" Sophie countered."We do — I was looking at hitting the place at about ten o'clock to give me time enough to scout around." And now?" Caerys wonder...d."It's winter — it starts to get dark around four o'clock here. By seven it'll be just as dark as at ten." And then we go in?" Then I go in," he clarified. "You wait outside." Same thing." Sophie rested a hand on his shoulder, with surprising warmth. "Same thing."Dunfermline, Fife, December 10thGabriel scrolled through the detailed reports at the. Mom ka maza doguna ho gaya. Apne chutar ko jor-jor se uthatee hue bole, “aur jor se bete aur jor se, hai mere pyare bete aaj mai teri mashuka ho gayee. Jindagee bhar ke liye chudwangee tujhse. Ahhh! uiiii maaaa!” Tabhi Mom ne mujhe kas kar jakar liya aur apni tange mere chutar par rakh diya aur kas kar jor jor se kamar hilate hue chipak kar jhar gayee. Unke jharne ke bad mai bhi Mom ki chunchee ko masalte hue jhar gaya aur haften hue unke upar let gaya. Hum dono ki sanse jor jor se chal rahee. “Jennifer?”“Yes?”“I love you.”She sighed, then said, “I love YOU.”“And I love you. If I’m going to get out of here, I need to get off the phone, okay?”“Okay. But I love you anyway [click].”I turned off the phone with a smile on my face, then set the phone down and took a couple of careful sniffs while my smile changed to a frown.“Shit, Richie,” I said, holding him up off my lap to confirm he had soiled himself again. “Why didn’t you tell me you had to go before I put your clothes on!”I turned. Gay on television and in movies was presented as comic relief, something toscare the hell out of the macho hero. Being called gay was the ultimate insultat my high schoolAt that time, I had not quite hit the growth spurt that comes with puberty, soI was a small, thin, frail boy. I had my own crew of friends, but we weresomewhat the outcasts, the "geeks" as some referred to us. I was also thetarget of much teasing from some of the older boys, mostly athletic types, inour school. It hurt even.