CHAPTER 16 #3
“Your mom didn’t tell you?” his cousin asked, eyeing him with suspicion.
“She told me to call you, which I thought was weird,” Diego admitted.
Arturito nodded sagely. “The Tías be talkin’.”
“Always. So, what the hell happened?”
“Dawg, did you know Apple devices are, like, all connected? Like fuckin’ Skynet an’ shit?”
Diego would be the first to admit that he was behind on technology, never fully grasping it even before he went into prison. “No?” he said.
“Yeah, so I was lookin’ at porn on my iPad–my iPad, mind you–and turns out, it was somehow linked to my mom’s account, so she could, like, see what I was watching.”
Diego sat back in the booth and tried very hard not to explode into laughter at his young, dumbass cousin. “Damn,” he said.
“Yeah, and man, let me tell you, she did not like what she saw.”
Diego tried to imagine what his own mother might have done if she’d caught him watching porn at that age. Considering all the other shit he’d been pulling, porn seemed kind of low on the list of grievances, but it definitely would have been awkward trying to explain himself.
“Yo, she asked me what a twink was.” Arturito hid his face with his hand, either from shame or embarrassment, Diego couldn’t tell.
“Wait, what kind of porn were you watching?” Diego asked.
Arturito didn’t answer, only stared back at him while nodding his head meaningfully.
“Gay porn?” Diego asked, mouthing the word.
“Yup.” Arturito bit into a fry and chewed, glancing out the window toward the automotive shop with a faraway look.
“Are you gay?” Diego asked, finally putting two and two together.
“Seems that way, based on the algorithm,” he said with a little snort while swirling another fry in his ketchup.
It took Diego a minute to recover, wanting to find the right thing to say and finally coming up with, “Congratulations? I mean, that’s great.”
Arturito shot him a dubious look. “Is it?”
Diego understood now why his mom had been so cagey about him calling his cousin.
Clearly, she thought the two of them had something in common, which was actually kind of thoughtful of her.
And Diego was incredibly honored that his little cousin was choosing to come out to him, even after it seemed he’d been outed to the entire family.
“So, did they kick you out of the house?” Diego asked.
“Nah, bro, it’s just, there’s this tension now.
Like, we never really talk about it. I mean, my mom told my dad and probably my sister too, though Carolina already knew, but we haven’t talked all together, and no one has said shit to me about it.
I keep trying to bring it up, but they like, change the subject. Typical, you know?”
“Yeah, I know.” Diego thought back to his most recent conversation with his mother, which had actually felt like a huge achievement.
But Arturito was part of a generation that was generally more accepting and up front about this shit.
This cloak and dagger approach was tiring, to say the least. “It’ll get easier,” he tried to reassure his cousin.
“Just keep coming around. They’ll get over it. ”
“Yeah, prolly so. Thanks for breaking ‘em in, Unc.”
Diego wasn’t sure he’d set the best example. Hopefully their family didn’t assume that homosexuality and drug addiction went hand-in-hand, but even if they did, all he could do was focus on himself.
“Anyway,” Arturito continued. “That’s what’s up with me. What’s up with you? How’s that blond guy doing? Wylie, right?”
“He moved to Gainesville. Got accepted into law school,” Diego said.
“Damn.”
“Yeah, I’m pretty torn up about it.” Diego didn’t feel like acting tough with his cousin, especially after all that he’d shared.
“Isn’t Gainesville, like, two hours away?” Arturito asked, like the math wasn’t mathing.
“So?”
“So, it’s not like he moved across the country. Y’all didn’t have to break up.”
“We weren’t together,” Diego said, though if he were being honest, they absolutely were together in every sense except for the label.
Arturito gave him another disbelieving look, so Diego fell back on a familiar refrain.
“He’s starting a new life up there. I don’t want to hold him back. I’m an ex-con, remember?”
His cousin’s side eye told him that he clearly wasn’t buying his bullshit. “That’s weak, bro. Sounds to me like you’re being a pussy.”
Diego’s mouth dropped open. “Do you kiss your mother with that mouth?”
“Not on the lips,” Arturito said cheekily. “But seriously, cuz, you’re just pussing out here. Call it what you want, but you could make it work if you wanted to. I mean, it’s not like you couldn’t find a barbecue joint to work at up there, know what I’m saying? No offense.”
It reminded him of what Wylie had said, about him needing to want this too and to fight for it.
“Sounds like you don’t really miss him all that much–” Arturito began.
“I do miss him,” Diego interrupted, of that fact he was certain.
“Then it may be time to man up. Hot, mouthy twinks don’t come along every day. Trust me, I know.” He pointed at Diego with a pair of limp fries before shoving them both into his mouth at once.
Was it possible that his little cousin had just schooled him?
Diego expected a call from Wylie that Tuesday night. Maybe he shouldn’t have, but he did. And when he didn’t hear from him, Diego figured he was at the library or trying to meet a deadline. After all, it wasn’t like Tuesday night belonged to him. Not really.
He let it go and sent a few texts throughout the week, just to check in and say what’s up, but he received only a couple sporadic responses, mostly emoji reactions or one-word answers sent at odd hours of the night, which concerned him.
He tried calling between working a double at the pit, but his call went straight to voicemail.
He told himself he’d try again later that night, but it was late by the time he got home, and he didn’t want to disturb Wylie if he was sleeping.