"Mind if we go for a drive before I take you home?"
I glanced at Mr. Shannon's classic profile, lit by only the dash lights of the car. "That's fine," I answered suddenly nervous. Here it comes. I just announced to my family that I was gay. They were friends with my employer, Mr. Shannon. Either he going to fire me because I was gay or....
"I just want to talk to you about something," he said. A quick look at me. A little smile. And then he concentrated on the road again.
"Did I do something wrong?" I asked.
He chuckled and shook his head. "No."
That helped settle my nerves a little bit, but what if his wife had said something? What if she didn't want me working in their grocery store any longer? I'd worked there every day after school since I was 16 years old and sometimes on the weekend too. This had allowed me to save up a nice chunk of change to use for college in the fall. If I lost my job...
I sighed. For the tenth time, I told myself it would have been easier to just keep my mouth shut. I was just so tired of the secrets, tired of hiding my feelings from everyone, that at the time coming clean had seemed like the right thing to do.
Mr. Shannon drove slowly through town, almost as if he was trying to make a decision about something. Then he headed out of town toward the lake. I sat there in silence, wondering what he had on his mind. Maybe my parents had asked him to talk to me about this "gay thing" as they called it. It wasn't something I could change, nor did I want to change.
He circled the lake and found a place that he liked, pulled up under some trees and killed the engine.
"So," he said looking at me.
I met his gaze and suddenly decided I wasn't going to back down or make excuses or anything else. Mr. Shannon had always been kind, understanding and a good employer...
"So, your dad tells me you just came out of the closet." His deep voice broke into my thoughts.
Did he actually say that? Come out of the closet!
"Yes, sir," I answered, meeting his gaze steadily.
"How did you know that you were gay?"
"I just knew. I'm attracted to other men, not girls." Might as well confess the whole thing. "Sometimes I like to wear women's underwear and pretend..."