Page 56 of Romeo vs Romeo

Father crossed his arms, his face turning red. “You have your Stonewall, Mr. Sable. I won’t be roped into this discussion any longer. This is your last warning before the officers start arresting you for trespassing.”

I stepped away from the window.

Had I actually hoped it would all work out without me? Had I ever believed that I might have a chance to come out to my father in some safe space and on my terms? Had I thought I would get my fucking trust fund? No. I couldn’t have been so stupid, could I?

I didn’t need his money. Roman lived his life happily with never a spare dime, so why shouldn’t I?

And there was no safe space for me to confront my father about my sexuality. The closest thing to safety was at Neon Nights, and this was likely the last time I would be in there if I didn’t act.

Before my mind had even reached a conscious decision, my feet were shuffling down the stairs and carrying me through the packed bar. I strode heavily and deliberately through the open door.

The first who saw me were the two drag queens who performed on Mama Viv’s stage every week, moving aside to let me through. Next, Tristan turned his head and looked into myeyes, regret and gratitude warring on his face. After him, Cedric saw me, stepping aside to let me pass.

As Mama Viv turned around to see what the movement was all about, so did Roman, and in doing that, they opened a clear field of vision between me and my father.

“Everett,” Father said in genuine shock, almost like he found me playing in a nest of snakes. “What are you doing here?”

“They’re right, Dad,” I said. My voice wanted to be dull and hollow, but I forced myself to remain steady. Gasps spilled around as photographers turned their attention to me. “Do the right thing and let go. You can let go.”

Father crossed the space between us in a fit of fury. I wasn’t completely sure he would strike me down. And when he neared me, his tone dropped to a hiss. “What are you doing here, Everett?”

A quiver passed through my lower lip. “This place saved my life,” I said. “When I had nobody else to talk to and nowhere else to turn, they were here for me.”

“What are you talking about, Everett? Get away from them,” he said quickly and quietly, like my friends carried some disease that was catching. “You making no sense.”

“No, Dad,” I said. “You’re just refusing to see sense. I’m gay.” The word erupted from me unprepared. It infuriated me that he needed me to spell it out for him. It enraged me that he was pretending not to understand. And when the words were over my lips, there was no power on Earth to suck them back and speak them in a more diplomatic way.

Why should I be diplomatic, dammit? I never chose to be born one way or the other. So why did I have to justify my existence to those who had created me in the first place? Why did I depend on someone accepting me or not? It wasn’t fucking fair.

“Stop this, Everett,” Father said, his eyes growing small and white. “You’ll break your mother’s heart.”

“What about my heart?” I whispered.

“I won’t let them turn my son against me,” Father growled. “You’ll stop acting like a petulant boy this instant and come away from them.”

And that was the moment when I understood what it meant to have a family. I wasn’t born into this band of colorful, beautiful, brave people, but they’d adopted me. When I refused to admit I was anything like them, they let me figure it out. And when I accepted myself, none made me feel like I needed to earn their acceptance as well.

The mother and father that had brought me to this world had done it vainly. To God’s eternal glory or to feed their egos with an heir they could be proud of. But that was not the person they got, no matter how hard they tried to push me into the mold.

“I’m gay, Dad,” I said again, much more comfortable with the words this time. “And if it weren’t for Neon Nights, I would have gone mad. Or worse.” I didn’t want to think of all the mornings when getting out of bed was my biggest challenge and when the absence of consciousness in my sleep was my greatest joy. “I won’t let you take this place down. By right, it’s a landmark, and I’ll see that it becomes one on paper no matter the cost.”

Father’s face reddened. He stepped back from me with dead eyes and flat eyebrows. “I have no son.”

Oddly enough, I had played out this moment in my head in so many different ways that I was used to hearing those words. But when Roman’s hand touched the small of my back and Mama Viv’s rested on my shoulder in the next heartbeat, I was fine. I was absolutely fine.

I had never expected my father to see me and accept me.

“And you, Everett, don’t have a say in these matters,” Father declared as he took another step back.

Roman’s hand moved gently along my lower back. “I’m so sorry, my love,” he whispered.

I swallowed and inhaled a deep breath of air. The officers who were shown my father’s paperwork were moving closer toward us, and the operators climbed back into their seats in the bulldozers. Now or never. And so I let my voice boom. “I have proof that Harold Langley has abused the eminent domain and manipulated evidence that favored his proposal. I have proof that he has collaborated with Robert Jacobs, who has a direct stake in my father’s company. And I have witnessed the two men conspiring to produce false claims against the integrity of Neon Nights to fast-track its demolition,” I declared, my voice steady but full of emotion.

The crowd murmured, sensing the weight of his words. Layla Zahran stepped forward, her eyes locked on Harold.

“You have no idea the trouble you’ve stepped into, Mr. Langley,” Layla said coolly. “This is not just a legal matter anymore. It’s a public scandal waiting to explode, and we have every intention of making sure it does.”

Harold’s face flushed with anger, but there was a flicker of uncertainty in his eyes as he looked around. The confidence that had once marked his every move seemed to waver.

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