Page 46 of Kitty Season
“Don’t sweetheart. I was joking. You can call me anytime. You know that.”
In the background I hear her rustling and picture her climbing out of bed so she doesn’t wake Dad. “Hang on, Brades. I‘m just going out to the lounge.”
Called it.
In my mind’s eye I walk beside her, exiting the bedroom, tiptoeing down the stairs then entering the lounge of the beach side home my Danish parents bought as newcomers to Australia. They were babies—the same age as I am now—when they left their family and friends to live on the other side of the world. Again, just like me.
“Did you used to call Farmor and Mormor in the middle of the night?” I ask.
“Good heavens no. Easy going the Danes may be, but you do not want to wake your in-laws for no reason. Especially when their surname means wild boar in English. Now, tell me what’s wrong while I sit and fold Sam’s laundry. I swear that girl gets dirtier than any of you boys ever did.”
Hoping she lets me off the hook, I repeat the lie. “Nothing’s wrong.”
“Rubbish. Brady, you haven’t called me in the middle of the night since you first arrived in the States. Just tell me what it is so I can fix it and move on to the goss of Sam’s love life.”
I almost vomit in my mouth. “Sam is fifteen. She better not have a love life, and even if she does, I don’t want to hear about it. Not unless it’s a story of Dad and the boys kicking his ass.”
“Well, you see, that’s the juicy bit. Your dad and brothers are thrilled. There is no boy ass to kick. Sam is dating a girl.”
“Sam’s going out with a girl? And she told you? And you’re okay with it?”Jesus Christ. My baby sister is braver than me.
“She is and we are, but we’ll get to that. Spill the tea, Brady.”
“Mum. Please don’t say that.”
“Why? I’m cool and hip.”
“Pretty sure saying hip is an automatic disqualifier when it comes to cool.”
Easy banter, a signature of my family flows as soon as Mum is sure there is nothing more than a severe case of homesickness at play. The Sam gossip she promised is delivered and tiny slivers of light filter into the dark hole fear over my sexuality has created.
Noah was cool with it. As was Claire. And Mum said the whole family have accepted Sam’s girlfriend Charlie with open arms. Of course this doesn’t mean I’m sharing anything about it tonight. Coming out as queer and providing details of activities relating to it, are two very different things.
All I know, when I slink out of the dorm so Troye doesn’t hear me, and climb into the back of Noah’s waiting Jeep is, I’m traumatized but educated. Shitting my pants, but chomping at the bit.
6:30No one is here, but that’s okay.
7:00It’s cool to be late.
7:30Maybe traffic is bad.
8:45Well, this is just rude.
Almost every hair on my body, excluding my head and an appropriate bikini patch, has been waxed. My make up is done. My outfit is killer. I am ready.
Seems I’m the only one.
It’s eight p.m. and the mild unease I’ve been carrying for the past few hours is now a weighted blanket of panic that’s slowly crushing my lungs. And it’s not only about the party, which will be humiliating enough in itself. It’s the private after party of me, Troye and Brady. The one I’ve told myself is just about sex when I damn well know it’s much, much more.
That rejection is beyond humiliating. Beyond devastating. Beyond heartbreaking.
Mom’s been doing her best to keep me busy, having me pose in various positions throughout the garden to ensure every spot is Instagram worthy. But I can’t shake that feeling that no one is coming.
It’s going to be just me, Mom, Dad, and the fucking flamingos—one of which, just shit in my shoe.
That’s right. Flamingos. As in plural.
Mom’s gone overboard with this whole tropical-Hawaiian theme. The food delivery during lunch was just the beginning. A florist arrived after that. Then a landscape gardener added more flora in the way of potted palms as tall as the house, and some tropical flowers I can’t pronounce the name of. And yes, to top it off, flamingos. Four of them are roaming the yard. Exactly where in Boston she located them remains a mystery, which is fitting since their link to Hawaii is the same.
