"Alright, family members and other visitors; you will have approximately forty-five minutes with the inmates you have come to see today. Please limit any physical contact beyond small touches to five seconds. You will not give the inmates anything that has not already been approved by the guards outside. A guard will be watching your interactions with the inmates until the forty-five minutes are up. Got it?"
The room was silent, but the scraggly-looking man standing next to the door continued. "Alright,"
he turned to the guards stationed behind him. "Bring 'em in, guys."
"I remember my days in juvie… It sucked ass, dude," Mickey said, looking around the bleakly paletted room. Ian smiled, taking his boyfriend's hand. "Did you miss me?" He asked, a devilish grin spreading across his face. "You know what, Fire Crotch? You sure can be a sappy bitch sometimes," Mickey grinned, rolling his eyes. "No, come on. Be serious… Did you?" Ian asked again.
Mickey paused for a second, pondering the question and his answer. "I mean… Yeah. Why? What kind of gay shit are you trying to pull on me, Gallagher?" Ian chuckled. "Nothing, nothing. I was just wondering. Geez, Mick." Mickey sighed. "I'm sorry, baby. It's just… There are people in this place. Who knows what kind of straight shit they're trying to pull?"
"Yeah, yeah. Shut up, Carl's coming."
Mickey looked to his left to see Ian's little brother being led by a tall, bulky man in a black uniform and a badge that read "Derek" in block letters. "He's all yours, boys. Don't let him get ahold of anything sharp," Derek requested. He turned to Carl. "See you after this, little man." He patted the pale teen on the back and turned to walk away. "See ya, Derek," Carl called after him as he sat down.
"Uh, did you make friends with the guard?" Ian asked. "Smart, kid. If you're really on his good side maybe he'll sneak you in some good shit," Mickey grinned. "Yeah, we're cool. So, how are my two favorite 'mos?" Carl asked. Ian smiled a little. "We're okay," He answered. "You on your meds?" Carl questioned, a strange, pointed look crossing his face.
Ian fidgeted at the question, but Mickey answered for him. "Yeah, I'm making sure of it. You know, we're gonna move in together at the end of the month. Out of our Monster Houses. The new place is a total piece of shit. The fridge hardly works and the plumbing is sketchy as shit, but it's better than any other place we can afford," He said light-heartedly. Carl beamed. "Really? That's cool. How's everyone else? Has Mandy come back yet?" Mickey shook his head. "She'll be back, you watch. I give two, three months, tops. She knows better than to hang around with a piece of shit like that boyfriend of hers much longer. Knowing her she'll probably run him over or somethin'."
Carl chuckled, and turned to Ian. "And the Gallagher Family Zoo?" Ian shrugged. "What is there to say? Liam's doing good, not much to say there other than that he can recite the alphabet now. He's definitely got Lip's brain. Deb's is doing okay, I guess. She's still with the same guy, but she's not pregnant… Anymore…" He trailed.
Carl paused. "What do you mean, anymore? I didn't even know she got knocked up." Ian shook his head. "I thought Fiona told you. Debbie… She had to have an abortion. Apparently having a kid at her age could cause a lot of problems, other than adding a new Gallagher to the litter. She… She has depression, you know, nightmares, that kind of thing. But she's been getting better. And she's strong, you know… She'll be okay."
Carl stared at his brother for a moment. "Oh… Okay? Uh, how's Fiona? And Lip?" He uttered, awkwardly. "Lip's back at M.I.T., keeping his grades up, but he comes home most weekends. And Fiona… Well, she's Fiona. She's still working at the diner, but she's dating this new guy. Total tool. He'll be out of here by the end of the week, if we're lucky. But, anyway, how's juvie?"
Carl snickered. "It's juvie, Ian, how do you think it is?" Ian rolled his eyes. "Yeah, yeah." Mickey spoke up then, "You got a crew?" Ian elbowed his arm. "Jesus, Mick!" He scolded. "What? Just wondering. I was in juvie once too, you know," Mickey scoffed, turning to Carl. "Nah, I'm over that," Carl answered.
"But… I do have a question."
"Okay, what's up?"
Carl hesitated for a moment. He wasn't exactly insecure about the topic, just a bit uncomfortable discussing it with his brother and brother's boyfriend. "Well, uh, I was just wondering…. How did you guys know… You know, know, that you're into guys?"
Ian gave him a look. "Why? Are you?" Carl rolled his eyes. "No! I mean… I don't know. Does it matter?" He spat, a little too defensively. "I mean, no, not unless it matters to you," Ian replied. "Well, it doesn't," the latter insisted. "Well, then it doesn't. You still wanna know how we knew?" Carl sighed, but nodded anyway.
Ian turned to Mickey. "Mick? You wanna go first?" Mikey grumbled something incoherent, but started anyway. "Fine. I dunno, man. I was a… What d'ya call 'em? A late bloomer? Anyway, I was one of them. Didn't realize I liked cock until grade ten, and by that time I was failing out of school pretty bad. I guess I always knew something was up, but then this hot Hispanic kid got transferred into my English class and I fell fuckin' hard.
"Now, I don't wanna get into all the stupid details about all that unrequited love bullshit, sexuality crisis, whatever… but it sucked. And then I had my asshole dad to deal with on top of that. But it's cool now, you know? I got over it. You're better off than I ever was."
"Sorry, Mickey," Carl apologized, though he wasn't sure why. It just felt like the thing to do. "Whatever, man, don't worry about it." He shrugged it off like it was nothing, but even Carl could tell it wasn't just that to him.
"Ian?" Mickey voiced, taking Carl out of his slight daze and the attention off of himself. "Oh, right. Well, I realized really young. Like, first grade young. I didn't really think anything of it. Thought I was just like all of my other little friends at that age. But then I got older and a bunch of people started calling this one girl a dyke for dressing differently and I knew that it wasn't really acceptable, especially not on the South Side. So, like, I started thinking I was wrong for liking dudes," He admitted.
"You remember that one time when I was in middle school and I tried to run away? Well, that was why. Then Lip caught me outside the Alibi Room waiting for Kev to get off work so we could bum around together and he took me home and told me that whatever was bothering wasn't going to get any better if I ran away from it. So, I dealt with it and moved on," He finished.
The table was quiet for a while, with nothing but the dull chatter of other juvenile delinquents and their family members surrounding them. Then, Carl said, "I met someone in here." Startled, Ian looked up at him. "Well… Is he nice?" He asked, gently. "Yeah, actually, he's really nice. We sort share a cell together, just us," Carl answered simply.
"What's his name? What's he in here for?"
"Sebastian Black. He got caught stealing a bunch of food and money and shit to feed his family. He lives on the South Side, too. "
"He hot, got a big dick?"
"Mickey."
"What? I'm just wonderin'."
Carl chuckled. "Yeah, he's pretty hot. But like, I don't know how to date a boy. It's not a big deal or anything, but still." Ian smiled. "It's basically the same as dating a girl, but you don't have to worry about getting someone pregnant. You still have to wear condoms, though, don't forget." He pointed a finger at the younger boy. "Yeah, it's basically the same, but you play a lot more video games and drink more beer," Mickey added.
"Hey, Carl, is he in here anywhere?" Ian wondered, looking around the room. "Yeah, he's over there," Carl stated, pointing to a table in the corner occupied by four people, one of them being a stocky-looking boy in a grey jumpsuit like Carl's. He had dark brown hair that was short and arranged asymmetrically atop his head. He had dark brown eyes that glistened as he laughed at something an older man Carl presumed to be his father said. The whole family was fair-skinned, and you could hardly tell that they were Hispanic.
"Damn, you sure know how to pick 'em," Mickey commented. "You know, I've gotta give it to you Gallaghers," He said. "I thought it was just your brother here who had good taste, but I guess not." He laughed at his own joke while Carl and Ian looked at each other and made exaggerated gagging noises in Mickey's direction.
"Whatever, man. So, what, like, are you gay? Is he your boyfriend now?" Mickey asked. "I don't know. We hang out," Carl stated simply. "He treats me right, says he got straight A's before he got slammed. He's trying to tutor me in… Well, everything, I guess. It seems to be working, actually. Only thing is he's not—"
"Alright, everyone, your forty-five minutes is almost up. Now is the time to say your goodbyes and remember no physical contact beyond small touches for more than five seconds. Thank you."
As if on cue, the entire room stood up and went around the tables to meet their loved ones on the other side. Mickey ruffled Carl's sandy hair while Ian pulled him in for a tight hug, kissing the top of his little brother's head while he was at it. Carl thought he felt Ian briefly slip a hand up the back of his shirt, but he couldn't be sure.
When they pulled away, Carl smiled up at the two men before him. "Alright, we'll see you in a few weeks, okay? Who knows, you might even be out sooner if you don't do anything stupid. This shithole's always being overpopulated," Ian said. "We'll see if you're right," Carl muttered.
"You'll see, Carl. Just wait," Ian smiled, always the optimist. "Later, man," Mickey said, giving a small wave. He grabbed Ian's hand and together they gave Carl a final look of reassurance before turning to leave.
As soon as the families left, the guards came back in to escort the adolescents back to their cells.
When Carl got back to his, Sebastian was already there waiting for him. He smiled at Carl and waited while Derek took the cuffs off the other boy. "See ya, Carl," Derek said. "Later, Derek," Carl replied. Derek turned and walked out of the tiny room, sliding the bars shut behind him.
Once he was gone, Carl walked over and flopped down onto his bed, curling in on himself to face his boyfriend across the room. "So how was it?" he asked carefully. "It was okay. I tried to tell them this time… I really did," Sebastian said sheepishly. "Listen, man, don't worry about it. We can just tell them when we're both back on the South Side," Carl shrugged. "Yeah, I guess…"
"Hey, what are you lying on?"
Carl gave a puzzled look and sat up, looking behind him to find a red packet of Skittles sitting on the hard mattress beneath him. "Huh. My brother must have snuck then into my pocket or something. Want some?" He offered, picking up the candy and tearing it open. "Sure," Sebastian stood and crossed the room, sitting down beside Carl.
Carl poured a generous amount in the other boy's large hands and scooted back so that his back was up against the wall. Sebastian did the same, leaning slightly against Carl's smaller frame. They shared the sweet in comfortable silence until every piece was gone, then they lied down on the small bed, Carl pressed right up against the other to fit on the bed properly. While he wasn't tired, Sebastian drifted right off, snoring softly in the way Carl once hated, now admired.
And all Carl could think about were those sparkly eyes closed tightly, eyelids barely dancing at the presence of a dream. And he hoped the other boy dreamed of him.