Ch 10: Intervention

Sometimes friends can see what you can't, even if you wish they'd keep it to themselves.

“Have you ever thought about having kids?” Rick held a forkful of lasagna in the air as if he might be aiming it toward a toddler in a highchair. A big guy with black hair and a contagious laugh, Rick lived in the apartment below Michelle and me. He taught drama at a nearby high school, and although not out at his school, he lived an active gay life, regularly traveling to visit the leather scene at gay bars in Detroit. No one had heard of HIV/AIDS in the late-70s (the first case wasn’t reported in the U.S. until 1981), so Rick, like many gay men in this time, relished promiscuity and the freedom of anonymity in his sexual encounters. But he also loved his students, and I could imagine him being a good father.

I squirmed in my chair at his question as I imagined Mom sitting across the table from me. “I’ve thought about it,” I replied, not looking up from my plate. “It sure would make my mom happy.”