I was headed back to Westburg for the first time since Christmas, this wasn’t going to be a happy trip, this time it was for a funeral. My dad had a massive heart attack at work, he was walking to his office after a meeting and grabbed his chest, the doctor said he was gone before he hit the ground. His two pack a day habit and sitting at a desk for over 20 years had caught up to him. Hell, I think the last time he exercised was his senior year in high school.
I had called Chuck right after I hung up from mom, he told me to go home and help my mom, come back whenever I was ready, he really was a sensitive guy hiding behind his tough exterior. Andrew and I discussed it and decided that this was not the time to tell my family about us, so he stayed in Memphis. It was killing me not to have him with me, but I have a couple bigoted and homophobic relatives and I just need to help mom right now and not worry about dealing with them. Andrew understood and said if I needed him just call and he would drive up in a heartbeat.
I made it home at about midnight, Mom was still up and her sister, Janet was sitting with her. We hugged each other and Aunt Janet gave me a cup of coffee as she refilled mom’s and her own cup. We talked for another hour and finally decided to try and get some sleep. The next morning, we had to go to the funeral home to make arrangements, that afternoon the rest of the family started to show up. People from town were stopping by and bringing us all sorts of food and offering their condolences. I think I hugged almost everyone from the town of Westburg and listened to them tell me how great my dad was. While dad and I had been getting along better since I had started college, I still felt he wished I had been more like Steve. I must admit that I was secretly relieved that I would never have to tell him about me and Andrew.
The doorbell rang again, and I went to answer the door, to my surprise Kyle and his parents were standing on the other side.
“Kyle!”
“Hey Mike, I am so sorry to hear about your dad.”
“Thanks Kyle, come on in, Mr. and Mrs. Hopkins thank you for coming.”
“Mike, we are sorry too, we just wanted to see how you and your mom are doing.”
“Well, mom is in the living room, please go on in and say hi, she will be glad to see you.”
I gave Kyle a hug, “I can’t believe you came all the way from Ohio.”
Kyle said, “We were actually in the area visiting some family when we heard, so I talked my folks into stopping by.”
“Well. I am glad you did, hey mom, Kyle and I are going for a walk, be back in a few minutes.”
She waved, “nice to see you Kyle, ok, don’t be gone long.”
We walked up to the shed and went in, it still looked the same as the last time we were there. We sat down and Kyle reached into the floorboard and found the stack of Playboys, “still here.”
We talked about how college was going and what classes we were taking, and I told him about my job at the paper.
He then moved next to me and leaned in to kiss me, after a quick peck, I pulled back.
“Kyle, I have something to tell you. I am seeing someone.”
He looked surprised, “Well, I figured you have been with other guys since I left.”
I stopped him, “no, I am really seeing someone, he is the only one I have been with since you left.”
He said, “ok, so you are like going steady?”
“Kyle, we are living together, it is a lot more than just sex, I really want to be with him all the time, he means a lot to me.”
He said, “wow Mike, that is really great. You know, that is so you. You have always known what you wanted, and you just go all out until you get it. I am happy for you.”
“Kyle there is one more thing, Andrew is black.”
“You mean, like in the journal?”
“Yes, just like the journal.”
“Have you told your mom?”
“No not yet, and I can’t now, at least not for a while. She knows I have a roommate, just not that we live in a one-bedroom apartment.”
“As long as you are happy, then I am happy for you.”
“Thanks Kyle, hey we better get back to the house.”
I updated him on what I had found out about Walter and the journal as we walked back to the house, he told me to be sure and keep me updated if I found anything else.
Kyle and his folks said their goodbye as they headed out the door, the rest of the guests had also thinned out. I helped mom and Aunt Janet clean up, we went to bed, we needed to be at the church early the next morning for the funeral.
The church was full, mom was holding up pretty well, but I knew after all the family went home and the house was quiet, she was probably going to have a rough time. After the funeral mom, I and Aunt Janet went back to the house and were looking through all the cards that we received. I asked mom if she had given any thought to what she was going to do.
She said, “no Mike, I really haven’t, I am only 48 and the life insurance your dad had wasn’t big enough for me to live on for very long. I will probably need to find a job.”
I said, “mom, maybe you should move to Memphis? There are more jobs available there and at least I would be close so I could help you when you need it.”
“Oh Mike, you are too busy with school and your job, I would just be in the way.”
“No mom, you would not. I would just feel a lot better if you weren’t so far away.”
Aunt Janet cleared her throat, “JoAnn, you know you could move in with me. Sue is leaving for college next week, it would be nice to have some company.”
Aunt Janet had divorced her husband several years ago and Sue was her youngest, the older two kids were already out of the house. She lived in Jackson, it was a straight drive on Interstate 40, about an hour from Memphis.
I said, “mom that is a great idea, I really would feel better if you weren’t so far away.”
She asked, “Janet are you sure?”
“Of course, JoAnn I wasn’t looking forward to being alone, there is also an opening for a part-time teller at the bank where I work.”
“Well, I have to think about it, I would have to sell the house, there is a lot to do.”
I said, “mom I think you should, I can help you pack, you wouldn’t need to take much furniture, Aunt Janet already has everything you need.”
We talked about it a while and mom finally agreed that it was a good idea. The three of us started to pack the things that mom would need. Mom and I went to see the Real Estate Agent and listed the house for sale, she told us that she had a few people looking so she thought the house would sell quickly. We stopped at a secondhand furniture store and the owner came by the house and made mom a fair offer, he told us he would give us an extra $100 if we hauled it to the store ourselves, I told mom that I could use Murph’s dad’s truck.
Mom said, “We are going to need more help to move the furniture, do you think there is anyone we could hire?”
I said, “I could call Andrew to see if he could come up and help.”
“Oh Mike, that’s too much trouble.”
“No mom, he won’t mind, look I need to go back to Memphis tomorrow to finish my schedule for this semester, I will bring Andrew back with me on Friday and you can be on your way to Jackson by Sunday when Aunt Janet was planning to leave.”
I called Andrew and told him to pack a bag I would be back in Memphis tonight and as soon as my meeting with my advisor was done, we would head up to Westburg. He said he was happy to help and was looking forward to meeting my mom.
We were on the road by noon on Friday, I was happy to see Andrew again and glad for the long trip so we could catch up on the last week. Andrew told me about things that happened at work and that he had done well on his final for his summer class.
He said, “so I know it was a rough for you, but how are things between you and your mom?”
I said, “they are good, she is doing much better than I was expecting. She seems so much more confident and stronger than I ever thought she was.”
“I am glad to hear that, what did she think about me coming up to help?”
“She didn’t really say anything, I guess I didn’t give her a chance. I really just wanted her to meet you. Do you think I should tell her about us, I mean that we are more than roommates?”
He thought a moment, “that is up to you, I will go along with whatever you think is best.”
I said, “I need to tell you something, Kyle stopped by the house last week.”
Andrew just looked straight ahead, “ok, how did that go?”
I sensed his concern, “no Andrew, it was good, I told him about us, and he was happy for me. I felt really good about our talk, it was such a relief to tell someone.”
Andrew relaxed, “I see, so does this mean you might tell your mom about us?”
“Do you think I should, she had had a rough week.”
“I will follow your lead.”
I thought a minute, “I really want to, I just think I need to find the right time. If it works out, I think I will.”
He smiled, “I am glad you told Kyle about us, I would hate to feel jealous.”
“Andrew, you have nothing to be jealous about, Kyle would have liked to hook up, but I told him that you are the only one that I ever want to be with. I told him that I love you.”
Andrew said, “same here, I love you too.”
We stopped and got the truck and headed to mom’s and hauled a couple load of furniture to town that afternoon. We finished up with the rest of the furniture by noon the next day, we loaded the things mom was taking to Jackson in her and Aunt Janet’s cars. Mom and Andrew were getting along very well, which made me feel better, I was still searching for the right time to tell her.
Andrew and Aunt Janet had taken the cars into town to fill them with gas so we could all get an early start in the morning. Mom and I were finishing cleaning and vacuuming, we sat to take a short break.
Mom said, “Andrew is really a nice guy.”
I thought ok, here we go, “Yeah he is mom, I really like him.”
“I know, you two look at each other just like you and Kyle used to.”
I was stunned, “what?”
She smiled, “Oh Michael, I am your mother, I can read you like a book, I saw how you and Kyle acted around each other. It was different than the way you were with Murph and Bug. When you and Andrew showed up, I could see that you were much more that roommates.”
“I could never pull anything on you, I really am happy with Andrew.”
“I know Mike, I am happy that you found someone, I am not sure your dad would understand.”
“Yeah, I guess that is why I never said anything about being gay.”
“Oh, I think he could have dealt with that, he might have even suspected already. Now don’t think anything bad about your dad but I think the thing that would have bothered him more was the fact that Andrew is black.
