Reggie: Matt's New Friend - 11. Henry's decision and a New Relationship

Wednesday October 11

Drew hasn't been very happy today. Not much chance of talking outside of lunch, so I have to wait to ask him what's up. Reggie and Al are here too.

"What's up, Drew? You seem a little down."

"I don't know. My dad found out about Sunday morning."

"How?"

"My mom was doing the laundry last night, noticed the stained underwear. She said she wouldn't tell my father, but he picked that moment to show up in the kitchen. He looked at them and knew what I had done."

"Oh, fuck. What did he do?"

"So far, just sent me to my room until he figures out what to do with me."

"You don't think he's going to kick you out, do you?"

"Probably not. I talked to mom a little this morning and she said the house is hers. I didn't get what she meant, then she said if anyone is getting kicked out it would be dad. I guess only mom owns the house. Dad isn't on the deed, so he can't kick me out."

"Well, that's kind of a good thing. Do you think he'll do something else?"

"I don't know. Maybe beat me constantly until he beats the gay out of me?"

"I'd guess your mom wouldn't let that happen."

"She may not have a choice. Next time he loses his job, he'll be home all the time. I'll be an easy target."

"Next time?"

"Yeah, he never keeps the same job more than a few months. Then he's out of work for a few months until he finds another crappy job. Mom's a software engineering manager or something. We basically live off of her salary."

"Just keep thinking good thoughts. Maybe he's gotten a little mellower since he kicked Willie out."

"I don't know. I guess all I can do is hope."

"We're all here for you Drew."

"Yeah."

"Thanks Reggie, Al."

Now you and I will go home with Drew after school; check in on Henry.

Mom came home with fried chicken and a bunch of side dishes so she wouldn't have to take time to cook, and we could have a talk. She asked Matt's parents if Leo could go over there after dinner. They were OK with that. Now it's time for my trial, I guess. Mom starts the conversation.

"So, what are you going to do Henry? Be a jackass and reject another son, or realize that a son being gay isn't an affront to your manhood and accept it?"

"Mom, I'm not really sure I'm gay."

"You let a boy fuck you. That's gay enough for me."

"Gay or just experimenting, you need to decide how you're going to deal with this Henry. Drew's not leaving and if you do anything physically, I'll press charges against you."

"You wouldn't!"

"You DON'T want to test me."

"Bitch."

"Drew, please go to your room for a couple minutes. You don't need to hear what I'm about to say to your father."

"OK."

"I'll not have you call me that in front of my son."

"Your son? First, it's your house, now he's your son. Fine, you can have her."

"Oh, that's nice. Yes, my SON. HE'S surely not yours."

"What? You cheated on me?"

"We tried for years to have children. I saved some of your semen long ago and had it tested. You're shooting blanks. I wanted children, so I went elsewhere."

"You fucking cu..."

Audrey pulls out a knife she was hiding on her chair.

"Say it and I'll cut your fucking tongue out."

"Leo too?"

"You think all of a sudden your balls could start producing sperm again. Of course, Leo too."

"Who was he?"

"Nobody you know or ever will know."

"You're right. Have fun being a single mother. I'm out of here."

Now she pulls an envelope and pen out.

"I knew this day was coming. Sign this and you're completely free of us."

"What the fuck is that?"

"God, you're so fucking stupid. I don't know why I married you. Divorce papers you moron. They absolve you of any responsibility. No child support, no alimony. Sign it, take your clothes, and get out. There's a thousand dollars in there too. Get a motel or a cheap apartment until you can find somewhere else to live. I'm going to go talk to my son. If you're not gone in a half hour, I'll get the cops to take you out."

"On what grounds?"

"You're right. Stupidity isn't illegal. Just sign the papers, pack your shit, and go."

She goes to Drew's room to talk to him.

"How are you doing honey?"

"I'm scared, mom. I don't know what he's going to do to me."

"Nothing. He's leaving and never coming back. If he's anything like he was before we got married, he's signing the divorce papers now without reading them. He shows back up, I can have him arrested."

"But... I won't have a father anymore?"

"Not exactly. I'm going to tell you something because I think you're old enough to know the truth. But please don't tell Leo. I'll tell him later, when I can get him alone. He's a little young, but I can't keep him in the dark."

"OK, I won't say anything."

"Henry isn't your and Leo's real father."

"What? How can that be?"

"Henry is sterile, you understand what that means?"

"Yeah, he can't get you pregnant."

"Right. And he's been that way for as long as we've been married. I had sex with an old friend who was willing to give me children. That man is your father. Henry is, or perhaps by now, was, only my husband."

"I'm confused. You slept with someone else, got pregnant with me, and then later with Leo, but stayed married to da... Henry? Why?"

"I've been asking myself that for almost 12 years, since before I was pregnant with Leo. I guess I was just afraid to try to make it on my own. After last night, I knew I had to, for yours and Leo's sakes."

"But can you really get a divorce overnight?"

"No. But I've had those papers ready for almost two years now. I just needed a reason to give them to him. It's what's called a no-fault divorce for irreconcileable differences. If he signed the papers, I'm no longer married to him."

"Do I know my real father?"

We hear a door slam. I guess he left.

"Yes. The man you call Uncle Andrew is your real father. We were good friends in high school and college. I spent some time with him when Henry thought I was away on business trips, explained my situation and asked him if he would, well, help me have a family."

"I'm still, well, not confused, but I don't know what to think."

"I know I sprung this on you, apparently out of nowhere, so I understand you need some time to process it; wrap your head around it. Take as much time as you need and we can talk about it again any time you want to."

"OK. I love you mom."

"I love you too, honey."

Audrey leaves Drew to contemplate things. She goes back into the kitchen to find both the divorce papers and the agreement to never bother them, signed. That one isn't really legally binding, but he didn't need to know that. She calls next door and asks Carol to send Leo back home. That conversation won't be as easy. When she says goodnight to Drew, she mentions that Leo knows about Henry and Andrew, and he should try to help him understand if he has any questions.

Thursday October 12 - Back in Matt's brain

Drew's not as sad as yesterday. Maybe not yet back to normal, but hopefully things are going better for him.

"How are things with your dad?"

"Um, complicated. Matt, Reggie, Al, do you think you can come over to my house afeter school today? I'm not too comfortable talking about this here. Plus, it may take longer than we have."

"Yeah, I guess so."

"You'll need to give me your address, I've never been there."

"Good point, Al."

Both Drew and I write down our addresses for Al.

"Um, just a quick question about your dad. Since I'm the one you did it with, is he going to be there and maybe he'll be mad at me?"

"He won't be there. You don't have to worry about that."

"OK, good."

We yak about nothing and everything for the rest of lunch. Within about an hour after school, we're all over at Drew's house. He introduces Al to Leo and lets Leo stay for the discussion. I thought that was kind of weird, but it made sense after he finished telling us what's going on.

"So, I guess I'll start by saying Henry Pierce won't be coming back. You're probably wondering why I didn't say our dad. He's not our real dad. We found that out last night."

"No shit?"

"No shit Matt."

"Our real dad is an old friend of mom's. We've seen him, what, maybe three times L?"

"Two, I think, unless there were more when I was really young."

"Yeah, I think you were just a baby the first time I met him. Anyway, Mom gave da... Henry, divorce papers yesterday. He signed them, packed his clothes and left. So, and Leo hasn't heard this part yet, so, if I am gay, there won't be a parental issue."

"Huh? You're gay?"

"Maybe L. I'm not really sure. I like girls too, so maybe I'll end up bisexual. At 14, there's plenty of time for things to change. Does that bother you?"

"No, I guess not. You wouldn't try to do anything with me, would you?"

"No. You're my brother. Your body is off limits."

"OK."

"Mom said Uncle Andrew, our real dad, will be coming around this weekend. So maybe you guys can come back and meet him, like Sunday afternoon. The couple times we've seen him, he seemed like a pretty good guy. Mom already told him I might be gay, and she said he was OK with that."

"He going to come live with you?"

"I don't think so Reggie, but nothing is for sure at this point in time. He lives near Harrisburg, so he's only about 2 hours away. He could visit pretty often if he wanted to. He and mom had an agreement about his role in our lives that they talked about last night, and I guess are re-thinking, now that Henry's gone."

"If you don't mind me asking, how long ago did you see him last?"

"No problem, Al. Mom finished high school, I think in 2000, and I guess we last saw him for their 20th class reunion, and two other times before that. Friend's weddings, I think. So, I'd say about three years."

"Are you, I don't know, happy about all this?"

"I don't know if I'd say happy, Matt. It's all still too new. Maybe relieved would be best. Relieved that I won't have to deal with him anymore. Oh, shit. I just realized something."

We all asked at the same time.

"What?"

"If Henry's not our real dad, then Willie's not our real brother, or even half-brother."

"Is that a bad thing?"

"Not good or bad, L. Actually, with Henry gone, we may actually get to see him again."

"When did you see him last?"

"July 4th, 2016."

"Wow, you remember the date."

"Yeah Matt, I was only 7, but I'll never forget the argument and him telling Willie to leave."

"How old was he?"

"16, so da... Henry, felt he was old enough to go live with his mother and be able to help her out."

"I'm sure he'd still consider you guys his brothers. He may not even know that you don't have the same father."

"Good point Reggie. He probably doesn't."

"Hi boys. I'm home. I see a couple extra bicycles... Who's your newest friend, Drew?"

"This is Al, mom. He's the... um, never mind. I asked them to come over so I could fill them in on da... dang it. I gotta stop doing that. Fill them in on Henry."

"That's OK, you've been saying it a long time. Old habits die hard. I can order a couple pizzas if you want them to stay for dinner."

"That'd be great. Guys?"

After a couple phone calls to make sure it was OK, we all stayed for pizza. Drew gave his mom an overview about what he told us.

"Didn't leave much out, did you?"

"No. But these are my best friends. If I have a delayed meltdown about all of this, they'll know why and hopefully be able to help."

"Are you afraid of doing that?"

"A little. I mean it's been less than 24 hours. I'm not sure it's all completely sunk in yet."

"Well, it's good to know you've got friends that would help if you needed it."

"Me too?"

"Sure, Leo, I know I'll help you out if you need it. I'm just across the alley."

"Thanks, Matt."

"Me too." "Yeah, I would help too."

"Thanks Reggie, Al."

"Well, I think I better be going, don't want to be riding home in the dark."

"Yeah, me too. I'll tag along with you Al, until we get to your house. Bye Mrs. Pierce."

"Bye."

"Bye boys. Thank you for helping out Drew and Leo."

We head to Drew and Leo's room after helping clean up.

(Quietly) "Drew, can we talk a little about you maybe being gay?"

"Sure. Matt, you can probably do a better job."

"You're gay too, Matt?"

"Yes."

"Wow."

"Yeah, I guess that is a wow item."

"Drew, how do you know if you're gay or not?"

"Well, I'm not sure, but I discovered I might be gay after, um, doing things with another boy."

"What kind of things?"

"Things with our dicks."

"Oh. OK. So if I did something with another boy's dick, I might be gay?"

"A little help here, Matt?"

"Sure. No, Leo. It's normal to experiment like that. Do things like playing with your dick with another boy, or playing with his dick doesn't necessarily make you gay. If you keep doing that as you get older and do more intimate things, then you're probably gay."

"More intimate?"

"Like kissing, and um, putting his dick in your mouth."

"Ewwww. Who would want to do that?"

"That reaction is a vote for you for not gay."

"Good. Even without Henry being mad about Drew maybe being gay, I wouldn't ever want to do that, so I'm definitely not gay."

"That's good. And it's good that you don't hate Drew because he might be."

"Well, he is my brother. I don't think I could hate him for anything."

"That's good. Any other questions?"

"Well, one, but I'm not sure I should ask it."

"You can ask, L. I may not want to answer, but there's never anything wrong with asking a question."

"Who did you do things with your dicks with? Matt?"

"I'll answer part of that and say, no, not Matt. But I don't think it's right to say who it was."

"OK. I guess I get that. I probably wouldn't want Caleb to tell anybody we touched dicks."

Drew and I are laughing.

"What's funny?"

"You said you wouldn't want Caleb to tell."

"Yeah, so?"

"You kind of told on him."

"Oh. Oh, no. You won't say anything to him, would you?"

"Your secret is safe with us."

"Yeah. OK, time for me to head home now. See you tomorrow, Drew. Probably see you Sunday, Leo."

"Bye Matt." "Bye."

Saturday October 14 - We'll hang with the Pierce family for a bit now.

Andrew Paterson shows up about 11:30 Saturday morning. Drew and Leo run up to greet him.

Both at the same time: "Hi, Uncle Andrew."

"Hi guys. Wow, you guys are getting big. How old are you now?"

"14." "Almost 11."

"Geez, time flies. So, I hear your mother told you the truth about me, us."

"Yeah. Should we still call you Uncle Andrew, or dad?"

"Whatever you feel comfortable with Matt. I haven't really been a father to you guys, so it's OK to stick with Uncle Andrew if that's what you want."

"I think I'll see how things go from here but stick with uncle for now."

"Me too."

"Perfectly OK. I know you've gotten thrown a curveball by life. I don't want to make anything harder for you."

"Do you love our mother?"

"Wow. Right to the heart of things, Leo. I've known your mother for a long time, over 25 years. So, in a way, yes. Not necessarily how a man loves his wife, but I'd do just about anything for her. Well, actually, I already have."

"Making us?"

"Exactly, Drew. That was a pretty big thing for her to ask and for any man to agree to."

"Are you going to marry her now?"

Andrew and Audrey look at each other. Audrey gives him a look, 'he asked you'.

"No Leo. That wouldn't really be quite right. You see, I'm a lifelong bachelor. And while I could marry your mother, it would kind of make the marriage a lie because I never really wanted to be married. But if I see her a lot more often... Who knows?"

"Are you gay?"

"No Leo, I'm not. Just, like I said, not interested in being married. At this time."

"OK."

"However, even though I'm not planning on marrying your mother. I have decided to play a bigger part in your lives. The closest state police office is about a half hour away from here. I'm looking at moving somewhere between here and there."

"You're a policeman?"

"Yes, but a bit more, Drew. I'm actually a Corporal. I'm a supervisor of a group of troopers. One of the Corporals in Belfast, which is the closest station I mentioned, is retiring at the end of the year. I put in a transfer request yesterday to take that position."

"You didn't!"

"Sure did, Audrey. After you told me Thursday night Henry was out of the picture, I gave it a lot of thought and agreed with you about taking a larger role in their lives."

"I didn't mean for you to uproot yourself and move."

"What's to uproot? I don't have any real hard ties to Harrisburg, and to be honest, the Sergeant in Belfast is probably only a year or two away from retirement himself. It's a better opportunity for growth. Instead of being one of fifteen Corporals near the state capital, I'll be one of two in Belfast, and with more seniority than the one remaining. First in line when the Sarge retires."

"So, we'll see you a lot more?"

"Yes, you will Drew. Assuming I'm approved for the transfer. I don't think a lot of guys would want to move into a smaller station, so I probably won't have a lot of competition. And if I'm not approved, you'll still see me at least a little more. Way more than roughly once every 3 to 5 years."

"Awesome. Could we get a ride in your police car?"

"Definitely, if I get the transfer, Leo."

"Yea!!!!"

"How about pizza for lunch?"

"It's been almost 2 days since we had any. Sure."

"I'm good with that too."

"Thanks, Drew, Leo. How about you Aud, is twice in three days too much pizza?"

"I'll let majority rule. Maybe I'll get a calzone or something."

"OK. Get your jackets, then it's pizza time!"

At the pizza place, Leo and I went to play their video game machine. Uncle Andrew stayed back to talk to mom.

"I noted your hedging on the marriage questions."

"Well, yes, Aud. We'd need to rekindle old flames before it would feel right. I wouldn't count it out though. You?"

"I think I could live with that, after we got to know each other again."

"Great, it's a plan."

"Here's our food. I'll go get the boys."

"No, let me... Finish this game, the food's ready."

"It's OK, I'll just die."

"I'll give you your quarter back, Drew."

"You don't have to worry about it."

"Oh, my god."

"What is it Aud?"

"Watching you three walk back together, I can see how much they look like you."

"Poor kids, having to look like me."

"Don't be silly. You're a good-looking man."

"Whatever you say. Boys, never argue with a lady over anything you think is trivial or unimportant. First, you'll lose, and second, you might get her angry. Then you'll really lose."

"Oh, you are such a goofball."

"It's hereditary. Dad was pretty nuts too. But what I said kids, 100% true."

"Yeah, he was."

Lunch was eaten, more foolishness occurred, and they went back to the Pierce's house. Andrew spent the afternoon and evening getting to know the boys better. When it was time, he gave them a kiss on the forehead and said goodnight.

"OK, I guess I'll be heading to the hotel. I'll be back mid-morning."

"You don't have to leave, you know."

"Meaning?"

"You can stay here."

"I guess. Get me a sheet and blankets and I'll make up the couch."

"You could sleep with me instead."

"Are you sure?"

"Positive. Henry wasn't the best husband in quite a few different ways. Maybe you'd like to remind a girl how to be satisfied?"

"Well, Brando, you just made me an offer I can't refuse."

"Follow me, said the spider to the fly."

"Buzz, buzz."

Sunday October 15

Drew wakes up because he smells food.

"Leo. Wake up. Mom's cooking breakfast."

"Sniff, sniff. Smells like bacon. Sniff. And pancakes."

They head to the kitchen and are surprised to see Andrew there.

"Wow, you're here early."

"Kind of. Keep a secret?"

"Yeah." "Yes."

"I never left."

"Really?"

"Yep. Go knock on your mother's door, food's almost ready."

After breakfast, Andrew makes a suggestion.

"So, how would you all like to go to Mazezilla Corn Maze this afternoon?"

"Yessss!"

Leo was up for it, Drew hesitates, looking unhappy.

"I invited my friends over this afternoon. I wanted them to meet you Uncle Andrew."

"I know. Your mom told me. I meant including them."

"In that case, yessss!"

"Oh. I forgot I invited Caleb to come over too."

"Room for all. I knew it was a good idea to buy the Sequoia. Aud, you didn't answer."

"Sure. It might be fun getting lost in there."

"Leo, since you only have one call to make, why don't you call Caleb and let him know we'll pick him up. Say 1:00?"

"OK."

"Then, Drew, you can do the same with your friends. Maybe adding a few minutes between pickup times."

"Sounds good."

Everybody had fun at the corn maze. There were even two pairs that found quiet dead ends for a bit of a make out session. Drew and Al just explored, as did Leo and Caleb.

Next Up - "A Visit with Marty and Holiday Happenings"