Achilles spun and struck the dummy's head with the back of his left heel. He backed away, preparing himself mentally for another spinning backfist. He retreated, pivoted around his left leg, and swung the back of his hand at the dummy's body. The plastic slapped his hand with equal force. Suddenly overwhelmed, he pulled away, brought his knuckle up to his mouth and lightly bit down on it,—a nervous habit.
When it came to martial arts rankings, Achilles was twelfth, and Emmeth was fifth in their graduating glass. Emmet was also the school's best soccer player. Achilles planned on fighting him, but he wanted to win. That fucker tried to rape his sister, and Achilles couldn't let it go. He needed to destroy the guy. He would fight him after training for a few days, but he worried he might not win.
He heard the footsteps descending the stairs.
It was his father. The man looked good for his age; it was clear where Adonis got her appearance from. He cut a lean figure in his grey suit. His face was chiseled. And though he had white hair and was nearing his fifties, he had no wrinkles due to the youth-preserving injections he took ritually. He smiled as he stepped into the gym. He walked over and embraced his son. Achilles felt the muscle beneath Gus' suit; his father could surely hold his own in a boxing ring. His father's blue eyes glinted with delight. "What have you called me down here for?"
"You might want to have a seat," Achilles said, leading him to the bench.
"Alright," he said, hesitation crossing his face. "Should I be worried?"
While his father sat, Achilles started to question his intentions. At frist, he kept Adonis' secret because Adonis had said that she would be killed if he told anyone. But now, he was sure that his father wouldn't kill her. Most men like their father would have abandoned a son who wore dresses and flirted with guys long ago. It reflected badly on them and their company. His father hadn't, so Achilles was sure their father loved her.
Gus chuckled and asked, "Are you going to leave me in suspense?"
Achilles sat next to him and glanced at the various exercise equipment in front of them: pullup bars, rowing machines, leg machines with heavy weights attached. He said, "Your son, Adonis, is a girl."
"He wants to transition?" His father sighed wearily.
"No," Achilles said with a slow nod. "It's more like... he was never a boy to begin with. He is a girl, pretending to be a boy because let's face it, girls have no rights in this economy."
His father blinked, not understanding. "No. Adonis is a boy."
"Have you ever seen his penis, Father?"
Gus glanced at the floor, face contorting as he reflected. "No," he said after a moment.
"Remember when Adonis and I disappeared for a long time when we were younger, and mom nearly died from anxiety?"
Gus smiled at the memory. "Yes. But from what I remember, that happened many times before Adonis stopped sleeping over."
"Well, yeah, but what I'm trying to say is on one of the occasions we ran away, I saw what he—she, Adonis had down there. We had to pee in the woods because there was no toilet. And I wanted to see what he had to compare it to mine— God, it sounds so weird saying it out loud, but he didn't have what you and I have. He had and continues to have a vagina, dad. I saw it, and he—she?—She told me not to tell anyone because they would hang her, and I believed her, so I have kept it secret till now."
"You're certain?"
"Yes."
Gus grit his jaw. His eyes narrowed in anger. His body shook as he gripped the bench till his fingers turned pale.
Achilles felt a flash of fear for Adonis and for himself when Adonis realized he had betrayed her. He put a calming hand on Gus' shoulder. "Now, Father, I know this is a lot to take in, but there's no need to be angry—"
"A lot to take in? A lot take in? Do you have any idea what this means? I have a daughter, and I had no clue that I had one, and I treated her like shit because I wanted her to be a heterosexual boy. If what you are telling me is true, I have put my daughter through hell."
"I do see the irony, but the past is the past. The present is now, and you can fix your relationship with her," Achilles admitted. He had always found it strange when people called Adonis gay. She wasn't. But the guys that liked her might be. It was an odd and complicated situation for all involved. He said, "I would have said something earlier, but she's terrified of you, Father, and I didn't want her to get hurt."
"Damn it. She is a girl...." Gus knocked his fist on his knee. "That day you went to beat the gay out of her—did you?" His back was slightly hunched from tension.
"Well, yes, but not terribly. We kind of fooled around, and she hit me too. I didn't do any serious damage. By the way, you can't tell her you know. She is supposed to tell you at dinner tonight. To be honest, I'm not supposed to be having this conversation at all. She will hate me. And she can hold a grudge for a very long time; she has many grudges against you, going as far back as two years ago—till this day, she can say exactly what you said or did to piss her off. I don't want that to be me."
Gus had stopped listening. "It was her mother's idea—I know it was. She wanted a boy because she wanted me to give the company to them. But Adonis has always been stubborn; she doesn't do what people tell her to do. She's like me in that way....There were so many signs that I just ignored and dismissed it as my son being gay. I walked in on her wearing a dress, and she said it loud and clear, 'I'm a girl'. That stuck in my head, and every time I looked at him, I compared him to women, calling him feminine, but he is female. It's his nature. He's a girl."
Achilles nodded. "Yep. It's funny. Everyone tells her she looks like a girl, but she is a girl, so they're not wrong. A few of the guys at school tried to check what she had down there, but her friends and I beat them up." He laughed at the memory, but it was cut short by his father's glare. He bowed his head and said, "Sorry."
Gus' pain showed in the lines that creased his forehead as he said, "My fourteen-year-old daughter was almost raped by some guy I don't even know. What kind of father does that make me?"
"Technically, you do know Emmett. He was at our graduation, and he did stop by my twelfth birthday party for a few minutes, but he was too cool to stay long—" His father's glare made him stop talking, and Achilles raked a hand through his hair feeling awkward. This was harder than he thought it would be.
Gus said, "I have never been this pissed. It was one thing to know that guy attacked my gay son, but for him to attack my daughter, that's even worse."
"That's why I'm going to beat him up."
"Really?"
"Yeah."
"I'll join you. I can't attack her mother, but I can help you beat up this kid." Gus smiled. "For fourteen years, they hid this from me. I can't believe it. I was an idiot. I was blinded by my own prejudice—Adonis and I used to be close, but once I saw signs of her being 'gay', I pulled away. If she had been honest with me, I would have looked after her. She is my daughter and I've always loved her—She had no reason to fear me."
Achilles asked, "Well, will you keep it secret now that you know?"
Gus sighed and clasped his hands on his lap. "Okay. For your sake, since you value being the older brother so much that you would keep secrets from your dad who has never lied to you—never—I'll pretend I don't know anything until the day she's ready to tell me. But I do love her, I have always loved her, and I'm going to look out for her and protect her any way I can. I want you to know that I'm upset with you. What you did betrayed my trust; do not keep secrets from me again, do you understand?"
"Yes, Father. Sorry. In the future, I wont lie to you." He would try not to lie, but in all likelihood, he would lie sometime soon. It was easier than the truth.
Gus said, "As long as I'm alive, that girl's not dating anyone. She can live the rest of her life as a guy, but she will never date or marry, that's where I'll cross the line."
Achilles tilted his head, musing. He didn't imagine that going down well with Adonis. She liked the idea of dating and wanted to test it out. But it was hard for her to do that while being a boy. It would be better for her to stay single and continue to hide her identity, but Achilles wasn't sure if she could. What if there was another situation like Emmett in the future except with someone closer to her? Like that really good-looking Gregory guy, or her manservant, Cal. Achilles didn't like any of them but tolerated them for her sake. He wished she would make female friends instead. Then he wouldn't have to worry so much. She hadn't shown any interest in girls.
Gus asked, "What are your thoughts on the young guy she hired? Are they together?"
Achilles said, "No. I don't know him very well. But so far, he thinks Adonis is a guy, and thinks of her as a little sister, but he seems to understand her quite well." He thought back to the day he had met Cal. The boy knew the things she liked and disliked like the back of his hand despite only working for her for a few days. He either had a good memory, or he might be interested in her and unaware of it. He added, "I think if he did discover that she was a girl, his feelings would change. The main thing is that he's not gay."
Gus nodded. "So, we'll let him stay for now?"
"For now, yeah."
"Tell me about this Emmett. What do we need to know before beating him up?"
Achilles grinned. "Well, he's a pompous ass and doesn't hang out with me because I'm not cool. Adonis said she met him on a gay app, so we could catfish him with some girl's photo, but say it's a dude. Since he was into Aodnis, it's safe to say that he's looking for feminine guys."
"We lure him out to a secluded location, but we wear masks to protect our identities. He meets with the bait, and we attack him from behind."
"I like your thinking." Achilles' phone buzzed, and he took it out from under the bench. It was a text from Adonis. The holographic bubble hovered in the air above the glass before disappearing.
"She's not coming to dinner," Gus said.
Achilles put a hand on his father's shoulder. "She can't ignore you forever. Everything'll work out in the end."
His father's smile was strained, twitching at the sides. Guz said, "I hope that's true."
***