Lawn Boy

I went home alone because Jack went to hang out with some friends and Ashley had cheerleading practice. But when I got home, my mom wasn’t alone. When I walked in, my dad was with her and they were arguing as usual. Rebecca was at work, or maybe with Jamie.
“Max, son, it’s so good to see you,” said my dad.
A lot of people say I look like him. He’s tall and thin and has curly hair and pale skin. Great, like my mission in life is to look like the biggest asshole on the face of this planet.
“What’re you doing here?”
“I came to see you and your brother and your sisters.”
“Well, I don’t know about them, but I don’t wanna see you,” I said, walking past him and going to hug my mom alone.
“Where are Jack and Ashley?” Mom asked.
“Jack’s at Todd’s house and Ashley’s at cheerleading practice.”
“What happened to your face, Max?” Dad asked.
“None of your business”
“It’s my business you’re my son.”
“Dad, why are you here?”
“I’ve just been thinking about you kids a lot lately and I wanted to see you.”
“Oh, were you thinking about us kids when you were cheating on mom?”
“That’s not fair,” he said.
“Really now? Maybe we shouldn’t talk about fairness.”
“Did you get into a fight?”
“Something like that.”
The doorbell rang.
“Max, please get that.”
I walked and answered the door. It was Asher.
“Hey, I know that we didn’t leave things on a good note at school and I didn’t wanna apologize over the phone,” said Asher.
“Look, Ash, this really isn’t a good time.”
“Oh,” he looked inside.
“My dad’s here,” I said.
“Who’s at the door, Max?” Mom asked from the living room.
“Asher,” I said.
“Look, I can come another time,” said Asher.
“No, come on in. It’ll give me an excuse to get away from my father.” I walked into the living room with Asher. “We’re going upstairs, mom.”
“Aren’t you going to introduce me, Max?” Dad asked.
“No,” I said with a sarcastic smile and pulled Asher upstairs.
“What’s all that about?” Asher asked as we sat down on my bed.
“My dad’s an asshole.”
“Is that why you never talk about him?”
“Yes, and now let’s change the subject.”
“Look, I’m sorry that I didn’t say anything when you told me that you loved me. I just didn’t know what to say.”
“You could’ve said it back,” I said.
“But I’m not ready for that, yet Max. Can’t you understand?”
“But you wrote it on that paper. Are you saying you were lying?”
“No, but…it’s complicated, Max. I don’t know how I feel about you. I just…”
“You just what?”
“When I hear your voice, my heart starts to beat really fast. When I see you, I get so excited that my entire body starts to tremble. I’ve never felt like this for anyone else. Is that enough?”
I smiled and reached in and kissed him. He kissed me back and the kiss started to get deeper. Before I knew it, we were laying on the bed kissing and feeling and rolling around. But it was quickly ruined by my dad barging in. We quickly sat up on the bed and forced to hide our hard-ons.
“Dad, don’t you fucking knock!”
“Uh—Ugh—Sorry”
He closed the door.
“Shit…”
“I’m sorry,” said Asher. “This is my fault. I should’ve left.”
“No, this isn’t your fault. My dad had no business just barging in here.”
The two of us walked downstairs to the sound of yelling. My dad was yelling at my mom of course. I ran into the living room right away to stop it.
“How could you let this happen? Did you know about this?” He was yelling almost at the top of his lungs.
“Dad, stop yelling.”
“What? This is between me and your mother Max.”
“No, this is about me, dad. You don’t have anything to do with it.”
“You’re my son. I think I have right to have a say in what you do and who you are.”
“Last time I checked, you ditched us for some slut and don’t get a say in what I do or who I see anymore," I said.
“Don’t talk to me like that,” he grabbed my forearm. “I’m still your father.” He started to squeeze and it was really starting to hurt.
“Ow, dad, that hurts.” I tried to break free, but I couldn’t.
“Allen, let him go,” mom yelled.
“You…are not a faggot.”
He was squeezing so hard that my eyes were starting to water. Finally, I saw Asher walking up. I wanted to stop him, but I couldn’t muster up the words. I was in so much pain. It was shooting up my arm and going down my back.
“Let him go!” Asher hollered.
Asher pushed my father and my father flew to the ground, taking me with him, but finally releasing me once we hit the ground.
The whole even was so shocking that no one said anything after it happened. There was just silence. I got up and then my dad did.
“I’m gonna go,” said Asher.
“No,” I said. “Just…Just wait.”
“Max, I think this really is a family discussion we need to have,” said dad.
“Asher is my boyfriend and I don’t keep secrets from him.” Except for one. “He stays.”
“Max is right, Allen.”
“I just don’t understand this, Max. How did you get mixed up in this?”
“I didn’t get mixed up in anything, dad. I’ve always been gay. I’ve known since I was like nine. I just never told anyone.”
“Allen, this is who he is,” said mom. “There’s nothing either of us can do about it, but accept it.”
“Don’t tell me you approve of this.”
“Asher has been over a few times and we’ve had him over for dinner. He’s a really good boy, Allen.”
“I don’t care about him. I care about my son.”
“Our son, Allen; Max is our son and I have full custody remember. You agreed to that.”
“I didn’t know that you would let our son go off and get himself mixed up with some kind of pervert.”
“Don’t bring Asher into this and don’t call him that. You don’t even know him.”
“You don’t either, Max. You don’t know what you’re getting yourself into.”
“Dad, I do know him. I love him.”
Silence once again. I looked at Asher and he looked at me and then I looked back at my parents. My mom was smiling, but my dad was looking down. I suppose he really didn’t know what to feel. I turned back to Asher.
“Can we get out of here?” I asked him.
“Sure,” he said.
I took his hand and we walked out of the house.