Suburban Gang -- Chapter 2 Jacksgang2004@yahoo.com
"David, I am pretty sure I am gay" I told him after we went to a movie.
"I knew it man. I just knew it!" He half laughed and half yelled out loud.
I could tell from his reaction, he wasn't mad or anything. Probably just confirmed what he thought all along.
"Dude, I just knew it. But I won't say anything to anybody about it." He said.
"You know, I am gonna tell everybody. It is stupid for me not to tell my friends and stuff." I replied.
"Jack, you gotta be careful about this. You don't know how people are going to react. I think even some of our friends aren't going to hang with you after you tell them."
I thought in my mind of all my friends who would care, and I dismissed what he said about our friends. But I made a big mistake. I didn't think about what other people would think, especially my family and other kids in school. Hindsight is 20/20 I guess.
The next morning when we all were walking to school, I told the Gang. I don't know why I felt I had to do it right then, but I was sick of hiding. There was a lot of laughing in disbelief, but I assured them that I was gay. Then they got serious, and all told me they didn't care. We all grew up together and there were more important things to worry about. So we went to school. Man, that was easy I thought. I guess I was making more of a deal about this than it was.
When I got home from school, which was a lot easier than the first day, I devised a plan to tell my parents. They were both home for the evening, which was rare, so I thought that if I had enough courage to tell the Gang, I could tell them tonight.
My mom decided not to cook and picked up Chinese food for dinner. Which I didn't really like, but I didn't care that night. After we ate, my mom passed out the fortune cookies. After we ate them, I asked my parents if they had a few minutes to hear me.
"Mom, Dad, I want to let you know that I am gay." I said seriously and right into their eyes. "I don't want any special treatment or anything like that, but I want to let you know that I don't like girls"
In an instant, my dad moved around the corner of the table and grabbed me by the shirt.
"Tell me you are joking Jack! TELL ME THAT YOU ARE KIDDING!" He yelled at me.
"Dad, I'm not kidding. This is what I am". I replied.
BAM! My dad hit me in the face, right on the cheek. I fell down and he hit me several more times right in the face. My mom didn't do ANYTHING. She just sat there watching her son get beat up.
When my dad stopped, I was a mess. He picked me up and pushed me out of the front door. I laid on the front lawn for awhile trying to figure out what just happened. Then I saw my Dad throwing my clothes at me.
I guess I knew I wasn't welcome there anymore.