Impact (Suncoast Society #32)(3)

“The church says a lot of things, Mom. You and Dad used birth control for years, before and after I was born. How’s that any different from breaking other church rules?”

She went a little pink in the face. “That’s different. And what your father and I do in the privacy of our bedroom is—”

“Exactly.” Cris sat back as the waitress set their glasses on the table.

From the forced smile on her face, Cris could tell the waitress had heard at least some of that. “Ready to order?” she asked, pulling out her pad and a pen.

Once that was over and they were alone, again, Cris leaned in and dropped his voice. “What I do in my bedroom shouldn’t be of any concern to you and Dad. If you two can’t love me for who I am, then that’s not my fault.”

His mom slowly stirred her iced tea with a straw. “All I’m asking is that you come home for a visit. Dinner. Just let him think you’re…not doing this stuff. If he asks about where you’re living—”

“Lie.” He slowly shook his head. “So it’s okay for me to break a commandment about lying just so Dad doesn’t have to deal with having a bisexual son, huh? Nice. Great way to cherry-pick the rules.”

“If you’re bisexual then why is it a problem to pretend you’re with a woman?”

“Because it’s lying, and how is that in any way fair to Lan? I love him.” Cris knew he desperately needed to get this conversation out of the crapper or he’d end up paying his bill and leaving before the food even arrived. “How’s Sofia doing?”

His mother seemed equally eager to latch onto another topic of conversation. “She’s making her parents pull their hair out. She ran away again yesterday. Julieta wants to let the police find her and lock her up to scare her but Gonzalo won’t let her call them.”

“Can’t blame her for running,” Cris muttered.

“They took you in when you needed a place.”

“Uh, yeah, needed a place because Dad threw me out. And Uncle Gonzalo used to beat the shit out of me, okay?”

His mother looked shocked.

“What? Did he forget to report that little factoid when you called to check on me? I’m lucky he never broke any of my damn ribs. Guess child abuse is another of the cherry-picked sins to overlook, huh? No telling what he was doing to her to make her run.”

“Well, if she calls you—”

“If she calls me, I’m going to take her in and get her an attorney, help her file for emancipation, and help her press charges against her father, if necessary.”

“That’s a horrible thing to say!”

“Why? Because I actually give a shit about her?” He let out a long breath. This wasn’t going well at all. “Does she have a cell phone?”

“No. They took it away last month because of her grades. They think she’s staying with a friend of hers, but they’re still trying to work on tracking her down.”

“What about her brothers? Maybe she’s at Santino’s, or Ivan’s. What about Dante?”

“No. They insist they haven’t seen her. Gonzalo and Julieta even went over to their places to search, just to make sure.”

He snorted. “Yeah, because there’s such a high level of trust in that family.”

Cris managed to make it through the meal with her, even paying the whole bill despite her trying to pick up the tab.

“No, Mom. This one’s on me,” he said as he studied the check. “I can afford it.”

Her face looked pinched. “Please? Just come by. Come alone, if you insist. If he asks, just say you aren’t involved with anyone.”

“Meaning I should lie. Which commandment is that, again?”

She slapped the table and leaned in. “Why do you have to be so stubborn?” she hissed.

“Why do you two have to be so unaccepting of who I am?”

“Because you’re going against God’s law!”

“I thought God was perfect, Mom? Doesn’t make mistakes. He made me like I am. So I’m going to go with that.”

As always, the old argument shut her up.

When they parted just outside the restaurant’s front door, she hugged him. “I do love you, you know.”

“I know,” he said. “I love you, too. And Dad. I just wish you two accepted me.”

He watched her walk away down the sidewalk, toward where she’d parked.

No, he wouldn’t deny Landry was his partner. He wouldn’t lie to make his parents feel better. One lie would lead to another until he was dragged into his family’s web of dysfunction and forced to live two separate lives.

If they couldn’t accept him the way he was, yeah, it hurt, but it was okay. He had Landry. And a growing group of friends who supported and loved them both.

Although, as he made his way to his own car, he did worry about Sofia. He hoped that she came around and didn’t screw up her life. The last thing he wanted to hear was her getting into trouble. To him, she’d always be that sweet kid who’d looked up to him and never understood why her father beat him. The kid he’d helped with her homework.

She was the teenager who didn’t care that he was in a relationship with a guy.

I’ll ask Landry about getting her a cheap cell phone for emergencies. He hated not knowing if she was safe or not.