Coming out to my parents was a mistake. Well, it seemed like that at the time.
It was my eighteenth birthday, three weeks before Christmas, and well into my senior year of high school. I had known for years that I was gay, even before I knew what the words "gay" and "faggot" meant, and I had confirmed it a few times with guys at school who were horny enough to consent and paranoid enough to keep it quiet. I even had an ongoing thing with one guy who was dating a girl who insisted on remaining a virgin until she was married. That I was gay was without doubt.
I told my parents on the evening of my eighteenth birthday, after I blew out the candles on my birthday cake and opened my presents. I had forgone a party for this very reason. I didn't know what to expect, but I certainly didn't expect my mother to cry and blame herself while my father walked out of the room without a word. It wasn't until the next morning that my mother informed me that my father couldn't stand to look at me and I was being sent to live with my uncle, Kurt.
I felt like I was being exiled. Not because my parents were sending me away, but because I knew my uncle lived in the middle of nowhere, deep in the Big Thicket of East Texas. There was literally nothing there but trees. I mean you could pass through his little hick town, and if you blinked, you'd never know you were ever there.
I was told to pack only what I needed, which was my clothes and a few toiletries, because my father refused to pay to ship all my belongings on the bus. He also presented me with a list of things I could not bring with me. I could not take my laptop, xbox, mp3 player, cell phone, or my extensive comic book collection. One thing not on the list, probably just overlooked, was my game boy, so I smuggled it into my carryon bag. My mother insisted that my father would eventually come to his senses while she drove me to the bus station, but I doubted it. We said our good byes and hugged, then I boarded the bus.
I tried to relax and accept my fate, pulling my game boy out to play a few games to pass the time. I even attempted to take a nap, only to be awakened when the old man sitting next to me decided to take advantage of the dark bus and rub his hand on my crotch. I sternly pulled his hand away and stared out the bus window as the hill country slowly turned into the big thicket and all I could see was towering pine trees illuminated by the occasional street lamp.
Ten years my father's junior, Kurt was a handsome man of thirty-two. He worked in the oil fields, and his body showed it, leaving him a statue of lean, well formed muscle. His light brown hair was curly and unruly, but cut relatively short, blending seamlessly into a scruffy beard. My own hair was as curly as Kurt's, but it was red, and I had blue eyes while his were brown. Unlike Dad, Kurt was a true country boy who preferred living alone in his little shack of a house tucked away on twenty-five acres of land he could proudly claim to own outright. Why he decided to share his home with me was a mystery.
As the bus pulled up to the makeshift bus stop at a McDonald's in Sour Lake, I spotted Uncle Kurt leaning against his old truck, waiting patiently. At first sight, my heart jumped into my throat. Had Dad told Kurt why he was exiling me? Did Kurt know I was gay? I nervously, shyly, debarked the bus and met up with Kurt, who came to meet me with a big hug.
"Are you okay, Parker?" he asked me, giving me a good looking over. I nodded and smiled. "Damn, you got big!" It had been a couple of years since I had seen him.
"Thanks," I said with a smile. Despite my nerdy ways, I had begun to hit the weights a few months earlier, hoping that I might find a boyfriend if I had a better looking body. I had made some gains on my thin frame, but I was nowhere close to the epitome of manly perfection that Kurt was. I remembered staring at his hot body when he visited us in the past. I was envious of him. Who wouldn't be?
The bus driver handed me my bags and we headed toward Kurt's truck, tossing them into the back. I held on to my carryon, protecting my Gameboy with my life, if necessary.
"Are you hungry?" he asked me as we pulled away from the McDonald's, "I haven't eaten yet."
"I haven't had anything but some toast and coffee this morning."
"You're old enough to have a coffee habit?" Kurt joked, laughing at me.
"I started early," I told him, punching him playfully in the shoulder.
We drove down the road to Batson, the town he called home. It consisted of a convenience store, a Southern Baptist Church and a small diner, called the Astro Café. Kurt pulled into the diner parking lot, explaining that he got most of his meals there. They were famous for their burgers, but they also served a variety of other foods.
Inside, we found a booth and settled in with the menu. I decided to try their famous burgers while Kurt chose the fried chicken plate.
"So, things not going so well with your dad, huh?"
"No." I didn't know how much he knew and didn't want to volunteer too much information.
"He always was a stubborn cuss," Kurt eyed me, "Set in his ways, unable to bend to anything new."
He knew! Dad told him the reason he was kicking me to the curb. I felt myself blush, and my mind went blank. I couldn't think of anything to say. Just as the silence began to feel awkward, a platinum blonde with a name tag that said her name was Sherry came to our table with an order pad in hand. She flirted with Kurt and eyed me suspiciously. It was clear she had the hots for him, and he flirted back. I felt a wave of jealousy wash over me that I couldn't explain. Was I unconsciously attracted to my uncle? After introducing me as his nephew, we made our orders and Sherry hurried away.
"She's got it bad for you," I told him, in case he didn't notice.
'Well, she's outta luck," Kurt stated matter of fact, "I prefer living alone. Besides, I've already fucked her."
