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."