14 Chapter 14

“What are you two doing in there? Knock it off! I have a lady in here!”

“He appears to be a Friend of Dorothy,” I said wickedly.

“Her name is Dorothy? I thought it was Angela. Oh. I see.” Jerome started laughing, too, although I’m pretty sure he thought I meant AA and not a gay thing. Never mind, it was funny, it broke the tension, and it didn’t have to make sense.

Suddenly, my feelings went haywire. I looked at this boy, this young man, who had been keeping a secret somewhat similar to my own all this time, trying to balance what he felt and knew in his heart, with what his parents and preachers had been telling him. How do you break away when you’re part of them? I had had to break away because I wasn’t like them, the others, the family.