"So my Dad was kicking him and beating him," Luke explains enthusiastically that same night having had a few minutes in the car to recover and realise what had just happened whilst everyone checked Michael out to make sure there were no broken bones. "And I jumped on his back, and I pulled him off, and I started punching him!"
Joy's eyebrows are in her hairline as she stands at the end of their booth listening to him, the new waitress hasn't turned in and she's been on her feet all day but there's no way she's not listening to this.
"Don't forget how you single handedly fought off the attack dogs," Corey adds sardonically.
"And how you foiled the attempt by the Iranian death squad..." Sam chips in, winking at Luke across the table and getting a sarcastic look back.
"You boys think this is funny? That this is your evening's entertainment? This poor child's been fucking traumatised, watching his father go berserk like that!" Joy's traumatised for him. So Liz was right when she said she didn't know what would happen if his father found out, well now she does.
"And as for you..." She carries on, looking at Michael sitting next to Luke in the corner of the booth. He's hardly spoken and can't bring himself to even look at her, it hurts to breathe and he's been quietly prodding and poking each rib carefully as he's been sitting there, feeling for breaks. "...I told you there'd be trouble! But you didn't listen!"
Michael bites his lip, not from pain, but from knowing she's right. He knew he was playing with fire when he found Luke's age out, knew he really shouldn't taste the forbidden fruit but he was lured to it.
"It's not his fault," Luke defends him, looking at Michael quickly before explaining to Joy, "I'm not a child! I'll be eighteen soon. That means I can vote and join the army and get married..."
"Hopefully not in the same day," Corey mutters to Sam under his breath.
"Maybe so. But as far as your parents are concerned, you're still their sweet, innocent, little boy," Joy reminds him, her hands on her hips. "They're not ready to think of you sucking cock and taking it up the ass."
"Mum! Do you have to be so graphic?!"
"Calum, when I am making a point would you please not interrupt when I'm talking! What was I talking about?"
Sam reminds her, "Something about..."
"Sucking cock," supplies Calum under his breath.
"And taking it up the ass," finishes Sam.
"Right. So, they're not ready to see you as a man," Joy explains, looking a little confused and feeling a little strange too, but determined to get her point across. "Especially a gay man. You know, they just need educating so they know what you're going through."
"What about what I'm going through?!" Asks Michael from his end of the table, unable to keep quiet any longer. Yes he may have tempted Luke a few times but that's no reason for his dad to go completely nuts. "His father almost broke my fucking ribs. Maybe I should have him arrested."
"Leave it alone, you've done enough damage tonight," Joy tells him firmly. That's the last thing he should be doing, stirring up more trouble. She turns to walk off but stops suddenly. "Shit," she whispers to herself, taking a few steps backwards in quick succession to regain her balance.
"Mum? You alright?" Asks Calum, seeing his Mum unsteady on her feet.
"Yeah, I'm fine honey. Just tired, been here since six am," She tells him, waving off his concerns as she bends down to pick up a fully laden tray.
"MUM!"
"Joy, you okay?!"
"Somebody get some help!"
YOU ARE READING
Queer as Muke
Fanfiction"The thing you need to know is, it's all about sex. It's true. In fact they say men think about sex every twenty-eight seconds. Of course that's straight men. With gay men it's every nine." Twenty nine year old advertising executive Michael Cliffor...
