School sucked these days.
Ever since Gus had presented his project on Family Heritage at the beginning of the school year, he had been harassed by some of the other kids about having two fathers and two mothers instead of a 'normal' family.
As if most of the kids he knew had normal families (whatever normal was). His friend Rachel had two homes—one with her single mom and the other with her dad, step-mom and half-brother. Tommy's parents had died when he was a baby and he lived with his grandma. Stephen had been placed with a foster family when his mom took off for parts unknown and his dad wasn't able to take care of him. Sarah lived with her mom and the latest in a string of boyfriends—she didn't even know the name of her dad. None of them were ragged on about their families, but Gus was constantly teased about his parents.
Gus had been excited the first week of school. Finally in the fourth grade, he had felt very grown-up when the teacher had assigned their first 'big' research project—describe their family history.
For weeks, he had, along with the help of his Dad and Pops, collected information on his parents' families. His Nana Jen came over to the loft a couple of nights, bringing some Taylor family tree information and pictures of his Pops and Aunt Molly when they were babies. Pops had been embarrassed when Dad got a hold of a photo showing a naked blond baby lying on his tummy on a blanket in front of a Christmas tree. Dad teased him for days about showing off his best feature at such an early age. When Gus asked his dad to explain, Pops turned a bright red, Nana Jen laughed and Dad smirked, telling him he would explain the whole thing when he was older.
Gus heard that comment a lot.
Pops got even with Dad however, when he made Dad contact his mother to get information on the Kinney side of the family. Dad ranted for hours before Pops told him to suck it up and get over himself. The atmosphere around the Kinney-Taylor household was quite cool for a while, but Pops ignored Dad's bad mood (as well as ignoring Dad himself) and eventually Dad had come around. Gus had been sent to stay with his Grandma Deb and Uncle Vic one night, and when he got back the next day, his dads were as huggy-kissy as ever and he had the Kinney info as well.
One Saturday, his dad drove him over to his Grandma and Grandpa Peterson's house for dinner. They were the parents of his mom, Lindsay. Gus didn't really hate going over to their place—he just felt uncomfortable when he was there. Grandma Peterson didn't like Dad very much and she never acted interested in Gus' activities either. Grandpa Peterson was okay as long as Grandma wasn't around, which wasn't very often.
Dad had obviously talked to Grandma before they went over, since Grandma already had several photo albums laid out on the coffee table. Gus tried to be polite and pay attention, but Grandma had talked on and on and he soon found himself thinking about his new GameBoy™ game. He did listen when Grandma mentioned the Pilgrims and the Mayflower, but quickly became confused by all the different names she used. Luckily for him, his dad had taken better notes than he did and along with the few photos Grandma gave him, he had enough to complete his mom's side of the family.
His mama's family, the Marcus', lived out of town, so he spent several hours talking to his Nanny and Papa on the phone. They had mailed a box of photos and papers to him that covered over a hundred years of their family history, as well as some reference material about the Jewish religion.
Nanny was funny and told him about different pranks his mama had pulled when she was young. He enjoyed hearing about his mama as a little girl, because he didn't remember either her or his mom. They had been killed in an airplane crash when he was two. He came to live with his dad and Pops at the loft after his moms' deaths.
His dad had told him that before he was born, his mom and mama had wanted a baby very much. Since he was Lindsay's friend, he had agreed to be the father. Dad knew a lot of stories about his mom, but he didn't talk about Mama very much. Pops did though, so he was able to learn about both his moms.
After his arrival, his dads purchased the loft below and remodeled the two floors to suit their new needs as a family. His dads' bedroom was located on the top floor, along with Dad's office and Pops' art studio. The lower floor had the kitchen, dining room, and family room as well as Gus' bedroom and a guest room. There was a spiral staircase connecting the two floors. The staircase walls were filled with photos (taken mostly by Dad), and sketches and paintings (done by both his mom and Pops) of their various family members.
Gus gathered all the family information together and set it up on the dining room table. Dad had brought home several pieces of foam board from his office at Kinnetik and Pops helped him with two different layouts.
The first board showed Gus at the base of his family tree. He carefully wrote the names of his four parents above his own, with their family members' names branching off in all directions. Pops, who was a wonderful artist, helped him sketch a tree around the names, then Gus had carefully filled in the line work with paint.
The second board was filled with pictures. He had shown his whole extended family on it. One photo showed him with his dads at the beach. Another was of the day he put on ice skates for the first time. There were images of him as a baby with his mom and mama; his Grandma Deb and Uncle Vic dancing in their kitchen; his Auntie Em cooking for a party (with Uncle Ted sneaking tastes in the background) and Uncle Mikey and Uncle Ben with their adopted son Hunter at his high school graduation. Others showed Nana Jen, Dad, Pops and himself with Aunt Molly and Uncle Jacob at their wedding; his Pops and Aunt Daphne at one of Pop's art shows; and his Dad, dressed in one of his designer suits, making a presentation at work.
One of his favorites was of the entire family at his second birthday party. Dad had set up the camera on a timer and everyone was seated on his moms' back steps, with him in the center. Dad had to run to get in the photo in time, and he tripped over a forgotten toy and landed in Pops' lap. Pops was very fond of that photo, saying it showed Dad's willingness to make a fool of himself over Pops. Dad never responded verbally, but would give Pops a look that made the blond laugh.
His project finished, he proudly made his speech in front of his classmates, and even though the teacher gave him an A, the other kids in his class weren't as accepting.
Gus had been raised to celebrate people's differences and didn't have any real experience with prejudice. He knew not everyone accepted his dads' life choices—his Grandmother Kinney, his Aunt Claire and his Grandfather Taylor (none of whom he had ever met) were proof of that. His dad had explained that his Grandma and Grandpa Peterson weren't happy that his mom and mama had loved each other and had avoided the ceremony when the two women were married. Gus had overheard Grandma Deb and Uncle Vic one time, discussing the effects of a bashing his Pops had suffered, simply because he and Dad had danced and kissed at Pops' high school prom. He understood all of this, but only came face to face with reality the day after his presentation.
Pops had dropped him off in front of the school, as usual. After waving goodbye, Gus turned to make his way to his classroom, and literally ran into two of the biggest bullies in school. Matthew Godwin and Joshua Maguire were in the fifth grade, and regularly tormented the younger kids. Gus avoided them as much as possible, but they had obviously been waiting for him today.
"Hey, Gussy. That your faggot father?" Matthew poked Gus in the chest as he spoke.
"Umm, yeah, that was my Pops." Gus tried to sidestep the two larger boys, but Matthew managed to stay in front of him.
Matthew asked, "Is he your real dad? You don't look like him."
"No, my biological father is my dad, Brian. Justin is my Pops."
"They're fags, huh? And your moms were dykes?"
Gus nodded while trying to figure out where this conversation was going. "Yeah, mom and mama were lesbians and Dad and Pops are gay. So?"
Matthew made a disgusted face and sneered, "My dad said all fags should be killed, that they're not normal. He called them freaks."
Gus took a deep breath, trying to contain his temper. "My dad and Pops are not freaks and I don't want them to die. They love me and I love them."
Joshua, quiet until now, spoke up softly, "My grandma says that fags are going to hell because they're an abomin… abomination before God."
"Dad and Pops are good. They don't hurt other people and they love each other. Now, I need to get to class." Gus once again tried to get past Matthew, but was prevented from leaving by a hand that gripped his arm tightly.
"Are you a queer too? Do you like little boys like your daddies?" Matthew jerked on Gus' arm and continued, "Are you a sicko, just like my dad says?"
"Matthew, Joshua, why aren't you in class?" a soft but firm voice asked from the main entry of the school. The two boys jumped guiltily then turned to face Mrs. Mitchell, Gus' teacher. "You boys better get going, okay?"
"Yes, Mrs. Mitchell," both boys chimed together, then they darted toward the door. Matthew soon disappeared down the hall, but Joshua paused at the top of the stairs and glanced back, a troubled look on his face. He stood there for a moment before also racing away.
"Are you okay, Gus?" Mrs. Mitchell gently queried the shaken boy.
"Sure Mrs. Mitchell. I normally avoid the two of them, but Pops dropped me off here a little earlier than usual and bam—there they were." Gus moved toward the door, anxious to get away. "I'll see you in class, Mrs. Mitchell."
The young teacher watched as Gus tore off toward the classroom, a pensive look on her face. She definitely needed to keep an eye on the situation.
Gus experienced more of the same from Matthew, as well as several others, during the next weeks. He found the words 'Queer's Boy' painted across his locker one day, and on another, had a paper with 'Faggot's Son' written on it stuck to his back with a piece of tape. However, the auburn-haired eight-year-old never complained, either to his teacher or to his dads. He wasn't aware that Mrs. Mitchell had seen what was going on and had made plans to squelch the problem.
Gus walked into his classroom after lunch on a cool, sunny Monday in early November, looking forward to talking to his friends. He was excited because his dad and Pops had promised, over the past weekend, to take him to California to visit Disneyland for his birthday. They were going to drive cross-country and be gone for two whole weeks. He could hardly wait.
Mrs. Mitchell was standing in front of the room, holding a pile of papers. As the kids in the class came in and settled down, she began walking up and down the aisles, speaking quietly as she handed out the new assignment. "As you can see, we will be working on a new project for social studies. The purpose of this assignment is to demonstrate the diversity of the families in our class. First of all, can anyone explain the meaning of diversity?"
A number of hands went up. "Yes, Katie?"
A pretty redhead answered, "Diversity means different or variety." She looked pleased when the teacher nodded her approval.
"Correct. Now, in what ways are our families different? Robbie?"
"Umm, the number of brothers or sisters?"
"Yes, any other ways? Gus?"
Gus tensed and considered his answer for a moment then said, "Who our parents are." He relaxed when Mrs. Mitchell smiled at him.
"Very good. As we can see, there are many ways that our families are different. Now, about the projects. You have five weeks to complete them. The reports should consist of at least two different parts—a visual display as well as a written report. All projects will be on display right before the winter break at Parents Day. The top three students will make their presentations to the parents that day. Any questions?"
Gus stopped listening as Mrs. Mitchell began answering the various questions of his classmates. He dreaded another project that put his family on display—he was still getting grief from the last one. Great, now he would be providing even more ammo for his tormentors.
Yep, school really sucked these days.