Page 10 of The Hookup
He looked pained as he added, “Although, as my parents are always quick to remind me, I need to be practical. Chances are, I’ll get a job designing sportswear, or something along those lines. I won’t be able to afford launching my own label, and no one’s going to pay me to come up with wild, avant-garde creations.”
“Where do your parents live?”
“Osaka. They moved there from L.A. when I was twenty, because my dad’s cousin offered him a job in his company.”
“Did you think about going along?”
“I wanted to, but they told me to stay. They said it would be better for my modeling career.”
“Did you have any other family nearby?”
Hal shook his head. “My parents defied their families when they got married, and they moved cross-country to Los Angeles on their own. I never really got to know my relatives, because it was just the three of us when I was growing up.”
“What did their families object to?”
“My dad’s very traditional Japanese family didn’t know what to make of my mom, who’s strong-willed and outspoken. Meanwhile, my mom’s parents tried to insist that she marry a Catholic. Also, everyone told them it would never work, because they were too different. But they weren’t going to let anyone stand in their way.”
I said, “That’s very romantic.”
“It was probably stubbornness, more than anything else. They’ve had their ups and downs, and I suspect part of the reason they’ve stuck together throughout it all is because they’re still trying to prove their families wrong.”
My phone beeped, and I glanced at the screen and told him, “Our food is on the way. Do you want to eat in here, or move downstairs? The second option may mean hanging out with my friends, because most of them are probably back by now.”
“I’d like to eat in here, if that’s okay. I don’t want to share you if I don’t have to.”
Since it was too cold to eat outside, I moved a small table and a pair of chairs in from the balcony. When I went downstairs to get our dinner, I could hear voices and laughter coming from the game room. My teammates would have tried to insist that we join them, but I wanted as much one-on-one time with Hal as I could get, so I didn’t stop to say hello.
While I was gone, Hal had put on his cardigan over his shirt and briefs, but his legs were still bare. We both took a seat at the table, and after he helped me unpack the food and drinks, he said, “Your turn. You just heard all about my family, so now tell me about yours.”
“Well, I was born in Amarillo, which is up in the Texas Panhandle. My parents still live there, but I went to live with my grandparents when I was fourteen. Gran and Gramps were the best people you’d ever hope to meet. They passed about four years ago, within two months of each other, and I miss them every day. I’m convinced Gramps died of a broken heart, after losing his wife to cancer.”
Hal paused with his plastic fork poised above his salad and murmured, “That’s so sad.”
“It was, but they had fifty-three wonderful years together.”
“Did your parents kick you out because you’re gay?”
“It was more than that. My parents were very controlling, especially my dad. He tried to map out my entire life for me. I was supposed to be a star athlete, get straight A’s, and go to his alma mater for a business degree. After that, the expectation was that I’d marry a nice girl, crank out a few kids, and go to work for my father’s construction company. What I wanted was totally irrelevant. I didn’t even bother coming out, because I knew it didn’t fit with his master plan.”
I took a sip of soda before continuing, “I was really unhappy, but when I tried talking to them, my parents weren’t interested in what I had to say. I guess that’s why I started acting out—cutting classes, drinking, smoking. The last straw was when I took my dad’s beloved Cadillac on a joy ride and crashed it into a ditch. The very next day, they packed me up and shipped me off to my grandparents’ ranch, probably because they thought I couldn’t find any trouble to get into in the middle of nowhere. It was the best thing that could have happened to me.”
Hal grinned. “I didn’t peg you as the teenage rebel type.”
“I was a rebel with a cause—to avoid being turned into a clone of my dad.”
“Were you able to come out to your grandparents?”
I nodded. “They accepted me for exactly who I was. That was when I learned there really is such a thing as unconditional love.”
“And you never went back to live with your parents?”
“No. They assumed I’d return after I got ‘straightened out,’ but my grandparents needed me. They were getting older and developing some health issues, so it was hard for them to maintain the ranch and take care of their animals. I took over most of that.”
Hal looked concerned. “That sounds like a lot of responsibility for a fourteen-year-old.”
“It was my choice, and I was happy to help.”
“How did you go to school?”
