The Gus Diaries

Part 54

Siblings
 

A couple of days ago I got a call from Jenny. She was really pissed off at me and I wasn’t even sure why. Her tone certainly was emulating the one that would make us cringe when we heard Mem use it.

“Hello, dear brother.”

Uh oh! “Hi, Jenny. What’s up?”

“At least you remember my name. Maybe I should be grateful and hang up while I’m ahead.”

“Uhmmm, I’m not sure what has you all pissed off. Is this some sort of preteen hormonal thing?”

“Fuck you, big brother.” She paused but I didn’t dare respond. I waited for her to continue before I shoved my foot further into my mouth. “Do you have any idea how long it’s been?”

Okay, now I wasn’t sure where the fuck this was leading. “How long it’s been since what? My birthday, school started, what?”

“Since our last Gus/Jenny Day.”

Shit! I’d forgotten all about those ever since I moved in with Dad and Pop. “No, how long?”

“Since before you moved into Britin -- that’s how long.” She huffed, “And do you remember how often those are supposed to happen?”

“Yes, Jenny, I know -- once a month.” I took a deep breath and continued, “Look, when I first moved in with Dad and Pop I set those aside because you were still in Canada, remember?”

“Yes, of course I remember. But do you remember that I haven’t lived in Canada in ages?”

What a fucking junior drama queen. It was just this combination of Uncle Michael and Mem that drove me nuts. “You’ve been here for several months.”

“Several, not just one or two, which means we’ve missed a shit-load of Gus/Jenny Days.” Then she took a deep breath. “Is this one of those things that happens when you get older and have a boyfriend and forget about me?”

Oh fuck! Now I know one of the reasons that it’s better to like guys than girls -- the guilt shit. “I didn’t forget about you. I forgot about our fucking day. And if you’ll remember Miss Pain-in-the-ass, we’ve had a lot of crap going on with Mom and Mem.”

“I know. That’s why I want to start our days again. I kinda need to be with my big brother... if he has time and wants to be with me.”

I rolled my eyes. It was good she couldn’t see through the phone. “Jenny, I’d really like to have one of our days again -- and start doing them once a month as planned.”

“Yippee!” She recovered from her extreme sadness pretty fucking quickly. I wonder if manipulation runs in families.

“How about this coming Saturday?”

“What about Jeff? Don’t you two always spend the weekends together?” There was a slight tone of sarcasm in her voice but at least she kept it in check.

“Yeah, we do, but it just so happens that Jeff has his last SAT exams this weekend so we decided to only hang out on Sunday. He’ll be at Grandma Jen and Tucker’s Friday night and Saturday.”

“Cool. How about if I get Dad to drive me out to Britin? Maybe we can have a picnic on the grounds and catch up. Is that okay?”

I smiled. It was kind of nice knowing my little sister wanted to spend quality time with me. “That should work. I’ll talk to Dad and Pop but I’ll only get back to you if it’s a problem for some reason. How about noon?”

“I’ll be there. Bye, Gus.”

“Bye, Jenny.”

I closed my phone and looked at it for a minute and remembered how Gus/Jenny Days started.

Some kids at school were teasing Jenny, telling her that she didn’t have a real brother. It made her cry. We were always fucking close.

Mom and Mem put their heads together and came up with the idea that one day a month we would have a brother-sister day. They’d bring us wherever we’d want to go but would stay in the background so we could really connect. I think it was probably one of the best things the moms ever did together because Jenny and I became closer than most siblings.

It’s too bad they couldn’t think of a way to connect with each other, but I guess that’s a much harder deal -- especially when there really isn’t an equal love.

I think that was also one of the first times that Mem realized that running to Canada didn’t solve all the problems of hate and ignorance.

Whatever the reason for their creation, Jenny and I really enjoyed those days. At first I thought spending time with my little sister would be boring but I found out she was a fun kid with a lot of personality and a hot temper when she was pissed off.

I actually thought it was kind of sweet that she remembered our Gus/Jenny Days (as we dubbed them when we were 11 and 7 years old) and wanted to start them up again. I decided I’d better fill Dad and Pop in at dinner.

“So Sonny Boy, you look like the cat that ate the fucking canary. Care to share?” Pop smirked at Dad’s way with words.

“Jenny called today.”

“Well, it’s nice to know that it’s not only Jeff’s phone calls that put a smile on your face.”

“Dad, I don’t spend my entire life with Jeff.”

Pop laughed, “Just 75% of it. Us peasants get to share the few leftovers.”

“Okay, okay, I get it. We do spend a lot of time together, but part of that is because we’re in the same school and both on the basketball team.”

“Fair enough, Sonny Boy, but that doesn’t explain the extreme cheeriness due to a call from your sister.”

“Well, Dad, Pop, it’s like this...” and I went on to tell them about the evolution of Gus/Jenny Days and that she wanted to start them up again.

My dads looked at each other and smiled. “I wish I’d had a sister that I gave a shit about that much or vice versa.” Dad gave my shoulder a squeeze. I knew that he and his sister Claire never spoke and I hadn’t had the guts to ask him if he ever planned to see her again. I’d actually never met her or my cousins, and from the stories I’d heard and overheard it was no great loss.

“Well, I do have a sister that I give a shit about and you just made me realize what a fucking neglectful brother I’ve been.”

I laughed at Pop’s response. “So why not have a Justin/Molly Day?”

“I think I’ll just work on having the family over in the next few weeks. That should suffice.”

“So is it okay for Jenny and her dads to come out here on Saturday? I know that means you’ll probably have to hang out with Uncle Michael and Uncle Ben.”

“I think we can manage to hang out with your uncles for the afternoon and not get in your way. We have actually spent some evenings with them in the past.”

I blushed realizing that Dad and Pop had been hanging out with the uncles forever. I saw the smile on Pop’s face and he took Dad’s hand for a brief moment and winked at him. “I guess this will be one of our more G-rated visits with Ben and Michael.”

“At least there won’t be any of their Stepford neighbors joining them for the afternoon.”

“Brian, look at our lives. Take a close look.”

Dad looked at Pop as if he didn’t understand what he was talking about and I smirked realizing where this was going.

“We have a son who lives with us; we live on a fucking estate; we have the family over for birthdays, holidays and all sorts of random occasions in between. We commute to work and come home for dinner most nights and sometimes even watch movies with our son and his boyfriend. Is all this coming into focus?” Pop smiled and ran his tongue along his lips as if he’d just swallowed that fucking canary.

Dad ran his hand through his hair. “Fuck! I’m a fucking Stepford Fag!” He stood up and looked at me and then at Pop. “How the fuck did you let this happen to us, Sunshine?”

Pop and I both started laughing. It was rare that I got to see Dad really queen-out, but this one rivaled the best of them, especially due to the cause.

“What the fuck are you two laughing about? I don’t want to be lumped together with all those ordinary, run-of-the-mill, fags.”

Pop got up and took a deep breath and leaned in close to Dad so he could whisper (although it was just loud enough for me to hear), “How about tonight, after our not-so-typical son goes to his room to finish his homework, I take you to our room and show you just what sets us apart from all those other run-of-the-mill fags.”

Dad looked at Pop and raised his eyebrow. “Now that’s an offer I can’t possibly refuse.”

“You’d better never refuse it.”

“I have no intention of looking a gift horse in the mouth.” The two of them stood there and then locked lips so tightly I wasn’t sure they’d ever come up for air.

“Ah-hem, impressionable kid in the room. How about tabling this until I actually leave the table and go to my room to finish said homework?” I smirked.

“Well Gus, I guess you have a point.”

“Justin, when is dessert -- I sense that we need to move a bit faster through this meal.”

I rolled my eyes. Dad could be so corny and transparent, all at the same time.

“Right away, dear,” Pop deadpanned. “Now before we get totally off the topic, I say we’d welcome Jenny and her fathers here. Gus, are these Gus/Jenny Days, as you call them, important to you or are you continuing for Jenny?”

“You know, I thought about that after she called and I realized I really did miss her and those days. It kind of forced us to get together and made me discover she’s a really smart, cool person.”

“I guess life with your mothers wasn’t all bad was it, Sonny Boy?”

“No, I guess not.” I paused and thought about it briefly. “Dad, Pop, do you think now that Mom is getting better that she and Mem might...”

“No, Gus. I’ve been working with your Mom. I see her every workday. She’s doing really well, but she knows that she and Mel were a divorce waiting to happen.”

“Why did it take them so fucking long to figure it out?”

Dad put his hand back on my shoulder and I looked at him. I didn’t even realize until this moment that I’d even considered wanting my moms back together. “Because sometimes people get together too quickly and don’t understand the groundwork needed to build a solid foundation for a relationship.”

“You don’t think my moms had a solid foundation.” It was a statement of the obvious rather than a question.

“No I don’t. I was there when they got together.” Dad took a deep breath and I could tell that Pop wanted to hear his response as much as I did. “Mel swept your Mom off her feet. She wanted to give her everything -- a house, a studio, a car and eventually find a way for them to have kids. It was everything Lindsay had dreamed of in college. Only there was one problem.”

“Brian...”

“Lindsay loved the dream more than the person who stepped up to provide it for her.”

I felt a tear creep out of my eye and wiped it away but I think my dads noticed.

Pop touched my cheek where the tear tried to fall. “You’re one of the lucky ones -- you and Jenny. You love your mothers, you love each other and you each have fathers in solid relationships that you love and love you back.”

“I hope my moms can find people to be happy with.”

“I hope so too, Sonny Boy.”

“But don’t you still hate my Mom?”

“I can never hate your mother -- that’s one of my weaknesses.”

I looked at Dad and Pop as they then gazed into each other’s eyes and it dawned on me, ‘For Superman it was Lois Lane and Kryptonite. I guess for Rage it’s JT, Gus, Lindsay and Michael.’

Dad looked at me and his eyes were moist, “Justin, your fucking allergies must be contagious.”

“Yeah, that must be it, Brian.”

I stood up and brought my dishes to the dishwasher and grabbed a donut and a napkin. “I think I’ll take my dessert upstairs and eat while I do my homework. Didn’t you two have other plans?”

My dads were lost in each other and began to walk upstairs leaving the dishes behind on the table. I stayed downstairs to finish cleaning up, knowing that they needed time to be alone.

I was really looking forward to seeing my sister. It was obvious that we needed to talk and understand each other and the direction our lives were taking us and those we loved. I hoped Saturday would be the renewal of a really fucking good tradition -- one of the few that my moms gave us and we could be truly grateful for.
 

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