Chapter 7: Caught in the Act
It was now April of 1993. Angel had been living with Lenny for two months. They had started to look at colleges together, and had decided to go to school in Vermont so they could get legally "married." Angel's drama and music teachers encouraged him to apply for a music scholarship in the fall of his senior year, so he could go to a decent school. They were aware of his living situation and his lack of support from his parents.
"You know, my parents still don't suspect a thing," Lenny told Angel as they walked down the dingy hallways of City Public, hand intertwined with one another, "We should celebrate."
"Baby, I don't think we need to celebrate, I mean -" Angel began.
Laughing, Lenny leaned down and whispered into Angel's ear, "Does the fact that we're both seriously sex-deprived and my parents are going out tonight mean anything to you?"
"Celebrate we will!" Angel exclaimed as he continued to walk hand in hand with Lenny to interpretive dance class.
"Then it's a date," he stated firmly.
"A date it is!" Angel replied, kissing Lenny briefly.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Yes!" Lenny breathed a sigh of relief as he walked into his empty home, with Angel clinging to his arm. Pacing into the kitchen, he found a note from his parents, "Hi boys. We'll be out till around 8; we're with the Moore's. See you later," it read.
Glancing at the clock, Angel realized it was only six. As he let go of Lenny's arm, he put his arms around his waist and looked into his eyes, "PLENTY of time," he smiled as he planted a passionate kiss on his boyfriend's lips.
"You said it baby," Lenny said as he and Angel dashed into the bedroom. Giggling, they shut the door.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
They had been so busy making up for lost time, that they didn't even hear Lenny's parents come home a full forty-five minutes early.
Thinking he heard something, Angel asked, "What time is it?"
"We still have a good forty minutes, babe, don't worry," Lenny mumbled as he pulled Angel back on top of him, and they continued to kiss.
Just as they began to get caught up in the moment once again, the bedroom door creaked open.
"Leonardo!" Mrs. Costales gasped at the sight of her son lying naked in his bed with another man.
"Angel!" Mr. Costales exclaimed, with a similar look of shock on his face.
"Shit," Lenny cursed to himself as he and Angel attempted to hide their nude bodies from the sight of his parents. Angel could feel his face turning a bright shade crimson from embarrassment. He knew he was no longer going to be welcomed in the Costales's home.
"Angel, excuse us for a minute. We need to have a private talk with Leonardo," Mr. Costales stated with an angry tone. Putting his shirt on, Angel whizzed out of the bedroom, and patiently waited to hear his fate.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Son, would you care to tell us what this is all about?" Mrs. Costales snapped.
"Mom, I hate for you to find out this way," Lenny paused, nervously, "but I'm gay."
"We figured that. It's not everyday that you see a straight man in bed with another man," his father mumbled sarcastically.
"I can't believe this. You're not gay!" his mother exclaimed.
"Yeah I am. It's not like it's a bad thing. I've been with Angel for over a year, since last Valentine's Day. We're in love. You like him; you think he's a great guy. I know you both do, so don't even pretend to disagree. I don't understand what the big deal is. I'm still the same person, I just have a boyfriend," Lenny spoke nonchalantly.
"Well he can't live here. I will NOT have you sleeping -"
"Dad, I get it. But he doesn't have anywhere else to go," Lenny preceded.
"He can't stay here anymore. I feel sorry for him, I really do, but it's not our problem," Mr. Costales insisted.
"It was fine before you knew he was gay," mumbled Lenny.
"I don't want you having a live-in. whatever he is. right now, Lenny, you're only 17. You still need to learn things about life. You can't pick your life partner yet, this is ridiculous!" his mother shook her head, sighing in disbelief.
"I know what I want. I don't need to learn anything about life. I have Angel. I love Angel, damnit; I'm in love with him. Why is this so hard for you?"
"You need to get your act straightened out, son-"his father began
"Ha, that's funny Dad," Lenny laughed bitterly.
"No pun intended. You need to get away from here. away from Angel, for a while. You - you need to go to military school," Mr. Costales demanded.
"Now, Pedro, I don't think we need to send him away," Mrs. Costales reasoned.
"No, Maria, my mind is made up. Angel leaves tomorrow morning, you," he yelled, as he pointed at Lenny, "will be driven off to boot camp."
"Dad! My god! I don't need to go to boot camp!" Lenny exclaimed in shock, "I don't need to get away from anything! I have everything I need right here. All I need is you, Mom, and Angel. I'm set for life!"
"That's it. Our conversation is over. We'll tell Angel what's going on," his father answered sternly.
"I'm sorry," his mother whispered to him.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Angel?" Mr. Costales's booming voice startled him. As he approached the boy with caution, Angel got a bad feeling from his expression. He felt butterflies in his stomach.
"Yes, sir?" Angel asked politely, swallowing nervously.
"I really hate to do this to you, but my wife and I are asking you to leave. We can't have you living here under these. circumstances," Mr. Costales emphasized the word "wife."
"With all due respect, sir," Angel stated, "I have nowhere to go. If I can't stay here, I'm going to be living on the streets."
Sympathetically, Mr. Costales answered, "Angel, I'm sorry. There's a youth shelter a couple of blocks away. We can't have you staying here. Lenny is going to military school, and. I'm sorry, I really am. But we can't help you." He looked away from the boy's amber eyes, ashamed of what he had done, "You can leave tomorrow morning," he continued in a whisper.
Angel looked away from him, as well, and walked straight to the bathroom to wipe away his tears. "Men don't cry," he told himself as he grabbed a tissue.
It was now April of 1993. Angel had been living with Lenny for two months. They had started to look at colleges together, and had decided to go to school in Vermont so they could get legally "married." Angel's drama and music teachers encouraged him to apply for a music scholarship in the fall of his senior year, so he could go to a decent school. They were aware of his living situation and his lack of support from his parents.
"You know, my parents still don't suspect a thing," Lenny told Angel as they walked down the dingy hallways of City Public, hand intertwined with one another, "We should celebrate."
"Baby, I don't think we need to celebrate, I mean -" Angel began.
Laughing, Lenny leaned down and whispered into Angel's ear, "Does the fact that we're both seriously sex-deprived and my parents are going out tonight mean anything to you?"
"Celebrate we will!" Angel exclaimed as he continued to walk hand in hand with Lenny to interpretive dance class.
"Then it's a date," he stated firmly.
"A date it is!" Angel replied, kissing Lenny briefly.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Yes!" Lenny breathed a sigh of relief as he walked into his empty home, with Angel clinging to his arm. Pacing into the kitchen, he found a note from his parents, "Hi boys. We'll be out till around 8; we're with the Moore's. See you later," it read.
Glancing at the clock, Angel realized it was only six. As he let go of Lenny's arm, he put his arms around his waist and looked into his eyes, "PLENTY of time," he smiled as he planted a passionate kiss on his boyfriend's lips.
"You said it baby," Lenny said as he and Angel dashed into the bedroom. Giggling, they shut the door.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
They had been so busy making up for lost time, that they didn't even hear Lenny's parents come home a full forty-five minutes early.
Thinking he heard something, Angel asked, "What time is it?"
"We still have a good forty minutes, babe, don't worry," Lenny mumbled as he pulled Angel back on top of him, and they continued to kiss.
Just as they began to get caught up in the moment once again, the bedroom door creaked open.
"Leonardo!" Mrs. Costales gasped at the sight of her son lying naked in his bed with another man.
"Angel!" Mr. Costales exclaimed, with a similar look of shock on his face.
"Shit," Lenny cursed to himself as he and Angel attempted to hide their nude bodies from the sight of his parents. Angel could feel his face turning a bright shade crimson from embarrassment. He knew he was no longer going to be welcomed in the Costales's home.
"Angel, excuse us for a minute. We need to have a private talk with Leonardo," Mr. Costales stated with an angry tone. Putting his shirt on, Angel whizzed out of the bedroom, and patiently waited to hear his fate.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Son, would you care to tell us what this is all about?" Mrs. Costales snapped.
"Mom, I hate for you to find out this way," Lenny paused, nervously, "but I'm gay."
"We figured that. It's not everyday that you see a straight man in bed with another man," his father mumbled sarcastically.
"I can't believe this. You're not gay!" his mother exclaimed.
"Yeah I am. It's not like it's a bad thing. I've been with Angel for over a year, since last Valentine's Day. We're in love. You like him; you think he's a great guy. I know you both do, so don't even pretend to disagree. I don't understand what the big deal is. I'm still the same person, I just have a boyfriend," Lenny spoke nonchalantly.
"Well he can't live here. I will NOT have you sleeping -"
"Dad, I get it. But he doesn't have anywhere else to go," Lenny preceded.
"He can't stay here anymore. I feel sorry for him, I really do, but it's not our problem," Mr. Costales insisted.
"It was fine before you knew he was gay," mumbled Lenny.
"I don't want you having a live-in. whatever he is. right now, Lenny, you're only 17. You still need to learn things about life. You can't pick your life partner yet, this is ridiculous!" his mother shook her head, sighing in disbelief.
"I know what I want. I don't need to learn anything about life. I have Angel. I love Angel, damnit; I'm in love with him. Why is this so hard for you?"
"You need to get your act straightened out, son-"his father began
"Ha, that's funny Dad," Lenny laughed bitterly.
"No pun intended. You need to get away from here. away from Angel, for a while. You - you need to go to military school," Mr. Costales demanded.
"Now, Pedro, I don't think we need to send him away," Mrs. Costales reasoned.
"No, Maria, my mind is made up. Angel leaves tomorrow morning, you," he yelled, as he pointed at Lenny, "will be driven off to boot camp."
"Dad! My god! I don't need to go to boot camp!" Lenny exclaimed in shock, "I don't need to get away from anything! I have everything I need right here. All I need is you, Mom, and Angel. I'm set for life!"
"That's it. Our conversation is over. We'll tell Angel what's going on," his father answered sternly.
"I'm sorry," his mother whispered to him.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Angel?" Mr. Costales's booming voice startled him. As he approached the boy with caution, Angel got a bad feeling from his expression. He felt butterflies in his stomach.
"Yes, sir?" Angel asked politely, swallowing nervously.
"I really hate to do this to you, but my wife and I are asking you to leave. We can't have you living here under these. circumstances," Mr. Costales emphasized the word "wife."
"With all due respect, sir," Angel stated, "I have nowhere to go. If I can't stay here, I'm going to be living on the streets."
Sympathetically, Mr. Costales answered, "Angel, I'm sorry. There's a youth shelter a couple of blocks away. We can't have you staying here. Lenny is going to military school, and. I'm sorry, I really am. But we can't help you." He looked away from the boy's amber eyes, ashamed of what he had done, "You can leave tomorrow morning," he continued in a whisper.
Angel looked away from him, as well, and walked straight to the bathroom to wipe away his tears. "Men don't cry," he told himself as he grabbed a tissue.