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He took it, eyeing the details. “You want me to email you the video?”
I shook my head. “No. I’ve said my piece. If your mother leaves me alone, I won’t have to come back.”
“But she attacked you. Called you all those names. This could really hurt my father’s campaign, and then maybe your business would be safe.”
“It’s not really my style, kid. I’m always happy for a confrontation, a one-on-one discussion, if you will, when someone’s wronged me. But I can be the bigger person when I need to be. It’s not in me to run a smear campaign. I’m not like your mother.”
“Why are you giving me a card then?”
I shrugged. I couldn’t explain to this kid that he reminded me of Fawn. And that Fawn reminded me of me, ten years ago. “If your parents get too much, and you need somewhere to go, call me.”
He turned the card over in his hands. “I’m gay. I can’t tell them. We go to church every Sunday morning. They’ll never accept it.”
I still remembered the way he and Phoenix had looked at each other at the church rally. It had been barely a moment, but it had been so loaded with attraction that I doubted anyone could have missed it. Even his parents, with their heads stuck in the sand. “You should try them. Maybe they’ll surprise you.”
He scoffed at that. I couldn’t blame him. I didn’t think for a second that his parents would accept that sort of news. But the poor kid seemed like he still cared what they thought.
I knew how that felt.
“You know I’m a stripper, right?”
Dylan nodded.
“I started stripping when I was younger than you are now. A lot younger. I was only sixteen. I hid it from my parents for a really long time, pretending I was still going to school every day, when really I was going to the club, taking my clothes off, and dancing for men more than twice my age.”
“Shit. That’s huge.”
I nodded. “It was. But I never regretted a second of it. I like this job. I like the money, and the people. I like the freedom it gives me. And sure, I shouldn’t have started that young. But I’ve always been kind of stubborn.”
“When did your parents find out?”
“I told them the week before I turned eighteen. I had to come clean when they thought they’d be attending my high school graduation.”
“How did that go down?”
I almost didn’t want to tell him the truth. Because it had been one of the worst days of my life. “You know those names your mother just called me?”
Dylan cringed, but nodded.
“Imagine hearing them from your own mother’s mouth. Then multiply it.”
He sighed heavily. “Did she ever come around to accepting it?”
He stared at me with hopeful eyes. He was putting himself in my shoes.
My mother had never come around. Sure, I’d been invited back for family dinner, but things had never been the same between us. Some words, once spoken out loud, couldn’t be taken back. But I couldn’t bear to break Dylan’s heart. I couldn’t be the one to tell him that leopards didn’t change their spots. I doubted with every fiber of my being that his parents would ever accept him the way he wanted them to.
“Sure. She came around. Everything is good now.”
Dylan settled back against the seat, relief etched into his expression. I could only hope that for him, it wouldn’t be a lie.
17
EVE
On Tuesday nights, the club was closed to the public so a couple of friends and I could use the space to jam in. They played. I sang. None of us wanted to chase a career in music, but our hangouts had been fun, and over the years, it had turned into something more. It had become a family night, where the four of us put on a show that didn’t involve nudity. I made a pot of my famous stew, baked some crusty bread rolls, and fed whoever turned up. I never really knew who would appear from one week to the next. Fawn, Augie, Phoenix, and Lyric were all regulars. Lyric brought her tiny daughter sometimes, and her sweet laughter echoed around the room as she ran about, being chased by Phoenix or Fawn. My brothers dropped in from time to time, and other friends and family were always welcome.
I always cooked early in the day, so the stew had time to get tender, but also so I could enjoy my friends. There was nothing I liked better than standing at the head of the stage, with a microphone in my hand, and taking in the family I’d created for myself. I belted out lyrics, watching over them all. Fawn and Augie, flirting in a corner. Echo and Lucinda deep in conversation at the bar. Terry spun his wife around the dance floor, making her laugh while their two kids sat at a table watching their phones, pretending their parents didn’t exist.
