New Brother - 25. Epilogue

“Hey, guys! I need your help.”

We looked up to see Tristan storming towards us. He seemed furious but I couldn’t work out why. I didn’t think it was because of any of us. I glanced at Adam and Scott. The three of us had been having a quiet chat in a corner of the schoolyard, planning a surprise for Liz’s birthday. Gary and Mary were doing their bit by keeping Liz away while we plotted.

“What is it, Tristan?” I asked.

“I need you to pound some sense into that brother of mine!”

I couldn’t help grinning as the source of Tristan’s frustration became clear. Tony has a natural ability to infuriate his big brother, apparently without effort.

“What’s he done now?” Adam asked.

Tristan looked around anxiously and then lowered his voice.

“He’s heard about a ‘National Coming Out Day’ and he’s planning on telling everyone at school he’s gay. I’ve tried talking him out of it, but he’s taken to ignoring me. Can you help?”

Tristan’s anger had transformed into desperation at the end. He clearly didn’t think it was a good idea for Tony to come out.

“You have to admit that the school has become a lot more tolerant over the last six months,” I pointed out.

“Yeah, since Tremen left,” Tristan said, “but the other ones who are out are older. Adam’s still the youngest. Who knows if there’s another one like Tremen around, who’ll stay to torment him instead of running away? Tony’s one of the youngest kids in school. How’ll he defend himself?”

Adam, Scott and I exchanged glances. Only the three of us and Randy knew the truth about what had happened to Nick Tremen. Most kids had decided he’d run away after the confrontation we had with him. The truth was a lot stranger.

Nothing much had happened for a couple of days, though you could almost see the tension that was hanging around the school. The students were split between those who believed Nick’s version of events and those that believed mine. Everyone had been waiting to see what happened next, but no one wanted to be the one to set things off. Then word went through the school that Nick was gone.

The following weekend, we all got the shock of our lives when Nick’s mum showed up at our place.

“I’ve come here to apologise for my son’s behaviour at school,” she’d said. “I thought he was over some things, but apparently not. It must have been just simmering below the surface, and Adam coming out at school pushed him over the edge. I’ve moved him to another school while he works with a psychologist to help him with his anger.”

Mum and Dad talked with her for a while. She told us some horror stories of what had happened to her family. She was over it, but hadn’t realised that Nick was still carrying a grudge. There were a lot of things she shared, and I thought many of them were for Adam’s benefit, but she never said so. Even though Nick had caused problems at school, I felt sorry for the painful things he’d been through. It didn’t excuse what he’d done, but it started to explain it. Not everyone comes from a happy family.

With Nick gone from school, the tension slowly faded and everything returned to normal. That’s when a few other guys and girls came out of the closet, to a mainly “yeah, yeah, so what?” reaction from the majority of the students. There are still a number who persist in expressing their disapproval, but it’s all kept low-key.

“He should be fine, Tristan,” Scott said. “There are a lot of people who’ll look out for him if he needs it, but I doubt he will.”

“If that’s the case, why aren’t you out?” Tristan retorted.

Scott scowled and looked away. “That’s a bit complex.”

“If it’s not good enough for you, why are you saying my brother will be fine?”

Scott looked back and sighed.

“My problem is at home. Mum is barely tolerating Adam, and only if we don’t rub her nose in the fact that he’s my boyfriend or that I’m gay. Dad’s cool with the whole thing, but as far as Mum is concerned, she would rather that I was straight and I think she’s trying to pretend that I am. If I came out at school, her friends would hear about it and there is no way she could maintain that pretense. I’m not willing to risk messing things up. In a few years, I’ll be able to move out of home and it won’t matter any more. Until then, all my friends know about me and Adam, and I only have problems at home. I can live with that, so I’m not making waves by coming out here at school.”

I had to smother a smile as I recalled the day Scott told the twins. They were over at our place about a month after Easter and Scott did a big buildup to telling them that he’s gay. When he finished, he waited anxiously for their reaction.

The problem was there wasn’t one. The twins just sat there staring at him. After a long pause, Brett spoke up.

“And...?”

“And what?” Scott asked.

Brett scowled. “And the rest? Or aren’t we good enough to be told? I thought we were your friends, too. It’s obvious that everyone else knows, but why aren’t you telling us?”

Brian turned to his brother.

“Don’t be too hard on him, Brett. There’s always the possibility it was option B,” he said, cryptically.

“I suppose so, but you have to admit it’s highly unlikely. I still think it was option A.”

“Oh, I think it’s option A, too, but we should give him the benefit of the doubt.”

“Yeah, but if it is option A, and he’s still not telling us, you have to admit it looks suspicious.”

“That’s true. We could go for option C, that he’s just a coward.”

We all stared at them. After Brett’s original attack, the twins were bantering between themselves as if it was all a big joke.

“What are you two talking about?” I asked when I saw no signs they were going to stop.

Brian turned to me with a wide-eyed, innocent expression.

“We’re just trying to decide if Adam had his tongue down Scott’s throat at Easter because they’re an item, or because Scott was choking and Adam was trying a novel method of clearing his airway.”

“You saw us?” Scott whispered in disbelief.

B1 and B2 burst out laughing. “Yeah, we did. We’ve been waiting ever since for you to tell us. Congratulations, guys. We think it’s fantastic news.”

The twins have been very discreet when there are other people around, but when it’s just the people who know, they haven’t stopped teasing Adam and Scott about it. The two guys have been forced many times to deny the twins’ increasingly graphic descriptions of what they claim to have witnessed that weekend.

“So, I’m personally happy to come out at school, but I don’t want to because of my mum,” Scott told Tristan.

“How are your parents with Tony?” I asked.

Tristan made a face. “He hasn’t told them.”

“If he comes out at school, then the word will get back. I really think he should tell them first, before he tells the school. It’s better than them hearing about it from someone else,” I pointed out.

Tristan smiled. “Good point. Thanks, guys. I think that’ll make him pause.”

He glanced over to where we could see Tony with a group of his friends.

“Now, all I have to do is to get him to stay still long enough so I can explain it to him.”

Tristan looked back at us. “I don’t suppose you could get Randy to tell him? He’ll listen to Randy.”

I exchanged smiles with Adam and Scott. While he no longer had a crush on my brother, Tony still had a soft spot for Randy.

“Sure, Tristan,” I replied. “We’ll ask him to speak to Tony tonight.”

There’s always something happening. At least I’m not in the middle of it, for which I’m extremely grateful. I never again want to go through anything like those weeks around Easter time.

I have a lot of people I’d like to thank, now that this story is complete. If I leave anyone off, please accept my apologies. So many people have helped me in so many different ways.

Firstly, to Aaron and everyone at The Mail Crew. They have been fantastic in the help and encouragement they’ve given me. Aaron’s editing is a major part of what’s made this story special and I want to state, again, how much I appreciate the hard work he’s done.

To Jeff, for getting me started in the writing game in the first place. He showed me what was possible and gave me that nudge required to get me going.

To Paul and Oz, for their early encouragement and help with the first version of the story.

To everyone at DeweyWriter for their words of praise when I was just starting out.

To everyone at AwesomeDude for all the assistance they have given, and still give, in my quest to learn more about how to write well.

To Ryan H. and Kel for their feedback on early drafts.

To all the readers who have taken the time to write to me about how much they’ve enjoyed the story.

Lastly, but most importantly, to J, for being understanding when I’ve worked at the computer for long periods of time and when I’ve hovered nervously while she read the latest chapter.

My most sincere thanks to all of you,

Graeme -- January 2006