Situationship II: Jacob's story [LGBT+] [mxm]

7. New Year's coming

Jacob got his diary and placed it on the last shelf of his bookcase, where all his jour­nals lay, hidden behind his academic textbooks. Every December the 31st he hid there the diary of the year that ended and picked another one for the forthcoming year. The only notebook left to use was a simple blue 50-sheet, just like those the pupils have. For so many years, he had been avoiding it because the blue notebooks reminded him of his school years. Feeling as if spinning in a vortex of the past, he had a flashback of a tall dark-haired boy approaching him aggressively and calling him a faggot. His eyes tore up. He was totally aware that all this was nothing more than a memory and that this boy wouldn't even recognise him if he happened upon him now. Yet the wound was still there, deeply engraved in his soul. The recollections of such homophobic behaviours against him and the marginalisation he faced during his adolescence were still hurting him. Anyone not adapting to the social standards of the majority is often a good tar­get because they are treated as a threat to the established social struc­ture, and that was well known to Jacob.

The New Year would find him in a bad mood. Over the past year, Jacob had grown more and more despondent. His problems remained the same, his goals were far from being fulfilled and he was still disappointed by his dreams not coming true. There was no sign of hope that something would change for the better. Everyone was confident that the New Year would bring a lot of new taxes and even more consumer parsimony. Jacob was prudent regarding his expenses. Besides, the money was his parents', not his own, so he shouldn't spend it unsparingly. Nevertheless, he was tired of saving money for so many years. He wanted to travel, to go out more often and dine at gourmet restau­rants. Although the New Year was expected to be gloomy, Jacob was determined to make wiser choices and set some new goals for the year to come.

His parents were sitting in the lounge and they were watching a TV show with live music. The traditional and folk songs provided a proper festive atmosphere, which actu­ally made Jacob feel even sadder. 'Why do we have to be happy on New Year's Day? As if we didn't have any problems...'

The fireworks began early. Jacob presumed that people either couldn't restrain their enthusiasm for the change of the year or were rushing to go to bed. George and Christi­na took videos, but their son, completely indifferent to the fireworks, sent wishes to his friends. However, at twelve o' clock precisely, he joined his parents.

'Happy New Year!' his mother wished him.

'Happy New Year, Mum!' said the boy kissing his mother on the cheek. 'Happy New Year, Dad!' he then addressed his father.

'Happy New Year, kid!'

'Too bad I'm just a kid in your eyes...' Jacob thought.

Pissed off as he was, he headed for his room to get properly dressed. He didn't know what to wear on his night out with Irene and he was too bored to try on clothes. To be quick, he picked a white shirt and black trousers. The black-and-white combination is always in.

'Eh, not so fast, lad!' said his father seeing him walking out.

'I've arranged to go out,' the young man replied.

'You will go out. But first we're cutting the New Year's Pie.'

'Fine. But fast. I don't want to be late.'

'I'm sure your friend will survive a minute without you,' said George.

Jacob smiled ironically.

His mother placed the New Year's Pie on the table and used the knife gently to make the mark of the cross on it.

'The first piece is for the Christ,' she said and separated the first piece from the rest of the New Year's Pie. 'The second piece is for Saint Basil, as it's his feast day today,' she continued, stamping the next piece with the letter 'B'. 'The third piece is for our home and the fourth one for work. The fifth piece is for Dad and the sixth one for me. The seventh piece is for Eftyhia, Kyriakos and Angelica...'

'What? All together?' asked Jacob.

'Well, they're not here to eat any bit of it, are they?'

'No matter, I just think each of them should have their own piece!' said Jacob.

'Luckily, it happens that you have a whole piece of your own, young man. As you can see, the eighth and last piece is yours,' said Christina. 'Last but not least!'

'Okay, I'll eat it tomorrow because I have to go now!' responded Jacob while putting on his jacket.

'Have fun!'

'Beware of the drinks!' advised Mr George.

'Alright... Bye!'

HAPPY NEW YEAR, EVERYONE! 

I hope 2021 will be better than 2020! Personally, all I want for the new year is this hateful pandemic to finally come to an end.

Stay safe and best wishes to you and your beloved ones! <3 

-Steryos