, how to get out of this situation.I could tell them that I do love their son, but would they believe me now?
Fuck it.I’ll just tell them the truth.It seems easier than dancing around the issue.
“We got married,” I say, “because we were both tired of dating”—or, in my case, not dating—“but wanted to build a life with someone and buy a house.”
Now it’s Lynne’s turn to frown.“That doesn’t sound like Evan.He’s a romantic.”
“I know, but the breakups started to get to him.”I pause.“Is that why you kept pushing the honeymoon?Because you knew we weren’t…well…and thought we’d tell you the truth?”
“Ah, I don’t know.Partly, but I also thought maybe if you went on a honeymoon, things between you would change.”
“We are…getting closer,” I admit.
“I’m glad.I know sometimes it happens that way, even if I knew it wouldn’t happen to me in an arranged marriage.”
“What?”I say before I can stop myself.I hope that didn’t sound rude.I’m just flummoxed by her comment.
Lynne hesitates.“I was supposed to marry someone else.The son of my parents’ friends.He was a few years older than me, and I knew, my whole life, it was what they wanted.But I hated him.Even as a boy, he was horrible, and when he grew up, he was even worse.”
I don’t know how to respond.Does Evan know about this?
“So, you said no and your parents listened?”I ask, even though I’m pretty sure they didn’t.
She chuckles without mirth.“No, I fell in love with someone else and ran away with him the week before I was supposed to get married.”
I gape at her.I struggle to picture this version of Lynne, forty years ago, even as she touches her husband’s shoulder.
“Because of my experience,” Lynne says, “I never told my sons who they should marry, even as they reached their thirties with no weddings in the family.Or when…”
“When Evan came out?”I supply.
“I know we didn’t react the best.”
He told them when he was fourteen, naively—as he later put it—believing that since they were in favor of same-sex marriage, they wouldn’t respond poorly.But some parents are okay with such things for other people, just not for their own kids.
Fortunately, that wasn’t the case with Evan’s parents.No, it simply hadn’t occurred to them that this would directly affect their family.They sat there in stunned silence as Evan freaked out, until Max—who was seventeen and already knew—told them what to say.
So, yes, it could have gone better, but it also could have gone so much worse.And in the two decades since then, his parents have been supportive.
“He could have married someone of any gender,” Lynne says.“We would have been fine with it, but your engagement…it worried me.He never told me you were dating, and I knew he was making excuses.But I liked you, and he seemed so certain.And now, I understand.I won’t ask about your honeymoon anymore.You don’t have to tell him that we know.”
“I’ll tell him,” I say, feeling weird about keeping the details of this conversation a secret.“Not until he comes back from Montreal, though.”I’d prefer to do it in person, and I’ll see him tomorrow—it’s not like I’ll have to wait long.
