“Because being LGBT isn’t funny?” At least Faye wasn’t homophobic.
“No, because my ex is a woman. I am gay.”
“Oh-h-h-h.” I probably sounded a little too excited about that. And it didn’t help when my traitorous mouth decided to open up and say, “Me too.”
All Faye said in return was, “How lovely for you.”
But—and I swear on my grandmother’s grave that I wasn’t imagining it—she looked at me differently after that.
* * *
On Friday night, my friends weren’t too amused when I told them I might have to miss the open mic night to babysit.
“The fuck?” Andrew asked over the phone. He was already at the bar with Sven and Farrah, and I could hear them complaining in the background. “You always come. How much are these people paying you to skip it?”
“No pay,” I said, moving the phone from my ear to check if a text had come in.
“It’s a family thing, then?”
“No…” I drew the word out for the time it took me to cross my bedroom from one end to the other. “It’s just a thing.”
“And you really can’t get out of it?”
I checked for texts again. Nothing from Faye… yet. What if she texted at ten needing me to take care of Gretchen? “I haven’t actually been asked to do it yet, but I want to be available.”
“What the fuck!” Andrew’s volume dropped, and I realized he was holding the phone away from his mouth as he told our other friends, “Jaz’s on standby in case she gets a babysitting call.”
“Look, I’ll explain,” I said.
“Over some drinks when you get here?”
One final check for a new text. “Yeah, fine. I’ll be there in twenty.” I could always leave if Faye needed me.
“Make it ten,” Andrew said threateningly.
I got to the bar exactly eighteen minutes later. I wasn’t going to let anybody push me around.
The first group of amateur poets was only halfway through, so I slid into a seat next to my friends and listened. The poetry wasn’t bad this time. You never knew what you’d get. Some nights, there was some pretty cringe-worthy stuff.
The final guest finished reading a long, emotional poem about his dad’s mental health issues, and the crowd erupted in cheers.
I stood up to head to the bar when Andrew’s arm blocked my path. “You’re not going anywhere until you tell us what was going on earlier.”
That reminded me to glance at my phone again. “Nothing.” And there were no new messages, either.
Sven and Farrah circled around me, crossing their arms. “Doesn’t sound like nothing.”
“All right, fine.”
These friends were all masters’ students, too. They’d understand wanting to impress a thesis supervisor. Keeping the explanation as brief as possible, I filled them in on what was going on.
Except they weren’t as understanding as I’d expected. After glancing at the others, Farrah took the lead. “This doesn’t sound terribly good for you,” she said carefully. “Dr. Erwin’s in a bad spot, but expecting you to babysit without pay? Seems to me like she’s taking advantage of you.”
“No, no. I offered.” I thought for sure that’d clear
up my friends’ objections… but it didn’t.
Sven had a less diplomatic approach than his girlfriend. “Are you fucking stupid?” he yelled, his accent coming out stronger than usual. “You don’t work for free. Only a stupid person does that.”