A Family Affair

by Rob Loveless

  “Claire,” Cal began, but his sister cut him off.

  “I’m sorry that you’re sooo miserable all the time. We get it; your life sucks—”

  “Claire!” their mother interrupted.

  “But do you have to always bring everyone down with you?” she continued. “Well, congratulations. You just ruined my engagement for me by pulling this stunt. Are you happy now?”

  “Yes, Claire. I am so happy right now. Mom is crying, I just outed myself, Grandma Pearl is about to have the pope excommunicate me, and my ex is cheating on you. I am so fucking happy right now!” Cal shouted. “I didn’t ruin your engagement; he did.”

  “Oh sure! Keep lying,” Claire shouted in tears.

  “Claire, he is a fuckboy. He is actively using a gay hook-up app.”

  “Bullshit!” she countered, feeling confused and hurt as she tried to process all she had been told thus far.

  “Sophie and I caught him two nights ago meeting up with a guy he met online,” Cal revealed.

  “Sophie,” Claire said solemnly as the family turned their attention to Sophie for an answer. “Is he telling the truth?”

  Sophie flushed but nodded her head before staring down at her lap.

  “Well, why the fuck would you wait till now to tell me…like this!” Claire snapped.

  “Andrew was going to tell you, but then he pulled this shit like the fucker he is,” Cal retorted.

  “Language, language!” Mrs. Adams scolded.

  “Goddamn it, Cal,” Andrew finally chimed as he shot up from his chair and stormed over to his ex. “You want to act like some martyr; like you’re protecting your sister or like you’re some poor dating victim. But you’re just as bad.”

  “The fuck I am,” Cal retorted.

  “Oh yeah? Why don’t we see what Jacob thinks?”

  “You don’t know anything about that.”

  “I know enough. I heard what you two were saying at Crush,” Andrew retorted as he jabbed a finger into Cal’s chest. “You’re just as bad.”

  “Wait, what were you two doing at Crush?” Claire demanded.

  “The night that Sophie and I caught him cheating on you,” Cal replied.

  “The night after…” Andrew began; he knew he was going down and was not afraid to drag his ex along with him.

  “Don’t,” Cal warned under his breath.

  “The night after what?” Claire inquired.

  “The night after we…well, why don’t you let Cal tell you what we did.”

  Once again, the family gasped at yet another revelation.

  “Cal, how could you?” Claire cried.

  “Fuck you, Andrew,” Cal growled reaching the emotional breaking point of their turbulent history. Cal clenched his fist and punched, striking Andrew in the jaw with such force that Andrew stumbled backward.

  “Calvin!” Mrs. Adams shrieked in fright before the entire house fell silent. Andrew glared at Cal and wiped some blood from the corner of his mouth.

  “I’ve got the holy water,” Pearl announced as she reappeared in the dining room, “and I found some prayer cards too.”

  Without warning, Andrew charged Cal and tackled him to the ground. The two men rolled around on the floor, swinging punches at each other. To Cal, their kiss at Crush the other night was not their final goodbye; this sparring match was. He was finished with Andrew, and every strike Cal cast was to serve as an unfriendly reminder to Andrew that they were through.

  There would be no unspoken truce or civility between the two as they had previously planned. Cal was hurt, angered, and embarrassed by that night’s altercation, and Andrew was the root of his frustration; it had always been Andrew who was at the center of his troubles. Cal determined it was time he paid for all his misdeeds, and he punched his ex.

  “Oh shit,” Mr. Adams swore as he sprang up from his seat with Tom following closely to assist in breaking up the fight while the rest of the family buzzed in worry from the dining room table.

  The two men attempted to pull the former lovers apart, but struggled to do so as Cal and Andrew continued to spar with each other. Meanwhile, Pearl clutched her rosary beads close to her heart and recited a prayer card aloud as she splashed holy water on the group.

  “Come on, you two. Cut it out,” Tom grimaced as he yanked Andrew by the collar of his shirt.

  “Cal, stop it. Stop it!” Sophie cried as she scurried over to help Mr. Adams, who was pulling his son off the floor by his belt. After several moments, Cal and Andrew were wrangled apart, both bruised and slightly bloodied yet ready to continue their brawl.

  “You’re pathetic, Cal!” Andrew snarled. “You were pathetic back then, and you’re pathetic now. You made yourself easy to play.”

  “Fuck you!” Cal barked before he wrestled himself free of his father’s grasp and shoved Andrew harshly. “You’re weak!”

  “Hey, hey! Knock it off!” Mr. Adams shouted as he restrained his son.

  “You’re weak!” Cal repeated. “You put on this tough guy act and use people before they can see who you really are and realize you’re nothing. You’re just a little bitch; a little, slutty-ass bitch!”

  Cal and Andrew struggled to be released from their captors’ firm grip for a moment—ready for another go at each other—when a sob sounded that captured their attention; it was Claire.

  “I hate you,” she wept softly before raising her voice. “I hate you, Cal!”

  “Me?” he asked in disbelief. “I was trying to protect you.”

  “Protect me?” she laughed in disbelief. “Look around at what you’ve caused. Good fucking job!”

  “Claire, you’re upset. You don’t mean that,” Mrs. Adams stated, and she wrapped her arms around her daughter.

  “No shit, I’m upset. And I do mean it. I hate you!”

  “Claire,” Cal muttered as his flames of rage were smothered by a wave of guilt.

  “Was I just some joke to you to both of you this whole time while you were screwing each other?”

  “No, Claire, let me explain—”

  “No, fuck your explanation! I hate you!” Claire screamed. “I hate you, and I never want to see you again. Stay the fuck away from me!”

  “Claire,” Mrs. Adams said as she grew visibly upset at her daughter’s harsh words.

  “I hate you!” she repeated.

  “Claire,” Cal said.

  “Sophie, take him home,” Mr. Adams instructed.

  “Dad, I’m sorry—”

  “I know you are,” he replied. The conversation between father and son earlier that week seemed to have struck a chord of understanding and sympathy within Mr. Adams. Meanwhile, Claire continued to weep in the background as several family members attempted to console her. “This is just a mess right now, and I’m not sure how to handle it.”

  The scene in the dining room morphed into a blur as Sophie swept Cal out the front door and into her car. He blinked and was no longer in her car, but in his own apartment. Sophie sat Cal down on his bed and mentioned something about how she would pick up his things from his parents’ house in the morning, but he did not really hear her because he blinked and Sophie was gone and he was lying under the covers of his own bed.

  Time slipped by while Cal wondered how he ended up in his current predicament. While he lay alone in his dark bedroom, Cal’s mind was still in his parents’ dining room as that evening’s events replayed vividly in his head. However—despite his public outing and surge of violence—one image stood out above the rest—his sister’s pained expression.

  “Merry Christmas,” Cal whispered to himself as a lone tear trickled down his bruised cheek.

  Chapter Fourteen

  The aftermath following the Christmas Day fiasco had a profound effect on the Adamses, as interactions between family members were strained. Despite his parents’ persistent calls, Cal attempted to sever communications with his family and only checked in when absolutely necessary. Feeling ashamed and humiliated, he sought isolation to heal. Truthful
ly, the only person he wished to hear from right now was Claire, but he knew that would not happen. Cal had always assumed the protective, big brother role, but this time his selfishness and lunacy had caused his sister’s pain. He would never be able to forgive himself for this, and reasoned that Claire would never be able to forgive him either.

  Fortunately, Cal had been keeping busy in an attempt to forget about the rift between his family. After New Year’s Day, the gym reopened and incoming membership rates skyrocketed. However, there were still some housekeeping items to attend to at work despite the repairs and renovations. Therefore, Cal found himself clocking out of work later and later to get the gym back up to snuff.

  Sophie was a great source of comfort during this time. She made herself available to hang out with Cal and avoided the topic of Christmas Day unless he brought it up. In addition, Rich—her boyfriend of over four years—had finally proposed and asked Cal to be a groomsman, so the two friends occupied their time with wedding details.

  Between work and Sophie’s company, on the whole, Cal was fine. In fact, the silver lining of the holiday chaos was that Cal now had an optimistic view regarding the future of his dating life. Any previous emotional burden he had carried was released from striking Andrew, and he had received the closure he needed. However, a pang of loneliness would settle upon him every night as he went to bed—one that could not be resolved by a romantic relationship.

  Cal missed his sister. He thought about contacting Claire, and even began drafting a text message once. However, he hesitated on reaching out and eventually dismissed the idea altogether. Cal knew she was livid with him and he could not blame her. So instead, he tried to adapt to his new life—one with limited family socialization.

  That Tuesday night in late February, Cal was seated alone at a booth for two at Clive’s, a local sports bar which he frequented. His glass of beer was half empty, and he swirled its limited contents around before finishing it off with a large swig. As he gazed at his empty glass, Cal dwelled on how he had let his family down. The guilt he experienced was so immense that he actually believed the young woman entering the bar was Claire, though her hair was shorter and styled differently. However, as she approached, he realized it was indeed his sister.

  “Hey, there,” Claire greeted sheepishly when she arrived at Cal’s booth.

  “Claire. Hi,” he sputtered.

  “Can I sit?” she inquired.

  “Yeah. Of course. Sure,” he stammered.

  “Sophie told me you were here,” she explained as she removed her olive trench coat and settled herself across from her brother.

  “Oh,” he said. At closer inspection, Claire’s new, ombre hair was fashionable and made her appear more mature. “Um, your hair is different. It looks good.”

  “Thanks. After everything that happened, I needed a change.”

  “I can relate,” Cal mused.

  “So…how have you been?” she asked.

  “Oh, you know…” he trailed off. “How about you?”

  “About the same,” she said and then hesitated for a moment. “Andrew and I broke up.”

  “Oh, I’m sorry to hear that,” Cal lied, trying to sound sincere.

  “No you’re not,” Claire stated without sounding accusatory before an uncomfortable silence fell upon the estranged siblings.

  “I want to be sorry,” he said.

  “Don’t. I’m not sorry we broke up,” his sister revealed.

  “Do you…” Cal began. “Do you mind if I ask what happened?”

  “Well, there was a lot to process from…Christmas,” she explained. “I didn’t really know what to believe. But about a week after Christmas, I found some texts and pictures on his phone; you were right.”

  “I wish I wasn’t,” he admitted. “Claire, I’m—”

  “Hey, babe, sorry I’m late. It was a little icy on the back roads,” a man—with a tawny undercut and light-blue eyes—apologized to Cal.

  “No worries. This is my sister, Claire,” Cal introduced him as the man discarded his winter garments. “Claire, this is my boyfriend—Jacob.”

  “Oh, Jacob. It’s nice to meet you,” she said as she stood up and hugged him.

  “Nice to meet you as well. Cal’s told me great things,” Jacob complimented. “I’ll go grab us some drinks.”

  “Thanks, babe,” Cal called after him.

  “So…how long has that been going on?” Claire wondered once Jacob was out of earshot.

  “That’s a complicated question,” he replied with a slight smirk. “We kinda saw each other a few times before the holidays, but didn’t start dating seriously till after New Year’s.”

  “So does he know about—?”

  “Yep.”

  “How’d that go over?”

  “Not so great, but we really talked it out and I was 100 percent honest with him…about everything. And luckily he gave me another chance,” he answered. “Things have been good with us since.”

  “That’s…that’s awesome, Cal. I’m really happy for you,” his sister beamed.

  “Claire, I’m so sorry,” Cal said. “I honestly don’t know what I was thinking.”

  “Dad kind of filled me in on your backstory with Andrew,” Claire disclosed.

  “Oh,” he replied flatly.

  “Did you love him?”

  “I think…” Cal started as he cleared his throat. “I think that I thought I loved him, but it’s confusing. So much was going on in my life when I first met Andrew, and I think I clung to him because I liked the idea of falling for someone.

  “But it was clearly the wrong time to get involved with someone, with me getting ready to graduate and move away—especially when that person was Andrew. But I fell for him and got attached. I mean, I lost my virginity to him and that was the last memory I had of us…and all those bottled up emotions…and then to see him after all these years…

  “I think I thought I was still in love with him, from when I was in college, except now I realize I was never in love with him. And now it’s like I can think so clearly after years of being hung up on something so insignificant. And now that I’m saying all this out loud, I feel stupid and foolish—”

  “You’re not stupid. I understand what you’re saying,” Claire interjected. “It’s kind of ironic because I lost my virginity to Andrew too.”

  “Really?” Cal blurted out.

  “Well shit, Cal. Don’t sound so surprised,” his sister laughed.

  “Sorry, I didn’t mean it like that,” he apologized. The two grew quiet for a moment until Cal attempted to break the silence with humor. “You know, in college my fraternity had a name for brothers who slept with the same girl.”

  “Oh yeah? What?” Claire wondered.

  “Tunnel brothers,” he informed her.

  “So what are we then? Tunnel siblings?” Claire pondered with a giggle. “Does it still count if a sister and her gay brother slept with the same guy?”

  “Ha ha, I’m not sure,” he chuckled.

  “It’s a pretty fucked up situation,” his sister remarked. “Kinda funny though.”

  “I guess,” Cal commented as he grew solemn. “Claire, I really am sorry—for everything.”

  “I get it. I know you were trying to protect me,” she shrugged. “And I’m sorry too.”

  “But I didn’t protect you. I should have come clean about us the first night you brought him home. Or at the very least, I shouldn’t have brought it up the way I did on Christmas. I don’t blame you for hating me,” he lamented. “And above all else, I wish I could chalk up that night with Andrew to us being drunk, but I knew what I was doing. Like I said, I thought I was in love with him… He was right; I am pathetic.”

  “Fuck Andrew,” Claire swore. “Well not literally, Cal. Control yourself.”

  “Ha ha,” he replied.

  “But honestly, he’s an asshole,” Claire reasoned. “You are not, nor were you ever, pathetic.”

  “Thanks, Claire,” Cal smil
ed.

  “And I could never hate you. You’re my big brother.”

  “I know I keep saying it, but I mean it. I really am so sorry.”

  “I forgive you,” Claire said and she gave Cal’s arm a gentle, reassuring squeeze. “Just promise me you’ll never sleep with any of my future boyfriends again.”

  “Well then don’t take my sloppy seconds,” he teased.

  “You bitch.”

  “I mean it. Don’t even think about going after Jacob.”

  “Ha ha, deal.”

  “Good because I can’t be at the center of another family scandal. I don’t think Mom’s heart can take it,” he continued with a chuckle. “I’m still not sure if I can show my face around the family yet.”

  “Oh, well haven’t you heard? You might be in the clear because there’s been a new family scandal,” Claire informed him. “Apparently last week, good little Troy was busted at school with a joint and over two grams of something that wasn’t oregano.”

  “Oh jeez, a homo and a toker? What is happening to Pearl’s good Christian family?”

  “Actually, Grandma Pearl is coming around,” she revealed. “Since Christmas, she’s been binge-watching Will & Grace.”

  “Great, so now when Grandma thinks of her gay grandson, Will & Grace is going to be the first thing that comes to her mind,” Cal said.

  “Better than Satan’s hellfire,” Claire joked.

  “This is true.” The two siblings laughed together, appreciating each other’s humor after months of separation.

  “I’ve got our beers,” Jacob announced in a cheerful voice as he seated himself next to Cal and distributed the drinks.

  “Thanks, babe,” Cal smiled before his boyfriend leaned in.

  “Everything okay?” Jacob whispered in his ear, aware of the divide between Cal and Claire.

  “Yeah, we’re good,” he replied and kissed him on the cheek.

  “Good. Then, what should we raise a cheers to?” Jacob wondered.

  “To the tunnel siblings,” Claire stated as she raised her glass to Cal’s laughter.

  “Um, what?”

  “Just go with it, Jacob,” Cal instructed as he raised his own beer.