Kyle rolled his eyes and sat down, as if he knew he could never win that argument. He just shrugged and said, "Just be good. I want things to go smoothly."
Elroy folded his hands on his lap and waited a few minutes. Then he leaned toward Kyle and asked. "Do you still love me?" He wanted to see him smile. He hadn't smiled since they'd arrived at this hell hole of big hair, bad furniture, and polyester fabric.
It took a minute. Kyle didn't look up from his book. But he eventually smiled and said, "Yes, I still love you."
About an hour later, Elroy heard the back door open with a clank, followed by heavy footsteps. He hadn't been watching the door because he'd become interested in the TV show, and he'd missed a glimpse of whoever had entered that time. He heard deep voices in the kitchen followed by soft whispers he couldn't make out. He knew they were talking about Kyle and his "friend" from school. Kyle's mom was probably preparing them to meet the "gay guy from Harvard." There would have been no other reason for them to whisper at that time of day. So Elroy took a deep breath and prepared to meet the stepdad and the stepbrother Kyle had been screwing around with all through high school. Although Elroy had mixed emotions about meeting the guy who had not only popped Kyle's gay cherry but had fucked him up a little in the head for other guys, he also found it mildly entertaining in a perverse sense.
Then both men walked into the family room at the same time and Elroy's heart stopped. The two dumb kids didn't get up or say hello to either their father or grandfather; they didn't even turn. Elroy pressed his palm to his stomach and gulped. While Kyle stood to shake his stepdad's hand, Elroy stood up and gaped at Kyle's stepbrother. Of all the things Elroy could have predicted about that weekend, this was not one of them.
Chapter Twenty
"This is my dad," Kyle said. He gestured to Elroy. "Dad, this is my roommate, Elroy. We're just friends." He spoke in a cold, even tone-as if trying to say, "And we're not having sex or anything like that." He didn't offer a last name and Elroy wasn't sure whether or not anyone in Kyle's family knew he had billions of dollars.
If Elroy hadn't been in such a state of shock, he would have noticed right away that Kyle had referred to Oscar as his "dad" and not his "stepdad" the way he always did at school. Elroy reached to shake his hand. "It's nice to meet you, Mr. Huberly."
The large man in a plaid jacket, jeans, and work boots nodded and forced a smile. "Call me Oscar, son." He shook Elroy's hand. "It's nice to meet you."
Then Kyle gestured to the younger man and said, "This is my brother, Jeremy." He didn't look Jeremy in the eye, and he didn't refer to him as his stepbrother either. "Jeremy, this is my buddy, Elroy."
Elroy glanced at Jeremy and reached out to shake his hand. "It's nice to meet you, Jeremy." He said his name with emphasis because he already knew him as Ricky, the married guy he'd been sleeping around with since Halloween weekend, not Jeremy Huberly, the infamous stepbrother who had taken his roommate's virginity.
It was evident Jeremy had been just as surprised. He shook Elroy's hand and said, "Nice to meet you, Elroy." He'd only known Elroy as Mike, the guy he'd been screwing around with on the side.
A minute later, Patty and Babe called the kids to wash up for supper and Jeremy left the room to change out of his work clothes. Oscar remained in the same clothes he'd worn all day and sat down in the family room to talk to Kyle and Elroy. It was a forced conversation; he couldn't look them in the eye for any length of time. But it was nice of him to take the time to do this. He asked questions about what they studied, trying to sound more interested than he really was. When he talked to Kyle, he seemed more worried than critical. He let Kyle know he could still work in construction after college if that's what he decided to do.
Kyle remained silent. He nodded a great deal and agreed with everything Oscar said. Oscar seemed to have a genuine interest in Kyle's well being. He also seemed to be trying hard to understand that Kyle was gay, and he worked just as hard not to say the wrong thing. He didn't refer to them as "boys." He didn't call attention to the fact that they were gay. He treated them the same way he would have treated them if they were straight. Although Elroy found him to be the most genuine family member he'd met so far, as well as refreshing, he couldn't stop thinking about what it would be like to get through the next few days with Jeremy.
At dinner, Elroy only spoke when someone asked him a direct question. Jeremy sat there picking his food while his wife, Babe, fawned all over him. Her actions appeared contrived, as if she were putting on a show for company. Even her voice rose and fell with a fake lilt. At one point, she reached sideways to cut Jeremy's meat and he shot her such a serious look, she sat back and pressed her hand to her throat. The good thing was that no one even suspected Jeremy and Elroy had been sneaking around together in Boston. Jeremy put on such a great act as the all-around straight guy, even Elroy had trouble picturing him in bed with a man. But more than that, they all must have been thinking the silence at the table had more to do with Elroy and Kyle being gay. Elroy had a feeling they were all wondering if he and Kyle were actually lovers.
At one quiet point during dinner, Babe turned to Elroy and said, "We were planning to set up the sofa bed in the den for you. We figured Kyle would sleep in his old room. His mom refuses to touch that room even though my kids have to share a tiny little room when there's an empty one going to waste all year with Kyle at school now. But if you boys would like to sleep on the pull-out sofa together, I can get that ready for both of you." She smiled when she said this, as if she thought Kyle and Elroy had come home for Christmas purely for her entertainment.
Patty dropped her fork.
Oscar cleared his throat. Before anyone had a chance to reply to Babe, Elroy stared her down and said, "I'm fine on the sofa bed alone, thanks. We have our own separate beds at school." He was sitting beside Kyle. He slapped Kyle on the back in a manly way and laughed. "But thanks for asking, Babe. You're such a thoughtful girl." He forced himself to hold back. He wanted to tell the bitch, "Why don't I just jump in bed with you and your husband, Babe? I've been sucking his dick for months so I doubt it will matter much to him."
Babe sent him one of her false smiles and said, "Suit yourself, sweetie."
He nodded and returned the fake smile. Now he'd been upgraded from "hon" to "sweetie." What could possibly happen next?
* * * * When it was time for bed, Patty made up the pull-out sofa in the den and Elroy thanked her. The minute the room went dark and he was finally alone, he rested his head against the polyester pillow and sighed aloud. The pillowcase had little rough bumps all over it and there was a lump in the sofa bed that poked his back. Getting through that Christmas Eve sober hadn't been easy. They had no vodka in the house; just beer. And Babe had been poking Jeremy in the ribs all evening, asking him why he was so quiet. Each time she'd asked, he'd grunted and said, "I'm tired."
Kyle seemed to sense something was wrong, too. Before he went into his childhood bedroom that night, he'd asked Elroy, "Are you okay? You seem quiet for some reason."
"I'm good. I tired," was all Elroy had said. "Why don't I sneak into your room tonight and we'll fool around while everyone else is sleeping?"
Kyle laughed this time. "I don't think so." But he did kiss him goodnight on the lips, and said, "If you need, anything let me know. I know you're not going to sleep tonight."
"How do you know that?" Kyle shrugged. "I pay attention. I know you slept well for the last two nights. I heard your breathing. That means you won't sleep well tonight."
This surprised Elroy. "You know my sleeping patterns?" A warm, pleasant feeling filled his body. He wanted to grab him, hug him, and carry him into the bedroom. No one else on Earth cared about the way he slept.
"I can't help it," Kyle said. "I'm only a few feet away from you."
"You do care about me more than you let on," Elroy said. He couldn't stop smiling now.
"Don't flatter yourself," Kyle said. He couldn't look at him.
This time Elroy glanced back and forth, then grabbed Kyle's shoulders and kissed him goodnight on the lips. "Thanks. No one has ever cared about whether I sleep or not."
"I know it's not easy for you," Kyle said. "I feel bad sometimes." Then he patted him on the shoulder and went into his bedroom.
At three o'clock in the morning Elroy felt the sofa bed move. When he opened his eyes and looked up, he saw Jeremy sitting at the foot of the bed. "What the fuck are you doing in here now? Your wife is practically in the next room."
"We have to talk," Jeremy said. His eyes were heavy and his breath smelled of beer.
"Just go back to bed, Ricky, and let's get through this holiday," Elroy said.
"Don't start that Ricky shit with me," Jeremy said. "You told me your name was Mike. What am I supposed to think now?"
Elroy sat up and moved farther away from him. "You're not supposed to think, Ricky. You're only supposed to fuck on command like a good stud. I'm sorry, Jeremy. There's nothing to think about. So go back to bed with your wife and leave me alone." He knew sleeping with married men could be dangerous. He never thought he'd wind up in this position. He'd always hoped his life story would wind up interesting. But he didn't want it to be this interesting.