Page 4 of Michael's Awakening
Our store sold a large variety of beauty products; everything from makeup, facial cleansers, and bath soaps to hair styling products and perfume. All of my favorite things in one area! Well, almost all of my favorite things. Throw in some sexy, shirtless men with nice abs and then I’d be totally set.
The chances of finding a sexy gay man in Fort Smith, Arkansas, though, were depressingly slim. Well, an open, sexy, gay man. I had no issues finding a casual sex partner whenever I wanted. But the hard fact of living there in the south was that although people were usually friendly, there were still those deep-rooted beliefs that most people held that homosexuals weren’tnormal. Some people even went as far to say that gays were all abominations of God.
I’d really like to stick my stiletto-heeled foot up those people’s asses.
I searched through my wardrobe for a shirt to wear to work. Since the store manager was easy-going, she allowed the employees to wear basically whatever they wanted as long as it wasn't too revealing or offensive. In my case, I seemed to offend quite a few people just by walking into the room.
My flamboyance and androgynous appearance caused heads to turn and derogatory slurs to be thrown in my direction.
Just one of the many perks of living in the south.
Thankfully, the manager at the store, who was also a fantastic friend of mine, didn't mind my choice of clothing, even though she had received numerous complaints by customers that I justwasn't rightand wasrepulsiveand should be fired.
Fired for being myself... I scoffed and rolled my eyes. It wasn't like I showed up to work wearing assless jeans or anything.
Whatever.
Shrugging my shoulders at that thought, I settled for a simple black V-neck top, hot pink skinny jeans, and my heeled ankle boots. I’d play up the simplicity of the shirt with one of my decorative scarfs and tack on a few bedazzled bracelets for that extra pop of glam. After I was dressed, I walked over to my vanity and sat down, popped the lid on the moisturizer and squirted a few pumps into my palm before applying it to my face.
I loved the process of applying makeup. It allowed me to express myself as I saw fit and damn anyone who objected. I decided to go with a light pink eye shadow for my eyelids, highlighted with a smoky gray to achieve the sexy smoky-eye look that caused my blue eyes to smolder and pop. Tilting my head from side to side, I admired my work and finished my look off with a soft pink gloss on my full lips.
All of a sudden, the chorus of Katy Perry’sFireworkwent off, almost giving me a damn heart attack. Grabbing my phone from the nightstand beside my bed, I saw that it was my brother Zack calling so I answered it. “You damn near almost killed me. I need to change your ringtone.”
“Well, hello to you, too. The amount of love in your voice is truly endearing.” I heard the smile behind his sarcastic words.
“You’ll really feel my love when I stick my fabulous foot up your ass,” I sneered.
Zack and I had always picked on each other like that, ever since we were little. When he found out I was gay, he didn’t take it as well as my mom and dad had. When I told him, he’d roughly pushed me away from him and stormed out of the room, muttering under his breath about how he wished I could just be anormallittle brother for once. His reaction had stung me deeply and all I wanted to do was crawl into a shell and hide from the world.
Later that night, I was laying in my bed and crying into my pillow when I heard a light tap on my bedroom door. Trying to hurriedly wipe away my tears, I cleared my throat and watched as the light from the hallway slowly illuminated my dark room as my door creaked opened.
It was Zack.
He’d come to apologize and to tell me that although he didn’t really understand why I was gay or why I dressed so feminine all the time, he would always have my back. No matter what. We had grown closer after that, and he had stayed true to his word. Anytime a kid at school tried to give me a hard time, Zack was always there to tower over them and send them running for the hills. I still had vulgarity tossed my way from people, but, thanks to Zack, no one ever laid a hand on me.
“Gabriel? Come back down to Earth, little bro. I’m starting to get a complex just sitting here talking to myself.”
His voice pulled me from my thoughts, making me realize that I was standing in the middle of the room, holding the phone to my ear and staring at the wall like a psycho.
“Umm. I’m listening.” I totally wasn’t. “Just repeat the last part?”
“You’re such a bad liar. What I said, while you were in Fairy Land or whatever, was that I want to get together and have lunch or dinner sometime. I haven’t seen you in a while, and I hate to admit it, but I miss your snarky ass.”
I snorted into the phone and rolled my eyes. “Me? Snarky? As if. I don’t have one snarky cell in my body.”
He was right though, it had been way too long since I had seen him due to our busy work schedules. He and my father didn’t live that far away from me, but it seemed like we could never find the time to see each other as often as we’d like.
I had gone to beauty school and got my cosmetology license about two years ago and since then, I had worked my gorgeous ass off making a living for myself. Things really began to take off for me when I got the job at Beauty Central, where I did people’s makeup, hair, and gave them other beauty tips on a daily basis. A few months ago, I had also started taking cello lessons from the university near my apartment. So, when I wasn’t working, I was spending countless hours practicing my cello and rehearsing my part for the upcoming music recital I was performing in. I was completely booked.
“I really miss you, too, though,” I told him. “After my concert this weekend, my schedule should be a little less full, so maybe we can squeeze lunch in then.”
“Oh yeah, you know I’m coming to that, right? I wouldn’t miss my little brother rocking out on his cello to Mozart for anything!”
“Actually, it’s Bach, not Mozart. But I see your point. Thanks, Zack.” I couldn’t stop the small chuckle that escaped me.At least he knows who Mozart is, I inwardly thought. “How’s Dad doing? I haven’t talked to him in a while.”
There was a small pause on the other end of the phone. “He’s uh… he’s not doing too badly. You know how Dad is, always trying to see the bright side of things. I think it would do him good to hear from you, though, Gabe.” The sadness in his voice was palpable.
I glanced at my calendar and saw that it was October twenty-fourth; the six-year anniversary of our mother’s death was in five days. I wanted to slap myself for not calling my dad sooner and checking up on him.
Zack had been nineteen and I’d been fifteen when our mom got into a car accident on her way home from dropping me off at school one morning. The person who hit her was a truck driver who had been driving for too long without sleep. He ran a red light and smacked into the driver’s side of her car, killing her instantly.
A silence weighed heavily between Zack and me. I’m sure his thoughts were exactly where mine were. On Mom.
Blinking back tears, I cleared my throat. “Well, I better get going before I’m late for work. I’ll call you when I find a good time to have lunch.”
“See you later, Gabe.”
I hung up and took a deep breath, trying to keep my tears from falling. The last thing I needed before going to work was to have my eyeliner and mascara running down my face, making me look like a cracked out drag queen. Walking over to my closet, I grabbed a sparkly, pink scarf and wrapped it fashionably around my neck before slipping into my black jacket.
October weather in the state of Arkansas was not normally that cold, just a little chilly so a light jacket was all that was needed. Picking up my black purse from the kitchen table, I shoved my phone inside and then slung it over my shoulder before exiting my apartment and going to work.
