Chapter 13 #3
“Maybe this wasn’t such a good idea,” Johnny interrupts, sharing a look with me. “You really don’t want to piss Faith off. I’ve seen her bring grown men to tears with her clapbacks. Try giving me a reading instead, Ez.”
“Try dying twice,” he bites back. “If it doesn’t take, try it thrice.”
“What the fuck did I do?” Johnny asks, his voice booming.
“What did you do?” Ezra scoffs. He stands and walks to the living room, then returns holding a framed photo of the three of us.
Me, Johnny, and our boy. He lifts it over his head before smashing it on the floor, sending glass scattering all over the damn floor.
“I’ll tell you what you did. You made me fall for you, and the second I submitted to the feeling, you broke my heart.
” Tears fill my boy’s eyes. “You promised, Johnny. You said we were in this together, and then two seconds later, you and the homewrecker at the other end of the table tongue-fucked each other’s mouths like you were starving for it.
You said you were gay, why would you kiss a woman? ”
Johnny’s eyes bulge. “Ez, I didn’t kiss her—”
“Liar, liar, slut on fire!” Ezra shrieks, pounding his fist against the table. “I want you to know something. Anything we ever were—everything we might have become—is over. You ruined this. What we had was special. You took it and smashed it with your big, stinky foot.”
“Ezra, I swear, I wasn’t the one who—”
Ezra launches away from the table, taking a few steps back. “I can’t even look at you.” He turns to Bubba. “Give me the keys to your truck. I’m not staying here. Not after what they did.”
“Ez? You don’t have to leave. It’s just a misunderstanding. Let me explain.”
He shakes his head. “I won’t.”
“If I could interject,” Faith says, but the look Ezra shoots just shuts her down, and she holds her hands up in surrender.
“I believe you interjected enough when you shoved your tongue into my boyfriend’s mouth, don’t you?”
“Boyfriend?” Johnny asks with a gasp.
“Boyfriend?” Faith asks, her mouth falling open.
“Boyfriend?” Jaden shrieks, bolting up out of his chair. “You’re dating Uncle Johnny? But you essentially busted a load in front of me in the bathroom earlier.”
“You did what?” I bark, jerking my head in Ezra’s direction. He cheated on me? With my own son? I know we’re all trailer trash here, but this takes the cake.
“That’s not true!” Ezra looks at me, horrified, shaking his head. “I was just peeing, and you walked in!”
Jaden blushes. “Wishful thinking, I guess. You’re cute.”
Ezra blushes and looks over at me. “If somehow, by miracle, we don’t end up broken up by the end of this, family gatherings are going to be very awkward for you.”
“Uncle Johnny is dating a man,” Jaden asks again.
“Was dating,” Ezra reiterates.
“Ez, please,” Johnny says, getting up from his chair and walking toward Ezzy.
“I promise, I wasn’t kissing her. She walked into the room and slipped her tongue in my mouth.
I froze. You have to believe me, I didn’t kiss her back.
” Ezra doesn’t object when Johnny picks him up and places him on his hip. “You called me your boyfriend.”
“And you told me everything was going to be okay. People lie.”
Johnny’s jaw clenches. “No.”
“No?”
“No. I’m not letting this turn into one of those third-act breakups in the movies that goes on for twenty minutes. No one likes them. It’s just unnecessary drama, and we ain’t doing it, Ez.” He glares at Faith. “Tell him. Tell him I didn’t kiss you.”
Faith rolls her eyes, arms folded across her chest, lifting her tits high to the sky, not that they ever needed much help. “That’s what I was trying to say earlier, and then he called me a homewrecker.”
Ezra snarls at her. “And I’ll say it again.”
She cocks an eyebrow, cracking a knuckle under her thumb. “Say it. I dare you.”
Ezra’s eyes widen and dart in my direction, seeking me out. “Daddy?”
I scrub my hand across my face. “Alright. Enough of this, dammit. Everyone, just calm the fuck down.”
“Dad?”
I look down at Jaden. “Yeah, buddy?”
He points at Ezra. “The crazy twink called you Daddy.”
“I’m not crazy,” Ezzy growls.
I swallow, but the act feels physically impossible.
I guess this is my big coming out moment.
I never expected to come out in my forties, but then, I never expected to fall for Johnny and Ezra, and now the world feels impossible without them.
Faith stares at me like she’s staring straight into my soul, and even though it’s hard as hell to get the words out, her gentle nod is all I need to get the ball rolling.
“Jay? Do you remember when we were talking about the Kinsey scale?”
“Oh, God,” Jaden groans, banging his head against the table. “Not the fucking Kinsey scale again. I’ve already apologized for saying I was bisexual instead of gay. Christ, Dad, it’s been discussed to death.”
“It’s been discussed once,” I correct him.
“But that ain’t what I’m talking about. You remember, I thought I was a one or a two.
I think I might be closer to the middle now.
” I bite my bottom lip, more nervous than I’ve ever been, because I know what has to come next, if there’s any chance of salvaging this situation.
“Because of Johnny, and because of Ezra.” I look over my shoulder at my sweet, precious boys, the only ones left standing.
Johnny’s got Ezra wrapped around his waist, and I can tell Ezzy wants to bury his face in Johnny’s neck, but he’s holding back.
He’s dimming his sparkle, because he’s scared.
Scared of losing what we’ve given willingly.
“They’ve been the biggest, brightest part of my life, these last few months.
” I hold my hand out, and Johnny slowly steps forward, taking hold and not letting go.
“I reckon I’ve loved you for a while now, Johnny Boy.
I don’t know why it took me so long to figure it out. ”
“You’ve been in love with him for years, silly,” Faith says, taking a sip of wine.
“You knew?”
“Of course, I knew.” She rolls her eyes. “I’m a woman, Bubba. It’s what we do. We do queen shit, and we know things.” She leans across the table and boops me on the nose.
“Then why did you kiss me?” Johnny asks.
She shrugs.” I’ve always thought you were cute. I figured I’d land a kiss before you decided to ride the rainbow from here until the end.”
“That’s hardly an excuse,” I argue.
“And you were hardly a husband toward the end of our marriage,” she teases. “But then, I was hardly a wife. I thought it would be fun to make your little twink squirm. Again; Queen shit.”
“A queen,” Clint says, eyeing Faith up and down. “Yeah. Yeah, Momma Faith, I think you are.”
Faith blushes. “Oh, you.”
“Oh, I like her,” Austin says, beaming. “I like her a lot.”
She smiles and gives Austin a pointed thumbs up, clicking her tongue against her cheek for reasons I don’t understand. “I’m pretty great.”
“Allegedly,” Ezra growls.
“Listen, pumpkin, if you’re ever going to fit in as an oilfield wife, you’ll need to grow a thicker skin.
If something as simple as a silly little kiss is enough to make you want to end the marriage, you’re going to be in for a world of hurt when they do their stupid straight-bro things.
” She glares at Clint, who is sitting quietly in his seat, looking like he wants to fade into the wallpaper to escape.
“Just ask him. He tattooed ‘Dear Faith, I want a divorce,’ across my husband’s back at one of their stupid DIY-tattoo parties. ”
“I was only saying what everyone was thinking,” Clint grumbles. “Someone had to get the ball rolling, and it sure as shit wasn’t going to be Bubba.” He leans forward in his seat, inching closer to her. “I’d do it again if it meant making you smile like you did when you first saw it.”
She blinks at him, confused. “I didn’t smile, did I?”
Fuck, no, she didn’t smile. She damn near took my head off. I shake my head, siding with her over Clint on this one.
Ezra groans. “Ugh. Enough of the Male-Female shipping going on right now. I literally could not care less.” He points a finger at Faith. “Your baseless claim makes no sense. It’s preposterous, quite frankly.”
“Nah, Ezzy. She’s right. Clint tattooed clear across my back. I had it professionally removed a few weeks later.”
“Ridiculous. I know every inch of your body. Every freckle. Every wrinkle. I would’ve noticed any tattoo removal scarring on your back.”
I scowl at him. “I don’t have any fuckin’ wrinkles.”
“You do,” Ezra retorts. “But it’s okay. They’re cute.” He points at his forehead. “The ones up here, especially.” The way his little bulge swells isn’t lost on me, but then, when it comes to Ezra, nothing is ever lost on me.
I lick my lips. “Yeah? You like my grand canyons?” I ask him.
He nibbles his lip and looks down, nodding. “Wanna buy a bunch of Polly Pockets and put them inside. Wanna pretend they’re soldiers in poorly dug trenches.”
“My wrinkles ain’t that damn deep.”
“They’re as deep as my deep-seated hatred for the great outdoors.
They’re big, they’re beautiful, and I want to—” He stops himself, his eyes growing larger as his gaze shifts to the crystal ball, and he slowly lowers himself from Johnny’s hip and sidesteps over to the table.
Taking his seat, he stares deeply into the ball, but I guess something must be clouding his vision, because he softly blows on the ball like he’s trying to blow out a candle.
His hands hover on each side of the ball, twinkling his fingertips.
I don’t know what the hell that’s about, but he’s too focused for me to ask.
He swallows, eyes darting up at Johnny, then at me. “Holy shit.”
“What’s wrong?” I ask, but Ezra just shushes me. He’s quiet, eyes locked on the ball, staring at it the way he stares at me when I lecture him over bad behavior.