The Ridgley U Experience

The Ridgley U Experience Part 19

   As Aaron and I were looking over the gym to make sure everything was ship-shape before we left for my house, Aaron got a last minute phone call, so he ended up having to take the call, which meant I had to take transit back to my house, which was understandable, because the call was related to Aaron's job, which meant he couldn't ignore it. I told Aaron I would see him at my house, then left for the transit stop a couple blocks down from the gym.

   When I got home, I walked up the steps to the house, then went inside. Right away, I saw my mom sitting on the couch with a man that I didn't know, although I could see where I got my attraction to big guys, because this man was anything but small. He had to be at least 6'9", and there was no way he wasn't over 400 pounds. I quietly closed the door behind me, walking more toward where my mom and this guy were sitting.

   My mom looked up, saw me walking toward them, then introduced me, "Brian, this is my son Mike. Mike, this is my boyfriend Brian."

   Brian stood up, immediately making me feel downright small, extending a hand, "Pleased to meet you Mike." he said in a warm voice.

   "Likewise." I replied, knowing better than to be rude in front of my mom. 

   As I looked Brian over, I suddenly got this feeling that he reminded me of someone, but for some strange reason, I couldn't put my finger on it. One thing I did realize about this guy, was he was not hard to get along with at all. We had a very pleasant conversation, I don't think this guy had a mean bone in his body. As we were continuing to talk, the doorbell rang, so I got up to see who was at the door, and as suspected, it was Aaron.

   I opened the door to let Aaron in, and almost instantly, I hear sobbing. I look over, and Brian is in tears, looking straight at Aaron. My mom, Aaron, and I were just straight up confused, why was Brian crying over Aaron coming in the door? Aaron cautiously walks to the living room at first, and then we hear Brian say something that caught ALL of us off guard.

   "Aaron, it's me son! Your dad!" Brian suddenly shouted, still in tears.

   Brian proceeded to pull out a picture of himself as a young father, along with a woman who I knew was Aaron's mom, and of course his late brother Kevin, and then Aaron was in the picture. Aaron saw the picture, and his eyes grew to the size of a fifty-cent piece. In all the years I've known Aaron, I've never seen the big guy go speechless, but this hit him like a ton of bricks. Then all at once, everything seemed to click in his head that this WAS his father, and the next thing my mom and I both knew, both Aaron and Brian ran to each other, colliding like a couple of big rigs, just hugging each other, both of them now in tears.

   This of course, caused both my mom and I to cry as well. We were all crying so much I was shocked we didn't flood the living room, my mom was dating Aaron's father, and she never knew it until now! I went over and sat by my mom, so that Aaron could sit with his father, because I knew he deserved this moment, I was not about to take it from him.

   Unlike my father and I, Aaron and his father had absolutely no bad blood between them. His mother told Aaron when he was just seven years old that his father left the family, which as Aaron grew older, thought it was weird that she'd say that, since she also mistreated Aaron and his brother Kevin, even after she kicked Brian out of the house, because she was just quote "Done being a wife.", she even abandoned Aaron and Kevin when they were 9 and 7 years old.

   Even when Aaron came to school, he had to keep his friendships a secret from his mother, or she would tell him that if he didn't drop his friends, she would beat him, so any friend he made, he couldn't tell her, or she would get angry, she did not want Aaron to have a good life at all, I remember him telling me that like it was yesterday.

   Brian looked over at me, then back to Aaron, "How do you know the little guy over there?" he asked.

   "I've known Mike since high school." Aaron replied.

   "You didn't bully him, did you?" Brian asked.

   "No sir!" Aaron replied, "Not at all! He was being bullied though when I met him, but it stopped once I aligned myself with him."

   "Why was he being bullied?" Brian asked.

   "I think I should let Mike answer that one, I don't want to embarrass him or betray his trust." Aaron politely answered, "I don't mean any disrespect to you dad, I just think it's best if he answers that instead of me."

   Brian then looked over at me, "So, why were you bullied Mike?" he asked.

   I was scared to death to answer, but I just suddenly blurted it out, "I was bullied because I'm actually bisexual." I replied.

   "Come here Mike." Brian requested.

   I got up, then walked over to Brian, who stood up before I got over to him. I was waiting for him to start yelling at me for being in the LGBTQ community, but to my relief, Bryan wrapped his arms around me, giving me the biggest, warmest hug I'd ever gotten from anyone. I just sank into Brian's arms, letting him hold me.

   "I'm sorry that happened to you son. I want you to know, that none of that will be tolerated in my presence. I'm actually an LGBTQ supporter, so I want you to know, that I have absolutely no problem with you being who you are, and I know Aaron feels the same way." Brian told me.

   "I'm relieved to hear you say that, my own father disowned me when he found out." I told Brian, "He called me a disgrace right to my face when I told him, now he's been harassing me and my mother, but harassing me more because I like both men and women."

   "Well, if he shows up here, I'll be sure he doesn't come near you, I'm appalled that he would do such a thing to his own son. In fact, we'll make sure to get a restraining order put on him so he can't come here at all." Brian told me.

   Just hearing those words made me feel 100,000 times safer. If Brian was anything like Aaron, I knew I had absolutely nothing to be afraid of. Brian sat back down on the couch, but made space in between him and Aaron so I could sit with them. Brian immediately put his arm around me, I could see just how proud he was that he got to know me. Now I was wishing that Brian and my mom would just hurry up and get engaged, because I already knew I wanted Brian as a dad.

   After Aaron and his father went back to Aaron's place for the night, my mom and I decided to go to bed, because it was extremely late, and I had to get up in the morning to go with Aaron to the gym, and I already had a feeling that Brian would be joining us, and it was good that he did, and it was also good that Brad, Joe, Paul, and Mark would show up too, because boy would I ever need them.

TO BE CONTINUED..................................................................................................................