Choosing teams
They made him stand in the living room while they talked in the kitchen, and then called Kari in to talk to her about it. They bade brother and sister to sit on opposite sides of the living room, and then looked at their children quietly. Kari looked at him worriedly, knowing that they knew. He smiled slightly knowing that she didn't know as much as she thought she did.
"Kari, dear, we want to talk to you about something very important." Their father began. He was addressing her patiently, his eyes flickering to Tai occasionally. He would meet his gaze, and then turn back to his youngest child. "It's important for you to understand what's going on."
"Yes, father. I'm listening." She folded her hands politely in her lap, and focused her attention on him. He smiled slightly, and then glanced at his wife. She was staring off into space, a dazed look on her face. "Is it terribly bad?"
"No, no. Not that type of news." Tai looked at his father in confusion. "Your brother is gay. By tomorrow, most of the people that you go to school with will know, and I wanted you to be aware of it, as well."
"Okay, father." She nodded, frowning slightly. "What exactly am I supposed to say?"
He smiled gently, a look he shared with both siblings. "Nothing, dear. We just want to make sure that your brother realizes that, though we're hurt and confused that he didn't tell us, we understand, and it doesn't change how we feel about him."
"Really?" Tai scooted to the edge of his seat, his eyes hopeful. "You're not going to kill me, or disown me, or tell me that I can't date?" His father chuckled. "I thought you were mad. You looked so upset at the banquet!"
"I was. Some woman next to your mother told us rather baldly what had happened while we were gone. Your mother fainted, and is still rather..." He trailed off, frowning at the look on his wife's face. "Anyway, when we came back in, it was to hear Eric Flowers and his boy insulting you. Luckily for both of them, Davis acted before I could kill either of them. Nice boy, Davis."
Tai smiled, looking at Kari happily. She grinned at him, then at his father. "I'm glad you think so, father." Tai's eyes widened, and he tried to get her attention to tell her to stop. "Since Davis and Tai are dating."
His father looked at him, and Tai smiled innocently, glaring daggers at his sister when he looked away. "Really." His voice was flat, and Tai swallowed. "I guess that you should invite him over for dinner sometime, if his father will allow it." His face was cold.
"What's the matter?" Tai frowned at the expression on his father's face.
"Nothing. I just wish you could have chosen a better person to date." He stood up, gently drawing their mother to her feet. "His father won't approve, not at all. You'll have a hard time convincing him to let him out of the house. You should have seen the look on his face after your speech, when he finally realized what you were talking about, and why your hair matches that of his son. It's safe to say that he wasn't happy."
"I won't have to worry. Davis lives with his mother now. Maybe she'll be a little more understanding." Tai grinned at him, feeling relieved and euphoric, knowing that two thirds of his family was on his side. And, technically, his mother wasn't against him, either, since she had turned comatose.
_______________
Davis sat a chair as both his parents glared at him. It had been a long time since his parents had agreed on anything, but they were united against him. They had spent the last half hour talking quietly, while his father relayed the information that he had put together at the banquet. Jun was in the back of the apartment, talking on the phone to her friends, and completely oblivious to the situation in the living room.
His mother looked at him, shock and disgust clearly showing on her face. "Davis, tell me this isn't true. You haven't spent the last two days pretending to be dating that...that boy!" She said the word 'boy' with as much revulsion a person could muster for another human being. Davis watched her calmly, his eyes passing from one to the other in silent waiting.
He wanted to run, to get up and yell at them, to tell his father off, to deny everything. The emotions twirled around inside him, greedily begging to be released. He tamped them down, determined to refuse his father the ability to hurt him, to break him down. The car ride back to the apartment had been a firm lecture on 'gays', and the bad influences they had. After ten minutes of that, Davis had tuned him out, surprised when his father followed him to the apartment
"It was a dare, right? So, all you have to do is publicly tell him off, and it will be over. When he's humiliated, he'll leave you alone, and you won't have to be dirtied by his disease." Dark brown eyes flickered to her, and she looked away from the intensity in his gaze, her anger mounting when he said nothing. "It's wrong, Davis, and I know that I raised you better. You will not disgrace this family. If I have to send you away, I will."
His father looked at him bitterly. "No son of mine is going to turn into a pansy. As long as you are still a child, you will abide by the rules that your mother and I agree on. You will not associate with the Kamiya boy, you will not play soccer on his team, and you will no longer associate with anyone that does have anything to do with him, is that understood?"
They waited, watching him expectantly, his silence being taken as agreement. His mother stood up, and smiled; glad to have the situation behind them. "I'm glad that you agree, Davis. You always were a good boy."
"No." They looked at him in surprise, and his mother slowly sank back into her seat. His eyes were cold when they met theirs. He looked from one to the other, and then stared at the wall between there heads. "Everything you just said is wrong. If I have to obey you as long as I live with one or the other, then disown me now. I will not live by such a ridiculous, and offensive rule."
"Excuse me?" His father glared at him, and he met his gaze with a slight, determined smile.
"You heard me. If I can't live my life the way I chose, if you refuse to allow me the right to make my own decisions, then kick me out, and let me starve in the street. I would rather be without you, than be constantly reminded that my very existence is wrong. The way I feel is not wrong, the person I love is not bad. You can take your opinions and hang me with them, but I won't change. Not for you, the people who couldn't bring their heads out of their own misery to see that their children were suffering. You both let Jun and I suffer in our own hells, and we owe you nothing. I owe you nothing."
"Davis, you can't mean that!" His mother had tears in her eyes, her hands pressed against her chest in a pained gesture.
"I mean everything I say. Years of neglect cannot be made up by tyrannical control." They looked at him in amazement. "I know. Your dear, silly little Davis has a brain. Even I know that everything you just said is a lie. I'm gay, and that's a fact. I have only ever been drawn to guys, though my friends know I tried hard enough to fall for Kari. Instead, I constantly swooned over her brother. Today, I received the best news of my life, that he could possible, maybe, hopefully like me, and I will not be thwarted by you."
He stood up, his fervor growing as he saw the pain and guilt dawning on their faces.
"You ignored my existence for years, until it suited you both to use me, and my sister, as prizes in a custody battle. Even now, you pretend that we're nothing more that drains on your pocket and time, until our other parent is around. It's not fair to us, to be stuck with two uncaring parents. Raise me? Jun did that from the time she was old enough to understand that neither of you would! It's pretty sad that I had to be raised by a girl barely older than myself."
A hand was laid gently on his shoulder, and he looked up into the eyes of the young woman his sister had become. "It wasn't fair to either of us to be stuck with you, but we dealt with it. The least you could do is deal with the fact that I'm different. I'm gay, you suck as parents. Some place in the back of your minds, this should even out. Just tell yourselves that this is what happens when you ignore and degrade an eleven year-old-boy. And when I bring future boyfriends over, and I'm hoping that Tai will be one, if not the only, then you will suck it up, and get over it, because it's my life."
His mother was in tears, sobbing brokenly against his father's shoulder. For his part, the old man was silent, keeping anything he might have said locked inside. Jun squeezed his shoulder, offering him her support.
"You can't replace years of ignoring the person I was by ignoring the person that I became."
Avoidance and Retreat
On Wednesday, Davis rode the bus when Tai didn't show up to give him a ride. The older teen was stuck in a traffic jam, barely a mile away. When he arrived, it was to greet an empty sidewalk.
At school, they missed each other so often that they were convinced that the other was purposely ignoring them. It made Tai angry, and Davis sad, to think that they had gotten so close, only to be avoided like the plague. During lunch, several people from the Junior Varsity soccer team recruited Davis to help them hang banners.
Tai left the cafeteria with the sole intention of finding his young friend, and kissing some sense into him. He had thought about beating the sense in, but the first solution seemed a more enjoyable experience. He found the dark-skinned, orange-haired boy on top of a later, stretching to tape a corner of a banner in place.
He glanced around, seeing that half the J.V. team was standing around with worried glances on their faces. He went up to one young blonde, and asked what was going on. "We wanted to hang the banners, but nobody on our team was brave enough to climb the ladder. We asked Davis, because he always seems so fearless."
The boy in question was straddling the ladder dangerously, a hand against the wall for support. Tai grabbed the ladder when he realized that it was starting to tilt, with no one to anchor the bottom. Dark brown eyes looked down at him in panic. They looked at each other for a moment, before relief and happiness replaced the fear.
"Hey, Tai." He smiled down at him, gripping the top rung of the ladder to hold himself securely in place. "What's up?"
"You are?" Tai raised an eyebrow, grinning teasingly. They stared into each other's eyes, the moment stretching until someone coughed to gain their attention. They moved their gaze to Mimi and Matt, who were holding hands several feet away. "What?"
They were smiling at them innocently, until Mimi giggled. "This is where you start the whole 'Romeo, Romeo, where fore art thou, Romeo'. Sweet and romantic balcony scene, long kiss, happily-ever-after." She sighed romantically, batting her eyelashes at Matt.
He leaned down and kissed her, then glanced sideways at his best friend. "I think she has the right idea. Skip the speeches and fine words. Climb up there and claim your spoils from yesterday's war."
"What did he say?" Davis looked down at them suspiciously, knowing that the blonde had said something, but not knowing what was said.
Tai looked up at him with a gentle smile, his left foot resting on the bottom rung. "He said I should scale this ladder, and kiss you. You are spoils of war for facing the demon hordes yesterday."
Davis frowned, and then shook his head in mocking disapproval. "I really don't think that most of the team would appreciate you comparing their parents to demons. And you won a battle, not the war." He swung his leg over the top so he could sit at the top.
"Really? Then I take it that there are more battles ahead?" Tai rested his hands on either side of the ladder.
"Yes. The prize is not yet acquired. You have yet to slay the dragon, and fight the evil king that holds it entrapped." His grin was playful, teasing.
"What has this king done to keep me from my prize?" Tai eyes were sparkling, his instincts telling him to climb the ladder; his uncertainty's keeping him grounded on the floor.
"He's sending me away." Tai jerked back quickly, his eyes growing wide in shocked dismay. "He and my mother are meeting tonight to go over possible boarding schools. The farther away they send me, the happier they both will be."
"No." He let his arms fall to his sides, taking a step back. "They can't do that. What right do they have?" He could feel the anger building inside him slowly, causing him to curl his fist, his pupils dilating dangerously.
"Don't worry about it." Davis stepped down quickly, sliding down in a careless fashion, his eyes unconcerned. "It's not important at this point where I go."
"Not important?" Tai's jaw dropped, his face incredulous. "I finally understand exactly how I feel about you, exactly what I want, and you tell me it's too late, but it's not important. Well, thank you, Davis. For destroying every dream I had." He turned angrily, and stomped away.
Davis watched his back sadly, then moved his gaze to where Mimi and Matt were still looking on intently. Cold blue eyes met his, and he could feel the rage pulsating from the musician. "That was really cruel, Davis. It took him a lot of soul-searching during the last two days for him to come to the decision he did."
"I can't help that, Matt. I can't refuse to go, they are still my legal guardians. I won't be gone long, I promise."
Three days later, he was withdrawn from all of his classes, and set on the first of many airplanes to a new school. He didn't have another chance to speak to Tai before he left
