Band Fags! by Frank Anthony Polito

Author:Frank Anthony Polito [Polito, Frank Anthony]
Language: en-us
Format: mobi, epub

“Well, he’s not!” I exclaim with utmost conviction. Even though I keep remembering Joey’s response to my question What would you do if I kissed you right now?…

I don’t know…Probably kiss you back. Maybe Joey Palladino is a fag… Still, I don’t like hearing Brad call him such names.

“Don’t you think it’s kinda weird for another guy to be giving you a Valentime’s Day card?” Brad says now. Even though I know he knows the real word is “Valentine’s.” Then he tells me, “I gave the one I made to my Mom.”

“That was your choice, wasn’t it?” I say with a huff. If I didn’t know better, I’d think Brad was a little jealous of my friendship with Joey. Even though he has no reason to be. My feelings for Joey are totally different from the way I feel about him.

“You can tell me if there’s

something going on with you guys,” Brad assures me. “You know I’m not gonna care.”

To which I reply, “There’s nothing going on…How many times do I have to tell you?”

“Are you sure?” he questions. Like he thinks I’m lying to him. Which is why I suddenly shout, “Joey’s my Best Friend for God’s sake…That’s it!”

To which Brad says quietly, “That’s funny…I always thought I was your Best Friend.”

Obviously he doesn’t get what I’m trying to say…So I simply tell him, “Joey’s a different kinda person than you are.”

From the other end of the line, I hear him scoff. “You mean he’s a Jock?”

“He’s not a Jock,” I affirm. “He just likes Sports.”

“Yeah…He’s a Jock.” “It’s more complicated than that,” I insist. How do I explain it? “Joey likes to do different things than you do, that’s all.”

“You mean he likes to go to football games and watch pro wrestling, right? Stupid Jock things like that.”

Phone balanced in the crook of my neck against my shoulder, I cross over to my desk. Buried beneath a pile of papers, I see pink and white and red sticking out…Joey’s Valentine’s Day card.

Why did I leave it lying around like this? Did I unconsciously want my Mom to find it? Did I somehow think she’d understand?

I run my fingers across each letter of what has become to me the most beautiful word in the world…J-OE-Y.

Then I hear Brad say, “It’s probably ’cause you broke up with Alyssa right after Joey came back.” I can’t even believe he’s continuing to speculate about what happened with my Mom.

“#1—” I say, “Alyssa broke up with me.” I open the desk drawer and shove the card inside. “And #2 —Joey moving back here has nothing to do with why it

happened.” Though I realize now in a way it did. It’s not like I ever meant to hurt Alyssa. It’s not that I didn’t like her. I just didn’t like herlike her. In that way. Which is really too bad ’cause she’s totally a great girl. I wish I could be the one to give her what she deserves. But I can’t.

“Well, how would

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