The Gus Diaries

Part 2

School Choice

I can’t believe it’s really happened. All four of my parents agreed to let me live with my dads while I’m in high school. This is going to be amazing! Dad and MJ have already started looking for a good school for me to attend. I think their hell-bent on making sure I go to one of “THE” prep schools in the area. That way I’ll be able to get into the college of my choice. Right now I’d just like to start at a high school somewhere, with a minimum of hassle and get out of it a maximum of pleasure. Where have I heard something like that before? Hmmm???

Mom and Mem have been on the phone with Dad and MJ regularly continuing to discuss the best school for me. I can understand why I don’t get the final word but they haven’t even spoken to me yet. What they don’t know is that I’ve been on the internet myself checking out all the schools in Pittsburgh. Dad said that the schools near us in West Virginia don’t compare with the schools he’s looking into in Pittsburg. Since he goes to work at Kinnetik every day and Justin is always checking in with his local agent in Pittsburgh, one of them will always be available to transport me to and from school. Besides, when I’m 16 I’ll figure out a way to use this “commuting to school business” to get a hot, new car from my dads.

Uncle Michael thinks this will be a great excuse to get together with my dads because, “When those two aren’t at work they act like a couple of fucking recluses.” Who knew that Uncle Michael knew what a recluse was…or how to use in a sentence?

There are three schools that I’m interested in, from the descriptions of their programs, varsity sports and percentages of students that get scholarships to whateverthefuck college they want to go to. I don’t need scholarship money but it would be great to get accepted anywhere I want to go down the line.

After taking a closer look I immediately take one school off my list…it’s all guys and that’s NOT what I want. I’m still wondering if I’ll ever decide which type of ass I want more, but right now, with the jury still out, I want to leave ALL my options opened. Who knows, I may even find a hot student teacher in the mix, but I’ll keep that little thought to myself for a while.

Wait a minute, I’m getting off topic. The two schools that look the best are the Oxford-Kingswood School. They have an amazing reputation for sports and the fact that they’re successful at getting their students into a bunch of Ivy League schools isn’t a bad perk either. The other school is, unfortunately, The St. James Academy.

I’m not stupid. I’ve heard about MJ’s attack a few times – although usually by accident because no one wants to talk about it, especially when I’m around. A couple of years ago I got online and Googled MJ. Wow, was I shocked when I read the articles about his attack. It wasn’t just a mugging, he was gay-bashed.

I know that kind of shit still happens, but it was more common back then. Real chills run up my spine when I think that I may have grown up without one of my dads. I love him so much!!! (Although I don’t think I tell him nearly enough. I hope he knows.)

It’s weird that I actually want to go to the same school that gave MJ such grief. He has told me that tolerance wasn’t important to the school officials back then and that he was the first to start their Gay/Straight Alliance with his friend Daphne. Now the GSA is one of the organizations listed on their website as a benefit and selling point for attending St. James. Talk about the difference 13 years can make.

If it didn’t have such a great rep I’d just drop the subject but then I wouldn’t be honest with my family and Dad always says that the only time a person can be respected and still lie is if someone makes them lie. I’m not sure I understand that completely, but it sounds really important.

Anyway, I told my dads that I’d really like to have dinner with them tonight at home to talk about schools. I know they’ve been researching the best options and I’d love to see what they’ve come up with.

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OMG, I can’t believe what just happened! I nearly fainted – but that would NOT have been cool, so I just listened to start with. It went something like this…

“Gus we know you’ve been doing your own research on schools in the Pitts.” Dad confessed. “I’d hate to think a son of mine would go blindly where others directed him.”

“Do you know what schools I’ve been looking at?” I asked.

“I can make a pretty good attempt at a guess. You’re no dummy, in fact you’re about as smart as they come so I’d imagine you’ve checked into all the options and potential for all the private, prep schools in the area. I’d be disappointed if you didn’t. My guess is that your short list and ours are very similar with one glaring exception. Why don’t you tell me what you’ve come up with?”

At that point I noticed MJ fidgeting in his chair and sort-of biting his thumb nail. It made me really uncomfortable but I continued.

“There were only two schools that really had everything I was looking for. Oxford-Kingswood and St. James Academy. I figured the better of the two is probably Oxford. What do you think?”

All of a sudden Justin spoke up, “Why Oxford-Kingswood over St. James?”

He looked directly at me and I think my palms, amongst other things, started sweating. I looked right back at him and decided that honesty was the only way to move forward, “I don’t want to make you relive any bad memories. It sucks that they treated you like shit there.”

“You do know that none of the students who were there back then, as well as the homophobic principal and several of his academic cronies, are still around. The place has changed and it might make an even bigger statement for you to go there and become the biggest fucking success the school has ever seen and then let me watch you graduate – with honors of course.”

Justin’s response blew me away. It almost seemed like if I attended St. James it would somehow change history. It kind of reminds me of stories I read when I was little about killing the mean dragons or defeating the wicked ogres.

This wasn’t about just choosing a school. This was about reclaiming a life and receiving payment for a long-owed debt.

I looked at Dad, whose face was a stone except for a small, wet sparkle in his eye as he glanced at MJ. God, I hope someone looks at me like that someday. Talk about being placed on a pedestal. Someone once told me that love is built on sacrifice, compromise, passion and most of all mutual respect. Boy do these two have the definition down pat!

Then I looked directly at MJ and said, “Okay”.

Dad looked at MJ and said, “Okay?” but it sounded more like a question than a statement.

Finally, MJ stood up and said, “I’m glad that discussion’s over with. I’m starving and dinner should be almost done.” He then quietly walked away towards the kitchen.

I looked at Dad and asked, “So what was the difference between our two school lists?”

“Ours only had one name, and believe it or not both your mothers were in total agreement with us.”

Holy shit!

 

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Today Dad, MJ and I went to register for school. It was so cool finally seeing it up close. It was still sort of weird thinking of MJ’s experience here when I was just a baby.

After we finished all the necessary paperwork…and boy was it a shitload…MJ asked Dad if he wouldn’t mind waiting a few more minutes while we took a little walk down the halls. They were all eerily quite, since it was still summer. Dad stayed about 2 steps behind us. I guess he figured this was a way for past and present to have some bonding time. Dad thinks he’s subtle but I knew what he was doing.

Walking through the halls of St. James Academy with MJ we stopped at a display case of school memorabilia. There was a bunch of trophies and pictures from years past. I glanced at it and was about to pass it by when I noted MJ frozen and staring at something.

There in the display case was a section called “Then & Now”. Under the “Then” side was a picture (one of those posed yearbook pictures) of 8 students in a classroom with MJ and his friend Daphne in the middle. The caption under the picture read:

2001 - Gay/Straight Alliance is born, led by seniors, Justin Taylor and Daphne Chanders.

The picture under the “Now” side had at least 50 or 60 kids in it. The caption under that picture simply read:

Gay/Straight Alliance – Our Pride Never Ceases to Grow

MJ looked really misty so I walked a little further down the hall with Dad silently following close behind. When he finally joined us again, I just turned to him and said, “I’ll always be proud to have you as my dad.”

I didn’t think MJ was strong enough to hold me so tightly. He really rivals Grandma Deb at her best, bone-crushing best. But somehow, this felt like the first time anyone ever hugged me where I felt so much love that I started to feel my eyes getting moist. I knew he’d have some sort of emotional reaction to this whole scene, but I didn’t realize that I would, too.

Dad looked on and smiled, “Oh shit, now I’m living with TWO drama queens.”

MJ snorted and simply said, “I know the feeling.”

Dad put his arms around both of us and replied, “Let’s get the fuck out of here. We’ll all be seeing this place more than I ever imagined.”

I really have two great dads. I hope I remember that after school starts and I want to go out and they tell me to finish my homework first. Oh well, I’ll deal with that when I get there, in the meantime they think I’m sweet – maybe I should go into acting.
 

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