Page 3 of A New Chapter
My brother
—wouldn’t understand what he found so funny.
Or that it was due to borderline hysteria trying to break through.
Rom’s brown gaze met Colton’s. “I’ll make him something to eat,” Rom said before he headed for the kitchen.
Old rage washed through Colton as the sniffling boy leaned over, curled into a ball, his head in Colton’s lap, where Colton stroked his head.
“I’m sorry,” Clayton said, sniffling. “I didn’t know where else to go. I didn’t have any friends there. Mom handed me a piece of paper with this address and told me to come live with Aunt Roberta.”
“No, you don’t need to apologize. You’re safe now, and you’re home.”
The boy’s chest hitched as he talked. “They told me I was going to hell, and I could either take it back or I could get out. I grew up thinking you were dead. That’s what they told me growing up—that you had died. Mom screamed at me that I was exactly like you. Dad told me that they threw out one gay son, and they wouldn’t hesitate to throw out another one for it. I didn’t know you were alive until I got here and Aunt Roberta just told me.”
Horror replaced rage. “They told you I wasdead?”
“Yeah.”
“Motherfucker,” Colton muttered. He heard the microwave running in the kitchen, and the scent of food wafted out to them. “No, I’m obviously not dead. I was twelve when they threw me out. Do you have any other brothers or sisters?” He was still trying to process this washislittle brother.
“No.”
“How did you hitchhike here from Georgia?”
“We live in Valdosta. Not far over the state line. I met a lady truck driver and she took me to Tampa, and hooked me up with a friend of hers at a truck stop there who brought me to the exit for Venice on 75. He paid for me to take an Uber here.”
“Jesus. Well, obviously, you’re safe here. You’ll have to sleep on the couch tonight until we get Rom’s bed out of the storage room and I clear out the office bedroom so you can have it as your bedroom.”
“I don’t mind.” Fresh tears started. “I still can’t believe they threw me out. And I can’t believe they lied to me about you being dead!”
“Yeah, well,theywon’t believe it whenIshow up on their doorstep.”
Clayton shook his head. “Please don’t make me go back there.”
“Ihave to go, buddy. I need to get your stuff.”
“I don’t care about it. I didn’t have much. Last time we moved, they made me get rid of most of my stuff, sold my toys, and they haven’t had a lot of money to buy me new clothes. I hate that church they joined. They give most of their money to it.”
Another wave of rage washed through Colton. “Well, we’ll still need to get papers signed to give me custody of you, regardless. Right now, I don’t have any legal ability to take care of you.”
Someone rang the buzzer downstairs, at the back door that opened onto the hallway where the stairs going up to the apartment lay.
“I’ve got it,” Rom said from the kitchen. He walked over and hit the intercom. “Yeah?”
“Rommy, it’s me and Ina. Roberta called us.”
Colton exchanged a glance with Rom before Rom buzzed them in.
“That’s Rom’s older brother and sister-in-law,” Colton told the boy.
Rom opened the door and they quickly rushed in, Ina leading the charge. After introducing them, Colton realized Ina was bound and determined to basically mother Clayton. She plopped down on the couch on the other side of the boy, her arms around him and comforting him as he started crying again.
Rom brought over a plate of food and took the empty glass so he could refill it. “We’ll need to talk to Ed first thing tomorrow morning and find out what we have to get for him.” Ed Payne was their attorney, a man they’d met through Venture and the Suncoast Society. He’d drawn up their new wills for them, as well as a prenup agreement the men knew they’d never need but Rom wanted it to protect Colton and the shop, no matter what.
“You realize I’m going to Georgia with you guys, right?” Chad said.
“We’reallgoing,” Ina said. “Mom can watch the boys for us.” She looked even more enraged than Aunt Roberta had. “I want a little chat with those…people. I want them to look me in the eyes and explain to me what fricking kind of mother throws her children out, and in what Bible verse Jesus told her that was okay. Then I want to punch her in the snoot and remind her to turn the other cheek.”
