CHAPTER 23 #2
Cameron stared. Then he started laughing.
“I’m serious!”
“I know you are. That’s what makes it so funny.”
Anthony started laughing too. Finally it all made sense.
The disconnect he’d felt earlier wasn’t because he was in the women’s department.
“I’m simply not the kind of girl who shops at Dillard’s,” he said, his lips twitching with mirth.
“Of course, now I feel obligated to buy something here. Especially after you made such a big fuss.”
Cameron rolled his eyes with a grin. “If you’re going to ruin the dress anyway, we should check out the clearance section.”
“Deal.”
Cameron watched him change back into his normal clothes. “If you plan on being a horror movie prom queen, what am I going to wear?”
“A suit that we rob a grave for?”
Cameron shook his head. “I wanna look so hot that you can’t keep your hands off me.”
“In that case,” Anthony said, moving close. “You should wear nothing at all.”
Cameron kissed him, his gaze intense when he pulled back. Anthony recognized just how lucky he was, and how much losing him would hurt, but at least they were going out with a bang. His heart would feel the aftershocks of that explosion for the rest of his life. Of that, he had no doubt.
— — —
Keisha toyed with her straw, chin resting on a palm, elbow on the café table. The person sitting across from her noticed the unrelenting stare paired with a subtle smile and reacted by tucking a lock of dark hair behind one of her adorable ears.
“Would you stop?” Silvia chastised.
“Stop what exactly?” Keisha murmured in response.
“Looking at me like that.”
Keisha leaned back and tilted her head, her expression no less flirtatious. “Is this better?”
Silvia laughed. “What’s gotten into you?”
“Aside from the delight of having lunch with one of the most beautiful women I’ve ever met?” The sun was shining through the window they sat next to, leaves unfurling on the trees outside. “Spring has always been my favorite season. Must have something to do with the birds and the bees.”
Silvia shook her head. “I could have sworn that you have a girlfriend.”
“I do indeed!” Keisha said, feeling joy in her heart. Everything was going well with Hope. Despite the complications of dating someone who was closeted. “I’m at her beck and call, but until she makes my pager vibrate…” She shrugged enigmatically.
“You’re distracting yourself with the next best thing,” Silvia filled in for her.
“Oh, I wouldn’t put it that way,” Keisha said. “Especially now that you’re a legal professional. What a turn-on! I admire that you’ve found your path so soon. I’m still wandering the woods.”
Silvia seemed surprised by this confession. “You must have some idea of what you want to do.”
“Nope. The only thing I’m certain of, is that I don’t want to follow in my family’s footsteps. My master plan, after graduating, is to worm around in the Big Apple.”
“As in New York?”
“One and the same,” she confirmed with a nod. “The polar opposite of where I come from. Which is intentional. I figure, if I can’t find that special thing in rural Kansas, NYC is my best bet.”
“Do you really have to go all that way? I’m sure we can figure it out together here. Let’s see…” Silvia peered at her musingly. “You’d look really good in a construction helmet and one of those little orange vests.”
Keisha laughed. “I’m dyin’ to see you in a business blazer, Miss Diaz, attorney-at-law.”
Silvia poked at the crumbs on her empty plate and fought down a smile. “Fortunately for me, the office is a lot more casual than that. Although if I ever have to appear in court to support Sharon, I should probably own something nicer to wear.”
“We could go shopping together,” Keisha suggested.
Silvia perked up. “Really? I love your sense of style. I want something formal, but I don’t want to end up looking like Janet Reno.”
“Why not? She’s a total badass.”
“I agree. But she’s also in her fifties.”
“Point taken. I’m more than happy to be your fashion maven. In fact, why don’t we try our luck across the street?”
“At the vintage store?” Silvia asked, glancing in that direction.
Keisha did too before doing a double take. Walking down Main Street was a lithe Asian beauty with a bob of dark hair. Even from behind, Keisha would have recognized her. Especially considering how often she’d studied those curvaceous cheeks.
Silvia put on a knowing expression. “Are you sure you have time?”
“I might have to take a rain check actually,” Keisha said apologetically.
“That’s all right.” Silvia began gathering her things. “I have to get back to the office anyway.”
Keisha stood and pulled out her wallet.
“I’ve got this!” Silvia said. “Really. Don’t let her get away.”
Keisha flashed a smile of gratitude. “Next time is on me.”
She rushed out the door. Hope was already at the end of the block.
The pedestrian light changed. Keisha broke into a sprint and barely made it across the street before the signal changed again.
She was a lot closer to her quarry now and curious as to what her destination might be.
Hope slowed in front of a bookstore before going inside.
Keisha counted to ten under her breath and followed. Hope was nowhere to be seen, so she began checking the aisles until finding her in one that was deserted.
“Hey, beautiful,” Keisha said after creeping up on her.
Hope spun around.
“I thought you were busy today,” Keisha said, moving in for a kiss. “Well, I guess you are now.”
She noticed, just before their lips could touch, the cold glare her words elicited. Some part of her subconscious picked up on subtle differences in the face. Even her scent was slightly off. This wasn’t Hope! Her eyes widened in panic as she hastily took a step back.
“Psych!” Keisha said.
“I knew it!” Faith snarled in response. “You and my sister… Ugh!”
“What?” Keisha said, attempting to sound genuinely confused. “I was just messing with you.”
“Uh-huh.” Faith tore at her own hair. “I guess Hope didn’t tell you that I got it cut.”
“I knew something had changed,” Keisha said, giving her a once-over. “You look good! Is that the same style as your sister?”
“As if you don’t know.” Faith sneered. “For a theater kid, your acting skills really suck. And neither of you has been as discreet as you’d like to think.”
Keisha sighed and held up her palms. “All right. The cat is out of the bag. I know you don’t approve, but can’t you at least be happy for your sister?”
Faith scoffed at this, her answer definitive. “No!”
They might look alike, but sometimes it was hard to believe they were related. “May I ask why not?”
“Um, because it’s disgusting?” Faith said, as if this was obvious.
Keisha fought to keep her tone neutral. “Can you elaborate?”
“Do I really need to?”
“I think you do, because human beings don’t always share the same taste in food, and yet, people rarely try to dictate what others can and can’t eat. Not with such venom anyway.”
“Women are supposed to be with men,” Faith said, trying a different angle.
“Even if they don’t want to be?” Keisha asked. “For some, that isn’t a choice.”
“Maybe not for you, but it is for her.”
“Hope could force herself, sure, but does that sound like a happy life to you?”
Faith rolled her eyes. “That’s not what I mean.”
Keisha shook her head in confusion. “You lost me.”
“Whatever. Don’t worry about it.”
“Just because she’s gone on dates with guys before, or kissed them, does not make her straight.”
“Hope has a choice. She isn’t like you. Okay?”
Faith sounded so certain. How could she be though? Unless…
Keisha stared in shock. “You think she has a choice, because that’s the way you are.”
Faith recoiled at the suggestion, but not before panic flashed in her eyes. “Shut your goddamn mouth!”
“Okay,” Keisha said, raising her palms again. The entire store had gone quiet. She lowered her voice. “We don’t have to go there. You have a right to live your life as you see fit. So does your sister.”
“I only want what’s best for her,” Faith said, still sounding defensive.
“I have no doubt. And I know for a fact that she loves you too. Here’s the thing: You might be twins, and yes, you look an awful lot alike, but you aren’t the same people.
” She gestured around them. “Hope never mentioned a passion for books. And from what I understand, you don’t care at all for soccer.
She obviously does though. So maybe, regardless of who you find attractive and the choices you’ve made, Hope isn’t built the same way. ”
Faith was shaking her head. “You have no idea what it’s like to be a twin.”
“That’s true. I can only promise that I care deeply about your sister.
I also want her to be happy, but I’m not sure she can be while having to sneak around behind your back, because you mean the world to her.
She gave up Abigail for you. Maybe you can force her into doing the same thing to me.
But wouldn’t you rather support her? You haven’t had any luck getting her to date guys.
Hope isn’t willing to go that far, but she will go without.
For you. So what’s worse? Knowing that she’s sitting all alone on prom night, unable to be the person you want her to be, or seeing her dance and have a good time with someone who has deep abiding feelings for her? ”
Faith’s expression went slack. “You want to take her to prom?”
“Yeah. Of course.”
“Everyone would see you!”
Keisha nodded slowly. “That’s the idea. Out of the shadows, into the light.”
Faith searched her eyes. “You’re crazy.”
“No, I simply—”
“You are,” Faith said, marching down the aisle before she turned around. “Stay away from my sister. Do you understand?”
Keisha crossed her arms over her chest. “I don’t think I do.”
“It’s not gonna happen,” Faith said, as if that settled things. “No way.”
She was trembling visibly as she walked around the corner, and presumably, out the door.
Keisha sighed and swore under her breath.
What a mess. Things made more sense now, the facts providing little comfort.
Faith found women attractive and denied that side of herself.
Which was probably made easier by her finding men attractive as well.
Although being bisexual didn’t make her any more sympathetic, since she assumed her sister was too.
Either way, it was yet another case of internalized homophobia.
LGBT rights would be decades—if not centuries—ahead by now, if not for the capacity for queer people to hate themselves. And each other.
What a foolish mistake Keisha had made. Undone by matching haircuts, of all things.
Then again, maybe it was for the best, because Hope did have a choice.
She could keep living a lie, or she could be true to her own heart.
Keisha tried to remain optimistic about which way the wind would blow…
but she was also aware that history tended to repeat itself.