Written by: Nicky Smith
CHAPTER TWO: WELCOME HOME
I looked up at that house and tried my best to tamp down the sudden surge of anger at my father for words spoken years ago. Words he hadn't yet apologized for, which meant he still felt that way. I considered calling my sister and telling her that I couldn't make it. Alexis' hand rubbing my arm and Flynn's big reassuring hand on my shoulder gave me the strength to get out of the car, though.
They followed suit, and we three walked up the stone walkway toward the modern farmhouse. While we didn't live on a farm, we did have a farmhouse. I saw Flynn and Alexis discreetly looking behind the house. I knew they were checking to see if there was indeed a barn that they'd have to sleep in. I almost laughed.
I reached the door and instinct had me reaching for my keys until I recalled the memory of me giving my parents their house key back. I shook it off and raised my hand to ring the doorbell. I prepared myself to see the old man again, but I got a bit of a reprieve.
"Judey," Sasha squealed before she launched herself at me. I wrapped my arms around her and held her tight. I hadn't seen her in person since the end of the previous summer when she left to start her last term in college.
"Hey, Sasha," I said, and I couldn't stop the sigh I let loose. She had a knack for being able to calm me down.
"Come on in," she said before she grabbed my arm and dragged me into the house. I looked back and Flynn and Alexis were looking at me with amused expressions as they followed us into the house.
I looked around and saw that they had repainted, moved the furniture, and added some pieces and decorations. It still felt like my childhood home though. I stopped at the photo wall to look at the pictures from my childhood. I also looked at the pictures of memories I'd missed. I finally got to see how my brothers Luke and Craig looked. They would be 15 and 13 now and they looked like teenagers.
"Hey baby," I heard in the voice of my mother.
"Hey Ma," I said as a small smile grew on my face. I still loved my mother and I missed her since the last time she'd come to see me well over a year ago. I turned and she hadn't changed in that time, not that I expected a drastic change in just a year or so.
"I'm glad you finally came home," she said, and I fought hard to keep the memories of the last time I was home from flooding in again.
"Me too," I lied, well mostly. I did feel a bit homesick now that I was home.
"I know that's a lie, but I'll take it," she said before stepping forward and pulling me into a hug. And of course, she still knew me like a book. Well, except for that chapter that she didn't know about until it was shown to her called "I have a gay son".
We stayed like that for a few minutes until I felt that it was bordering on awkwardness. I pulled back from the hug and she finally took notice of Alexis and Flynn. She had only seen them a few times before and never too long as they made it a habit to be scarce whenever she came to visit to give us time together. I think Flynn had other reasons as well.
She invited them into her home like the gracious host that she was and asked if they wanted anything to eat or drink. They declined for the moment and took a seat after it was offered. They complimented my mother on her house which she beamed at. She asked them how things were going in their lives. They talked about work as always with her and never steered in the direction of dating. They told me that they didn't want to bring up anything that would make me uncomfortable.
We were interrupted by the closing of the front door. I expected my father but as I checked the time on my phone, it was too early for him to be home. That left one or both of my brothers. I was proven right when they stepped into the living room and I got to see them in person for the first time in seven years.
"Hey, ma, whose car is that outside?" Craig, my baby brother, asked as he stepped into the room. Luke had already entered the room and stopped dead in his tracks.
"Hey boys, it's your brother, Jude," she said to her sons.
"Hey, guys," I said nervously as I rose from my seat.
"Jude?" Craig said as he stepped a few feet further into the living room.
"Yup," I said, and cringed at the dumb answer and how nervous I sounded. I guess it didn't matter though as he ran over to me and threw his arms around me. I hugged him back tight and was surprised by how much he had grown.
"I was wondering if you would ever come back home. I thought that surely you'd come back for Sassy's wedding," he said, and she walked over and smacked the back of his head.
"I told you to stop calling me that," she said as he rubbed the back of his head.
"Ma, did you see she just hit me," Craig whined, and I tried to keep myself from laughing. It reminded me of the past. It was nice to see that some things hadn't changed.
"Sasha, what did I tell you about hitting your brother?" Ma asked with an amused look on her face.
"I don't remember," Sasha mumbled with her arms folded.
"You better remember or else I'm gonna ground you from getting married," Ma said, and I couldn't hold the laugh in this time.
"You know, I don't think I've ever heard that before," Alexis said, and that's when Craig and Luke, who I just noticed had been silent through all of this and hadn't moved from his initial spot, took notice of my two guests.
"Boys, this is Alexis and Flynn. They are your brother's friends," Ma said. Craig gave both of them an acknowledging nod while Luke just stood there almost glaring at me and my friends.
"Hey Lukey," I said trying to break the ice that was more like a glacier between us. He remained silent though and just stared at me with a frown on his face.
"Luke, aren't you gonna speak to your brother? It's been years since you've seen one another," Mama said and maybe that was the wrong way to say it.
"You don't say," Luke said, voice dripping with sarcasm. His voice sounded deeper than I had expected. He then rolled his eyes and walked away towards the stairs.
"Luke," Ma said in her reprimanding tone.
"It's okay Ma, let him be," I said as I tried to hide the hurt from the cold shoulder my little brother had just given me.
"He just needs some time," she said after a few moments.
"He's a butthead," Craig said, and I snorted.
"Craig, don't make me get at you boy, Ma said, and I have to say I missed her scolding tone
"Yes ma," Craig said sounding sufficiently reprimanded.
"Where are we sleeping?" I asked as I didn't wanna assume that they had kept my room the same. Dad may have turned it into a den or something. I know he always wanted one and it would erase any evidence that I had existed, aside from the pictures that were still around the house.
"Well, you're sleeping in your old room," she said and I was surprised that I still had a room. "And your friends will stay in the guestroom," she finished. It was fine with me but as I looked at Alexis and Flynn they were about to object.
"That's okay Mrs. Walker, we'll check into a hotel," Alexis said. I wondered even more about their reluctance to get closer to my mother. I would have understood with my father but she wasn't like him.
"Nonsense. We have plenty of room here," she said before walking away and shutting down their objections.
"Guess we're staying here," I said and they both looked uneasy, especially Flynn.
"What's the problem?" Craig asked likely sensing the uneasiness in the air.
"Nothing for you to worry about," Sasha said. I wondered again if they knew that I was gay. I would certainly believe that Luke did with the way he reacted to seeing me.
"Jude, show your friends to the guestroom while I finish getting lunch ready," Ma called from the kitchen.
"Okay," I said before I lead them out of the living room and down the hall to the left to the moderately sized room that they would be sharing.
Well, here we are," I said as I looked over the room decorated in yellow and blue pastels. It looked somewhat the same only with a new paint job and several different touches here and there.
"We're really staying here?" Flynn asked, sounding slightly spooked while trying to hide it.
"I guess so unless you two really don't wanna stay here," I said. I understood as I was rethinking the idea as well.
"It's fine," Alexis said obviously trying to placate me. Flynn didn't look anymore at ease and I should have taken into account how he would feel being in such close proximity to a homophobic jackass like my father.
"Tell you what, let's go have a look around town and let me show you the sights. Then when we get back if you two wanna check into a hotel we will," I said and Flynn looked a little bit more relaxed.
"And break your mama's heart?" Alexis said. It probably would disappoint her but I didn't wanna put my friends in a situation that would upset them when they didn't have to be.
"It'll be fine," I said but she just shrugged.
"I'm down for the sightseeing. Maybe we'll run up on Flynn's "Unbelievable Specimen of Dreaminess"," Alexis teased and Flynn lit up.
"Oh yeah, I had forgotten about that. I second going sightseeing," he said giddily.
"Alright, but like I said if someone like that moved here after I left and stayed then he's definitely a breeder," I said and Flynn got a mischievous look on his face.
"I hope so," he said in a tone dripping with innuendo before walking out of the room.
"Ew," both Alexis and I said in unison.
We went out to my car and got our bags. Alexis and Flynn took theirs to the guestroom while I carried mine upstairs. I wanted to see if any of the bedrooms had changed but all the doors were closed. I stood in front of the door to my old room and took a breath to steady my nerves.
I opened the door and looked into the well-lit room of my youth. I was surprised that the room looked the same. Everything that I had left behind was in the same places that I'd left them in. The room smelled clean though so Ma obviously still cleaned the room to keep the dust down and stuff. She had put fresh linens on the bed and there was a new blanket there as well as she had brought my old one when she first came to visit me.
I dropped my bags on the floor and walked around my old room. I looked at all the different reminders of my childhood that I'd left at home. Pictures of me with my family, with Josh, with...
I moved on and stopped at my trophy shelves. I looked over all of my trophies. I hadn't taken any of them with me. I saw my track trophies, my little league trophies, and even the bowling trophy I had won the summer before junior year.
My father had been proud every time I had received any kind of sports achievement. In hindsight, it was the only time he'd shown pride in me. When I was little before I met Josh, he was annoyed with me most of the time. If I thought about it, it was because I was what some would call a "sensitive" kid. I liked art and music and I liked to help Ma when she did her gardening.
I pulled myself from reminiscing when my mother called us to lunch. We all went into the formal dining room where Ma had set up because we all wouldn't fit at the kitchen table. I noticed that Luke didn't join us and I tried to hide how much it hurt. Ma said that he had a report for school that he had to do but I knew that she was covering for him.
We ate and Craig grilled me about where I had been and why it had taken so long to come back home. I told him about where I lived but I was as vague as possible about why I had been gone so long. He tried not to be obvious about it but I could see him looking Alexis and Flynn over. I wondered what he thought of them. Could he tell that Flynn was gay given his young age? Flynn wasn't exactly subtle so if he knew about gay people he had to at least suspect him.
He didn't say anything though and I tried to put it out of my mind along with Luke's absence. Dad was another thing to worry about that I tried to ignore. Sasha filled us in on a few of the details of the wedding and I was thankful for the distraction.
Once lunch was done Ma shooed us out of the dining room while she cleaned up. We settled in the living room and Sasha gave us more details about the wedding. She asked Alexis and Flynn if they wanted to be a part of the wedding but they both declined and said they'd rather be guests. She looked like she understood.
I could tell as the day got later that Flynn was getting anxious. I was too so I told my family that I was gonna show my friends around town. Ma looked at me for a minute and I could tell that she knew that I wanted to leave before the old man got home.
We headed out to the car with Craig disappointed that Ma had told him to stay home as he wanted to go with us. We got in and pulled away from the house. As the distance grew my stomach settled a bit. I would still have to deal with him later but for now, it was time to take my mind off of things.
"Where to?" Alexis asked.
"To find my future husband," Flynn said in a much more chipper tone than he'd had at my house.
"How do you know you're gonna see him again?" I asked as I tried to keep a straight face.
"I will tear this town apart if I have to," Flynn said with a serious look on his face.
"Damn, you serious," I said unable to keep from laughing. Alexis let out a chuckle too while shaking her head.
"He was that hot," Flynn said with a look of determination on his face.
"Well, we're gonna go check out the square first. It's where all the action is in this town. At least it was when I lived here," I said. That couldn't have changed as it had been like that for as long as I could remember.
"Good, he's sure to be there," Flynn said with his eyes practically glowing.
"Yeah, along with his wife June and their kids Wally and Beaver," Alexis joked and I laughed.
"Huh?" Flynn said looking confused.
"Oh, I forgot. You don't know about any TV shows unless it has a Real Housewife or a Kardashian in it," Alexis said and again I struggled to keep a straight face.
"As it should be," Flynn said unashamedly.
I arrived at the square and just as I remembered from the past, the area was bustling with the life of the late afternoon. I parked the car and we all got out. I looked at the old courthouse in the center of the square and the few people milling around in the square center.
I looked around at all the shops that I could see from where we were and for the most part, everything looked the same. There were a few new shops and businesses that I didn't remember though.
"It looks so cute," Alexis said as she looked around.
"You expected to see Bubba and Earl sitting on the back of a pickup truck chewing hayseeds and selling moonshine out of the back of the truck, didn't ya?" I teased and Flynn laughed.
"No comment," Alexis pouted which made me chuckle.
We walked for a bit with me pointing out different stores and businesses. I gave them a quick history of what I remembered from them and the people. I even saw a few people that I remembered from when I was last home. They waved most likely to be courteous, and I did the same.
"Ooh, look. It's him, Mr. Dreamy, and he's a fireman," Flynn said suddenly.
"What? And how do you know?" I asked before Alexis and I turned and looked across the street at Marla's Bakery, the home of the best-baked goods in town. Out front were 3 men that were indeed firemen. They were talking to Marla who looked like she hadn't aged a day since I'd last seen her. She had to be in her 60's now but she didn't look a day over 50.
Two of the firemen looked to be older, maybe in their 40s, but one was young, and he was the one that fit the description of "Unbelievable Specimen of Dreaminess" that Flynn had given. I didn't feel attracted to him though. I was too busy trying to keep my left eye from twitching and alerting my two friends to what I was feeling. The feeling I was experiencing was not attraction unlike with Flynn. What I was feeling was more anger. Anger at looking upon this man's face again. The face belonged to none other than Ryan Parker, my best friend's older brother.