Big Gay Wedding by Byron Lane

Author:Byron Lane
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Henry Holt and Co.

* * *

SLOWLY, the sun breaks free of night and burns the scraps of fog away, clearing the sky of its sorrow and charging birds like they’re solar activated. The horses snap their tails awake. The chickens poke at mysteries in the ground.

And nearby, Barnett, as if a misfit farm animal himself, sits in the dirt, defeated, staring at his childhood home and the scar laid bare on it, now dry and deep: “FAG.”

By the time Barnett’s feet have warmed enough for him to feel that they’re bleeding, Ezra steps from behind the house. “Hey. I was just looking for you.”

Barnett looks down, doesn’t respond.

Ezra walks over. He steps to the side of the house and leans upon it casually, perfectly, like a model at a photo shoot. It’s not pretentious or posing, it’s more Gap than Gucci, more Louisiana than Los Angeles. Maybe Ezra is finally feeling more at home.

They make eye contact. Both open their mouths at the same time, but Ezra’s breath is faster. “I’m still fighting with you. I’m just coming to tell you to get inside because we’re all having breakfast and I could use some backup because my mother is claiming she’s never in her life eaten cereal.”

Barnett points to the side of the house.

Ezra rounds the corner and stops as soon as it’s clear. “FAG.”

“Truce,” Ezra says.

“Truce,” Barnett says.

“Who did this?”

“It’s fresh. I just chased him off.”

“Chased him off? Like in a movie?” Ezra asks, turning to face Barnett, to see if he catches jest in his gently estranged lover.

“Yeah,” Barnett says. “It was a little like a movie. I thought he was a ghost at first. I thought he was my dead dad.”

Ezra turns back to the graffiti. “Your dead dad has great penmanship.”

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