“Okay. Go ahead and take a seat. I’ll get us started.”
He sat down as I turned toward everyone watching us. I was pleased to see not a phone in sight. Even Kai had put theirs away. And even better was the fact that there were a few parents of some of the kids in the audience. Not many, but still. The fact that they had come down was important.
“All right,” I said cheerfully. “Thank you all for coming today. I know that school is starting up soon and you’re probably really excited about it—”
Every teenager in the room groaned dramatically.
“—but I appreciate you taking time away from your preparations to be here. Today we’ve got our last guest of the summer. His name is Charles Malone, and he is a dear, dear friend of mine. Which means I expect everyone to be on their best behavior and give him your undivided attention lest you face my wrath.”
They groaned even louder.
I should have been offended. Instead I laughed. “Yeah, yeah. But before we begin, a little history.” I took a deep breath. “You all know me. You’ve heard part of my story before. But something I haven’t shared with all of you is who my family is. You probably know already that like a lot of you, I was brought up in the foster care system. And I had a rough go of it. Being biracial and bigender in a home that didn’t know how to deal with me meant that I had to figure a lot out for myself. But I was luckier than some because I found a family where I belonged. People who saw me for who I was and loved me for it. Charlie was one of those people. He taught me how to stand up for myself and to not take crap from anyone. But I wasn’t the only one he taught that to. Guys, could you come out now?”
Marina stepped out from around the corner. Jeremy followed behind her.
And then came Sandy. And Paul, dragging a barking Wheels on his leash. And Vince and Darren. And Nana and Matty and Larry. They were all smiling as they sat down in the empty row next to Robert. Jeremy stood behind his father, putting his hands on his shoulders.
I glanced over at Charlie.
His mouth was open, and even though he would most likely deny it later, I saw a tear trickle down his rough cheek.
“I know you saw these people earlier and probably had questions,” I said. “This is our family. Mine and Charlie’s. And in one way or another, we’ve all helped shape each other. And Charlie has had a hand in that. We may not all be related by blood, but that doesn’t matter. Because we’ve made ourselves a home with these people, who love us despite our faults.”
“I love you, Charlie!” Matty yelled. “You’re my favorite out of everyone, including my sons!”
“Hey!” Paul and Vince and Sandy and Darren all said at the same time.
Charlie laughed wetly as he wiped his eyes. “You dolt,” he said to me. “You did this on purpose.”
I shrugged. “You’ll never be able to prove it.” I turned back to the crowd. “Now I’m going to get out of the way and let Charlie have his say. And if you have questions, you can raise your hand and wait to be called on. And you will keep them clean and polite.”
“Dammit,” Nana muttered. “There goes every question I had.” She began ripping up a sheet of paper I hadn’t seen her carrying. She threw the pieces on the floor, grumbling to herself.
I sat down in the chair next to Charlie. He reached over and took my hand in his, and for the hour we sat in front of these people, he never let me go.
“Okay,” he said. “So. I guess I—”
“Little louder,” I told him.
He cleared his throat and started again. “I guess the first thing I want to say is thank you for letting me come here. It warms an old man’s heart to see a place like this exist. I didn’t… I didn’t have anything like this when I was your age. Hell, I didn’t have anything like this when I was even older. Things might have… been different. But then things back then weren’t like they are now. It wasn’t until I met a drag queen named Vaguyna Muffman that I was able to realize who I really was. She taught me that it was okay to step out of the shadows. And even though I was probably more trouble than I was worth, she never gave up on me.” As he spoke, his voice became stronger. “And it took me a long time to realize that. Because I wasn’t… comfortable with myself. I had lived a life that, while I wouldn’t change it for anything, it wasn’t true. To myself. To others. I made mistakes. Lord knows I made a bunch of mistakes. And I hurt people in the process. But I was scared, because I didn’t know how else to be.”
I looked out at the crowd. Every single person in the room was watching him with rapt attention.
“This world we live in now,” Charlie continued, “it’s one that can still be scary. Things are happening that I never thought I’d have to see again. But I’m a different person than I was before. I’m stronger. Braver. And I have people behind me that, while I don’t know that I deserve, won’t ever let me go.”
“Damn right!” Larry shouted.
“Language,” Paul said. “For fuck’s sake, Dad.”
“And that’s important,” Charlie said. “It may not seem like it now, seeing as how many of you are so young. I won’t pretend to know what your life is like. What happens to you when you leave this place. But if I could have you remember anything, it would be this: you are important. You are special. It doesn’t matter if you identify as a man or a woman or somewhere in between. It doesn’t matter if you’re gay or bisexual or queer or ace. You are exactly the way you’re supposed to be. And no one can take that away from you. There may be rough days ahead. I won’t lie to you about that. But even if things don’t go the way we expect, you can’t ever give up. Because we are stronger together than we will ever be alone. This is why we fight. To have our voices heard and to let everyone know we won’t be taken lightly. They don’t know who they’re messing with. They want a war? Bring it. Because we are going to be fierce and fabulous, and they’ll never see us coming.”
He was startled when everyone in the room began to cheer.
And then he smiled as wide as I’d ever seen him. The lines around his eyes and mouth were deep and craggy, but he was transformed into something so beautiful, I could barely breathe.
As soon as the applause began to die down, Charlie began again. “I want to tell you about where I came from. And how proud you all make me for being who you are. If I think about it, it really started when I was fifteen years old….”
CHARLIE WAS surrounded by a gaggle of teenagers a