The day of reckoning had arrived. It was late evening, and Adonis drank tea as the sun descended. Cal made cucumber sandwiches, crust-removed, and she ate them as she sat on the counter. She was recovering from the embarrassment of seeing Deo while wearing a dress. At one point, he had tensed like he would hit her, but he had controlled his temper. He had agreed to give her the money, although he no longer needed her to be his fake girlfriend. The whole thing left her with a bitter-sweet feeling. How many more misinformed decisions would she make? Cal washed the dishes.
The cool cucumbers soothed her tongue. As she stared through the window, her father's Mercedes-Benz parked haphazardly on the driveway. She put her sandwich down as she watched her father, stepbrother and stepmother get out the car. 'The whole clan has come to disown me', she thought with a wry smile. She wiped her hands on a piece of paper towel and told Cal, "Go get the front door, I'll be in the living room."
As Cal opened his mouth to respond, the doorbell rang. He turned off the pipe and lowered the plate into the sink.
She walked away from the counter and smoothed the wrinkles out of her ruffled dress shirt. She knew what her father had come to do.
Adonis entered the living room; it had upholstered furniture wrapped in plastic. Above the fireplace, Cal had added a painting of a pretty dark-skinned woman carrying a basket of fruits on her head. It gave the place a bright, tropical feel though thick, grey clouds rolled across the sky. There was a bay-window with a view of the garden and front lawn. Adonis leaned against the wall and stared out the window. She posed with her fist beneath her chin to look cold and disengaged when they came in.
She heard their approaching footsteps. With her back to them, she said, "Mother will be here in a moment. Please wait. Cal, fetch Madame Cruz, the ex-wife."
She heard Cal's retreating steps.
Gus said, "It doesn't matter. I'll be quick. You have dishonored our family." Adonis turned on them. Her father, the devil, was a tall, handsome white-haired man with a chiseled face. His heavy brows lowered as he glared at her. Next to him was her brother, who was the same age as her and clearly the product of her father cheating during the course of the marriage to her mom; he was two months older than her.
Achilles was tall with pale blonde hair and white skin. Both siblings had their father's startling blue eyes, but Achilles' face was awfully plain when compared to their father's. The stepmother was an elegant woman, well-dressed and beautiful. Long, blonde hair curled at the ends to add volume. Her green eyes watched Adonis with disappointment.
Adonis held her arms behind her back, feeling as powerful as a villain she had seen in a movie. She said, "You have come to disown me, yes?"
"He doesn't need a fag like you to further taint his reputation," her brother, Achilles said. He was middle rank in their graduating class when it came to martial arts. However, his academic grades were somewhere in the top 5, so he wasn't a complete idiot.
Adonis ranked near the bottom because she had poor attendance. There was something about being picked on that just didn't inspire her to attend school every day. You would think teachers would realize that bullying could impact a child's mental state, but at her school, depression didn't exist, and anxiety was an excuse. As a result, her average was in the low eighties despite getting perfect scores on tests on the days she did show up.
She sat on the arm of a chair, draped one leg over the other.
Her father, Gus sucked air through his teeth. "What are you doing? Posing for some sort of photoshoot? This is serious business."
"Well, father, by law, I'm still a minor. And you are required to take care of me until I'm 16, then I'll take over."
Gus narrowed his eyes. "I'll give you the bare necessities. The house, you can keep till you turn eighteen. After that, it will be demolished." He nodded at the wife, who took out a voice recorder, and he repeated himself. "I'll give you the bare necessities-" He paused. Madame Cruz and Cal had returned.
Adonis said, "Father, this is Cal, my cousin, the guy you saw next to me in the picture where I was dressed as a girl."
"You have no cousin that looks like that," Gus said.
Adonis took Cal's arm and said, "Not blood-related, of course. Just a guy I met on the street; he needed a place to stay, and I offered him a room in our house. My cousin."
Achilles said, "You are a fucking liar. That is your boyfriend, I know it is. Emmett said so."
Adonis smiled at his simple reasoning then said, "My dear brother, you fail to realize that Emmett is as gay as I am, perhaps gayer seeing he tried to have sex with me while I had no intention of doing that with him."
Achilles faltered, his gaze shifting as he tried to discern the truth of that statement.
Madame Cruz had found her voice and managed to interject, saying, "Someone tell me what is going on." Her jowls shook in rage. "What is this about an Emmett and you wearing woman's clothing?"
Adonis said, "Well, mother, I'm being disowned. Father and I were discussing the cuts in funding till I turn sixteen and he can legally abandon us."
"What?" She walked over to Adonis. She grabbed her daughter's throat, squeezing hard enough to choke her.
Adonis coughed and tried to pry the lady's fingers off her neck, but they latched on.
"That's enough. Please lower your hand, madame," said Cal. "He can't apologize if you are choking him."
Madame Cruz slapped Adonis across the face, humiliating her in front of everyone. Adonis' cheek stung as Madam Cruz said, "Get on your knees and apologize right this instant."
Adonis' face continued to throb, but she was used to pain. She no longer cried after getting beaten. She was stronger now than ever before. She didn't get on her knees; she didn't ridicule herself anymore. Staring at her father coolly, she clenched her jaw and said nothing. Her indifference seemed to annoy all of them, especially her mother.
Achilles fingers clenched and unclenched; she could tell he was itching to talk to her in private. He had warned her to stay away from boys before, and this had undoubtedly hurt him. But what he thought happened was a lie, and he didn't believe her. No one did. She had never even kissed a boy. Why did people think the worst of her because she wore a dress one-- okay, maybe not once but a dozen times?
Cal placed himself between Adonis and Madame Cruz, who was raising her hand for another slap. He told the father, "I'm not sure what the issue is here, but this Emmett tried to rape your son. I stopped it. I'm not his lover, nor am I gay. Now, I understand this guy may say otherwise." He pointed to Achilles. "But that is not the case."
Gus told Cal, "I don't know who you are, but this is a private conversation between family members. Please leave the room."
Cal made a disgruntled sound. "With all due respect, sir, I can't. Adonis is my employer, and I will not leave him in harm's way."
Achilles turned to his dad and said, "See? It's his boyfriend."
Adonis sighed inwardly. Her brother could be such a simpleton sometimes; he was too quick to believe others.
Gus observed the two of them then told Adonis, "Fire the boy, restrain from all boys and dresses, and I will consider extending your funding till you turn eighteen."
Madame Cruz quickly gave her assent. "Yes, he will. I swear."
Adonis said, "I will not. My life is no longer any of your concern. Leave us the house till I turn 18; I'll provide the rest." She had waited her whole life to say that. Her father had held his money over her head, using it to threaten her for as long as she could remember. She was sick of it. She liked the confusion that rippled across his face as he realized his threats would no longer work.
Madame Cruz raised her hand to hit Adonis again, but Cal held her wrist. "Madame, I'll have to ask you to stop hitting him."
"I'm your employer as well, Cal. Please leave the room."
Cal released her wrist but said, "I will not."
Cal's actions and care for Adonis furthered the misunderstanding. "So, he's the boyfriend? You let the boyfriend live here behind my back?" Gus shouted at Madame Cruz. "I told you I didn't want him doing this sort of thing."
Madame Cruz shook her head, and her jowls, and told her ex-husband, "No, I didn't. I had no idea this was going on. I will kick him out immediately." To Cal, she said, "Pack your things and go."
"He is not my boyfriend, and he stays," Adonis said evenly. "The discussion is over."
"And where will you get the money from?" Gus asked, crossing his arms over his buff chest.
"I have savings," Adonis said. "And friends that are willing to support me."
"So, you plan to become a leech?"
Adonis said, "No, I have every intention to pay them back."
Gus asked, "How? What person in their right mind would employ a fourteen-year-old boy with 'anxiety' and 'depression'?"
"I won't be fourteen forever, father. I plan to join Relar once I turn sixteen." Everyone stared at her; Cal actually stopped breathing. Her brother laughed. He doubled over and laughed till his eyes watered.
Her father said, "You're a fucking idiot. You wouldn't last a day."
"I'll last many days," Adonis promised.
Madame Cruz sat on the couch, her feet no longer able or willing to support her. She massaged her temple; stress lines wrinkled her forehead. She said, "What makes you want to do something like that? Do as your father says and get a decent job. That's all I ask."
The stepmother spoke with a Russian accent, "She is right. Relar is far too risky for someone of your few talents. No offence."
Her brother straightened his spine, but his laughter remained in his eyes. "That was a good one." He looked at Adonis then started laughing again. "What happened to your anxiety? Wasn't that the excuse you used to get out of boxing? You said, 'I can't breathe, coach, and my hands keep shaking, don't let me do it, sir. Please don't make me fight'," Achilles mimicked Adonis' voice, making it sound higher and more irritating than it actually was.
Adonis wanted to punch the guy.
Gus parted the air with a sharp movement of his hand and said, "This is the dumbest idea you have ever had. You want my advice? Find a nice girl from a rich family, marry her, and tell people you are no longer gay-you have corrected your ways and learned from your mistakes. You are not ugly; I'm sure we could find a woman for you. It's time for you to stop this nonsense."
Adonis said, "I don't want to depend on you anymore. You have never loved me, and I don't want you to give me anything out of pity. But I will live my life as I please from now on. And if I go to Relar and die, then I die. Dying would be better than this."
The stepmother, Karina, told Madame Cruz, "I told you. The boy needs a good psychologist to set him straight. The gay thing can be fixed with a little counseling. I recommend Dr. Raj. All his clients transform and become new, better versions of themselves."
Gus told Adonis, "You should do that."
Adonis said, "No. I have made my decision."
"You will die, boy," his father spat.
"Then, I will die." She paused, then told Madame Cruz. "We'll have to do some cutbacks. Fire all maids, but two. Cal will continue to work. I suggest you open a cookbook because he doesn't know how to make anything other than sandwiches. You'll have to learn to make your own delicacies." She walked out of the room, leaving them to watch her back. Cal was close behind her. She told him, "Call the accountant. We have to make some changes to the monthly plans."
Cal said, "Is it that hard for you to be straight?"
She went upstairs. "This has nothing to do with being straight or gay. The problem, Cal, is I'm not free. Do you know what it feels like to have your wings cut? To feel like you can never truly be yourself? It suffocates me. I want to be free. And in order to do that, I will have to become independent." She paused then continued, "In addition to that, you were the only one in that room that gave a shit about me. I will not fire you. You're the only person I have in this godforsaken place."
With that, she turned away from him and went into her room, locking the door before Cal could follow her inside. She stripped down to her underwear and climbed into bed.
***