I would be safe for you to assume that for the next four weeks I was a very happy boy. I'd say walking on cloud nine better describes it. Portman and I just clicked together you know? I mean we always had but after that little incident at the playground it was even more so. We had one of those relationships where you know that even if you were born on separate ends of the earth you would've found your way to each other. I promise you that if there is such a thing as a soul mate Dean Portman and I were it.
We were sitting at the dining room table night eating another one of Maggie's master pieces (I swear the women cooks like Monet paints.), when Sonny cleared his throat from his spot at the head of the table
"I ran into Maryann today at the bank."
"Oh really, how is she doing?" Maggie looked up from under her auburn bangs and then went back to spooning Tiffany some carrots
"Not very well I'm afraid, she's heartbroken. Poor girl all this over our son."
"Well Sonny you couldn't very well expect Dean to stay with a girl that didn't make him happy." Thank you Mrs. Portman, I knew I liked her for a reason
"No I don't suppose I could, but I can however expect that my son does not lie to me while living under my roof."
That didn't sound good and I hoped they didn't all hear me gulp.
"I don't fellow sweetheart." I mentally begged Maggie not to make him say it, but I guess ESP doesn't really exist
"Well it seems that while our son Dean has been saying he broke up with Maryann because he just didn't have the same feelings for her anymore, the truth is he'd been seeing another girl behind her back. Some Felicia, sounds like a bimbo if you ask me. That aside, he hasn't even mentioned her to us let alone had the courtesy to introduce her to us."
After Mr. Portman's rant I let out my breath, that was not what I had anticipated. I thought for sure someone had seen us in the park or something.
"Oh I see." Maggie nodded, then smiled "Well I'm sure we'll get to meet her when Dean feels comfortable."
The women is saint
"Fulton you're available why don't you take Maryann out while you're here? You'd get along great."
Okay I spoke to soon.
"Umm, no I don't think so, she's not really my type." I hoped she didn't ask what my type was
"Of course she is, she's exactly what my son wanted in a girl, you two are practically the same person."
She had no idea
"Still I'd rather not."
"Come on she's a sweet girl, I've known her, her whole life."
"Nah." Alright I was starting to get annoyed now
"Why no? How could a young man like you not be interested in such a beautiful young women, like her?" That was it, I couldn't play love connection anymore
"Well Maggie, I'm not interested in her because I'm not interested in girls. I'm gay."
Jason dropped his fork, Tiffany choked on her apple juice, Sonny coughed like he was losing a lung and Maggie's jaw unhinged and hit the floor
"I'm gay." I repeated with pride
"You find that kind of godless existence enjoyable do you?" Oh yay Mr. Portman speaks. Why was I certain his opinion was not going to be an overly supportive one?
"I haven't had any problem with it so far. My boyfriend is really great. We've got everything in common." I shifted my gaze to Dean who had his head down and was pushing his garlic and herb noodles around on his plate with the back of his fork.
"I'm sure of that, you have everything right down the your physical structure in common. I would not appreciate it greatly if spend the remainder of your vacation at the motel down the road. I'll even pay for it."
"Excuse me?"
"I have always made my stance on homosexuality very clear. I will not allow it in my house. And I do not want you corrupting my children with your bizarre behavior."
"Now Sonny, don't you think kicking the poor boy out is a little drastic. Fulton has been Dean's best friend for years now." Maggie spoke up
"Fine, then he's at least staying in the guest room, we can't have him sleeping in the same room as Dean. He may make a move on the poor boy or something."
I held up my hand and returned to the conversation
"Wait, let's get back to my bizarre behavior Mr. Portman. I've been here nearly a month already, not have you noticed me acting any differently then usual? I haven't painted my finger nails, or asked to burrow one of your wife's dresses. I've played hockey, listened to music with more swears in it then the average person knows, watched movies where stuff gets blown up and have been your basic eighteen year old guy. So please tell me when my behavior suddenly turned bizarre."
I didn't give him the opportunity to respond though, I pushed myself away from the table and stormed down to the basement.
The door opened about fifteen minutes later followed by heavy footsteps coming in my direction. I was angrily packing my clothes into my suit case when Portman's arms slid around my waist.
"I'm very proud of you. I wish I had the guts. Tiffany locked herself in her bedroom and said she won't come out till you like girls."
"Yeah well, I'm use to it. My parents reacted the same way when they heard a rumor we'd been together at the Jr. Goodwill Games." I grumbled, pulling out of his grasp
"What are you doing?"
"Packing, I'm leaving." I answered shoving a tee shirt into the bag
"You're moving to the guest room, you're not being shipped to mars or something." He teased
"No, Dean I'm going home."
"You're joking right?"
"No I'm not."
"Is this about what my Dad just said? My mom's not gonna let him talk to you like that anymore, honest."
"No, this about the fact that my normally loud and vocal boyfriend just developed a sudden case of laryngitis, while his father was busy telling me how I'm gods biggest mistake. You didn't eve stand up for me, I know you didn't want to tell him but you could've at least defended me."
He was about to say something in his own defense when his phone rang. As he went to pick it up I returned to packing.
"Oh hey Guy, I didn't expect to hear from you how's everything?… Yeah Fulton's here, he's packing." He gave me a sideways glance. "Banks is where?" Did you ever get a sick feeling in the pit of your stomach for no reason at all? That's how I felt listening in to that conversation. "Yeah we'll be there."
"What did Guy want?" I looked at his concerned expression and it didn't do much to ease my stomach
"Banks is in the hospital, he tried to kill himself. He wanted to tell us Julie had Scooter wire everyone enough money to but tickets to get to Connecticut. Let's go."
I mentioned I hate planes right? Well now add my hatred of planes to my nerves about Adam and the fact I had to intention of talking to Portman for the rest of my life and you'd figure I wasn't a very happy person. I think I really shocked him that I sat in the front of the taxi with the driver, took a seat two rows up on the opposite side of the planes as him on the way there and didn't speak a word to him while we waited for the rest of the Ducks in the lobby of the Hartford airport. And guess what, I don't care. As far as I was concerned we were over.
We were sitting at the dining room table night eating another one of Maggie's master pieces (I swear the women cooks like Monet paints.), when Sonny cleared his throat from his spot at the head of the table
"I ran into Maryann today at the bank."
"Oh really, how is she doing?" Maggie looked up from under her auburn bangs and then went back to spooning Tiffany some carrots
"Not very well I'm afraid, she's heartbroken. Poor girl all this over our son."
"Well Sonny you couldn't very well expect Dean to stay with a girl that didn't make him happy." Thank you Mrs. Portman, I knew I liked her for a reason
"No I don't suppose I could, but I can however expect that my son does not lie to me while living under my roof."
That didn't sound good and I hoped they didn't all hear me gulp.
"I don't fellow sweetheart." I mentally begged Maggie not to make him say it, but I guess ESP doesn't really exist
"Well it seems that while our son Dean has been saying he broke up with Maryann because he just didn't have the same feelings for her anymore, the truth is he'd been seeing another girl behind her back. Some Felicia, sounds like a bimbo if you ask me. That aside, he hasn't even mentioned her to us let alone had the courtesy to introduce her to us."
After Mr. Portman's rant I let out my breath, that was not what I had anticipated. I thought for sure someone had seen us in the park or something.
"Oh I see." Maggie nodded, then smiled "Well I'm sure we'll get to meet her when Dean feels comfortable."
The women is saint
"Fulton you're available why don't you take Maryann out while you're here? You'd get along great."
Okay I spoke to soon.
"Umm, no I don't think so, she's not really my type." I hoped she didn't ask what my type was
"Of course she is, she's exactly what my son wanted in a girl, you two are practically the same person."
She had no idea
"Still I'd rather not."
"Come on she's a sweet girl, I've known her, her whole life."
"Nah." Alright I was starting to get annoyed now
"Why no? How could a young man like you not be interested in such a beautiful young women, like her?" That was it, I couldn't play love connection anymore
"Well Maggie, I'm not interested in her because I'm not interested in girls. I'm gay."
Jason dropped his fork, Tiffany choked on her apple juice, Sonny coughed like he was losing a lung and Maggie's jaw unhinged and hit the floor
"I'm gay." I repeated with pride
"You find that kind of godless existence enjoyable do you?" Oh yay Mr. Portman speaks. Why was I certain his opinion was not going to be an overly supportive one?
"I haven't had any problem with it so far. My boyfriend is really great. We've got everything in common." I shifted my gaze to Dean who had his head down and was pushing his garlic and herb noodles around on his plate with the back of his fork.
"I'm sure of that, you have everything right down the your physical structure in common. I would not appreciate it greatly if spend the remainder of your vacation at the motel down the road. I'll even pay for it."
"Excuse me?"
"I have always made my stance on homosexuality very clear. I will not allow it in my house. And I do not want you corrupting my children with your bizarre behavior."
"Now Sonny, don't you think kicking the poor boy out is a little drastic. Fulton has been Dean's best friend for years now." Maggie spoke up
"Fine, then he's at least staying in the guest room, we can't have him sleeping in the same room as Dean. He may make a move on the poor boy or something."
I held up my hand and returned to the conversation
"Wait, let's get back to my bizarre behavior Mr. Portman. I've been here nearly a month already, not have you noticed me acting any differently then usual? I haven't painted my finger nails, or asked to burrow one of your wife's dresses. I've played hockey, listened to music with more swears in it then the average person knows, watched movies where stuff gets blown up and have been your basic eighteen year old guy. So please tell me when my behavior suddenly turned bizarre."
I didn't give him the opportunity to respond though, I pushed myself away from the table and stormed down to the basement.
The door opened about fifteen minutes later followed by heavy footsteps coming in my direction. I was angrily packing my clothes into my suit case when Portman's arms slid around my waist.
"I'm very proud of you. I wish I had the guts. Tiffany locked herself in her bedroom and said she won't come out till you like girls."
"Yeah well, I'm use to it. My parents reacted the same way when they heard a rumor we'd been together at the Jr. Goodwill Games." I grumbled, pulling out of his grasp
"What are you doing?"
"Packing, I'm leaving." I answered shoving a tee shirt into the bag
"You're moving to the guest room, you're not being shipped to mars or something." He teased
"No, Dean I'm going home."
"You're joking right?"
"No I'm not."
"Is this about what my Dad just said? My mom's not gonna let him talk to you like that anymore, honest."
"No, this about the fact that my normally loud and vocal boyfriend just developed a sudden case of laryngitis, while his father was busy telling me how I'm gods biggest mistake. You didn't eve stand up for me, I know you didn't want to tell him but you could've at least defended me."
He was about to say something in his own defense when his phone rang. As he went to pick it up I returned to packing.
"Oh hey Guy, I didn't expect to hear from you how's everything?… Yeah Fulton's here, he's packing." He gave me a sideways glance. "Banks is where?" Did you ever get a sick feeling in the pit of your stomach for no reason at all? That's how I felt listening in to that conversation. "Yeah we'll be there."
"What did Guy want?" I looked at his concerned expression and it didn't do much to ease my stomach
"Banks is in the hospital, he tried to kill himself. He wanted to tell us Julie had Scooter wire everyone enough money to but tickets to get to Connecticut. Let's go."
I mentioned I hate planes right? Well now add my hatred of planes to my nerves about Adam and the fact I had to intention of talking to Portman for the rest of my life and you'd figure I wasn't a very happy person. I think I really shocked him that I sat in the front of the taxi with the driver, took a seat two rows up on the opposite side of the planes as him on the way there and didn't speak a word to him while we waited for the rest of the Ducks in the lobby of the Hartford airport. And guess what, I don't care. As far as I was concerned we were over.