Chapter 27: Coming of Age
When Larry and Scott were called to the dining room by an impatient Diane, the two left the garage without a word. The fact that they had been called meant only one thing, and that one thing made Larry a bit jittery: his biological father had arrived. When he set foot in the dining room, they saw each other. All there was to their greeting was a nod before Larry sat down and the fractured family started to eat.
Joseph Romano and his son had never been very close. Joe and Diane had married because of the accidental conception of Connie, something which turned out better than either had expected, but Larry had been more of an afterthought. Back when Larry had been very young, Joe's true passion had still been the boxing world and his son had still looked up to him, but the connection between them hadn't ever been formed. So, when Joe's passion had become directed to drinking and gambling, Larry rejected.
The most unforgivable thing Larry's father had done hadn't been that he hadn't paid him attention. No. What truly pushed the two apart had been when Joe's drinking and gambling problem had escalated which had lead to him giving up his joint ownership of Bullworth's Glass Jaw Boxing Club. It had been something he had prized beyond anything in his life, beyond his family in many ways, yet he had been so quick to give it up to the Harringtons, people he had claimed to hate more than anyone, for some quick money. And that hadn't even helped the family's situation at all, as Joe had simply played the money.
So, Joe hadn't been a very good father. Larry hadn't been a good son for the longest time, either. In his endless grudge, he had contributed to his father's problems quite a bit and he was still unable to feel remorse. Now, he wondered if the overweight middle-aged man cared about what he was going to hear and whether he should care about what he said.
Larry listened to the meaningless pleasantries tossed about in the discussion around him but not really, he was simply trying to locate a place and time in the conversation to drop the bomb on his family. Whatever convincing that Joe had needed to let Connie marry a man of Korean heritage had been apparently successful, so he figured he wouldn't exactly be stealing the show anymore.
The opportunity came when the conversation shifted into Larry's moderate success at school after leaving the greasers. Joe's inability to say anything more than a couple of nonchalantly accepting words of it created an awkward silence in the dinner table, perfect for the thus far silent Larry to butt in.
"What wouldja say if you had a gay son?" the young man asked, almost casually.
Everyone around the table stopped eating, except Scott, who didn't seem all that phased. As the seconds went by, Diane's face acquired a look of doubtful disbelief, Stanley remained surprised, and Connie's expression morphed into a manifestation of "Dude, not funny!" as she stared at her brother disapprovingly.
Joe, however? Unaffected. The silence dragged on as Larry awaited for his response.
"Son? I don't remember havin' a son", he finally said gruffly. Connie immediately shot a scolding glare at him, but the man paid little attention to it. He simply rubbed his chin, making a scritching noise with his stubble.
"I vaguely remember this kid called Larry though. Quite a nasty kid if I ever knew one – used to steal money from me and my wife's wallet, always brought us trouble, and told me to die and go to hell several times. Told me I ain't no dad of his so I believed him" he continued and turned his dark, bottomless eyes to Larry, whose eyes were just as cold as his. What he had said had been a dare, the son realized.
Larry almost asked: "What about this Larry bein' gay, then?", but he refrained. He had heard enough. So, he stood up from the table and started to walk towards the door, calmly.
"Right. Thanks for the food. I think imma go out for a walk till we leave", he said.
Diane shook her head in disbelief and leaned her forehead against her hand while Joe proceeded to not give off much of a reaction. Stanley had returned to the same wavelength as the similarly unaffected Scott, but his fiancee wasn't going to let Larry's revelation to slip by.
"Larry, wait! Stop!" she called after him and followed him to the door. The boy had already pulling his winter clothes on and there was very little that Connie could do about it. The young woman pulled her jacket on quickly and went after him, closing the door behind her as she stood on Diane's porch.
"Larry!" she called demandingly as her brother took his first steps down from the porch.
Her younger brother halted, then sighed and turned to look at her. He spread his arms as if to both shrug and to tell her to judge her. This gesture made Connie bite her lip and hesitate.
"Is it true?" she asked.
"Yup", Larry answered plainly.
"I don't mind. I'm just surprised", Connie said, sounding like she was trying to assure herself as much as her brother.
"Do you... Do you have a boyfriend?" she then asked curiously. At this, her brother winced and coughed awkwardly. This had been his greatest secret for a month or so and he hadn't really even thought of it with concrete terms like "boyfriend". He hadn't meant to, either.
"... Kinda", he said while avoiding eye contact.
"Do I know him?" she asked hopefully.
"Doubt it. It's this guy Duncan, works at Spencer Shipping", Larry said with a sniffle.
"Well that's... Nice", Connie said and stepped closer to her brother, squeezing her jacket closer to her in the cold night. She seemed worried, somehow.
"What you said happened with your friends at school – and the bullying too – did that have anything to do with this?" she asked with a more serious tone.
Larry kicked some snow with his foot as he pondered what to answer to that. It was a bit too complicated and embarrassing to tell the whole truth.
"Not really. Or, well, a lot of it happened 'cause I was afraid someone would find out so I bailed out. The bullyin' happens to everyone there, you oughta know that", he told.
Connie nodded. She seemed to accept this explanation. Good, because the last thing Larry needed was somebody to go to the school with gun ablaze, demanding gay rights or something.
"You know, I really am okay with it. I just thought I'd be able to tell if someone in the family was gay", Connie said with a new look on her face, a look of determination. Her own words from earlier must have done their job. Then, she suddenly closed the gap between her and her brother entirely and gave the surprised youngster a hug.
"I'll make sure mom and dad understand. So won't you please come back inside? Please?" she pleaded sweetly.
Larry smiled against her shoulder for a moment, but then he pulled back.
"Sorry sis. Gotta get my thoughts in order", he said.
For the next hour or so, all he did was walk the streets of suburban hell, thinking what he should do with his life, his school work, and his friends. He was bitterly disillusioned, but he also felt that he had a fresh outlook on things. He guessed that he was truly becoming a rational adult far faster than he had ever wanted.
Author's Notes: You remember that chapter, Closing Distances, and the end of it? ... Yeah. Since then.
Also, if you've wondered about it: yes, I'm the most boring person ever. I really am entertained by all this.