When did I know I was? I guess I always knew deep down you know. It's something you repress when you come from where I come from, which is from a very masculine father filled with Hispanic machismo and a mother who comes from another machismo filled family but, hey, you can't blame them. It's a typical "we came to the united states so that you can have a better life than did", so already there was no room to be anything less than perfect or extraordinary. And me being who I was, well that was certainly a challenge. Being raised in strong Latino roots was always just another layer of a very messed up cake that was my life.
You have the base layer of the cake which is the foundation, or the support. The support should be the strongest layer, but mine is overcooked, crumbling, and falling apart. Then you have the second tier of caked. This is my personality. You know the layer is there because it's a tall cake, but you can't really see it because its covered in frosting. The frosting is the façade that I put up with strangers, acquaintances, cousins, and family. ESPECAILLY FAMILY. Lord help me if a tia or a tio, whomever, found out my secret. It would be a total shitshow. Like cue the dramatic gasps and crying in Spanish. That's why my cake has a lot and I mean a lot of frosting. That thick, too sweet type that if you eat too much you feel kind of sick. That's how I think of myself. I'm a dry cake with bad frosting that no one really wants. I mean how else have I managed to stay single for 18 years. Oh, I guess I still haven't told you my big secret. What's better than an alcoholics anonymous style of intro. So here it goes, hi my name is Hector Villacontres and I'm gay. Not gay, gay but just gay enough to like boys and piss off all of my family.
YOU ARE READING
The Last 12 Years
Short StoryHector Villacontres was pretty much a loser and a loner. He didn't talk to anyone, he lived life on the low, and avoided any conflict. And then his secret got out. These are his years of climbing to the top of the world.
