Still Writing (But Here’s a Little More)

“How could you not have told me that Sarah is gay?” I pounce on Adam as soon as he crosses the threshold. “She comes out at the first Roth family holiday party that I ever miss and nobody mentions it to me afterwards? Three people remembered to report that Aunt Trudy had her gallstones out. ”

“I thought you knew like everybody else!” he answers, defensively.

“What do you mean?”

“Did you ever see Sarah date a guy in high school?”

“Well, no. But she was really busy. She was on both the girl’s tennis and golf teams.”

“Think about that statement for a moment.”

“That’s a stereotype! Besides, she actually lived with a guy in college.”

“You mean her roommate, Christopher, who was studying fashion design?”

“That’s a ster…”

“And had the huge rainbow flag hanging over his bed?”

“Okay, I’ll give you that one. So, he was just her friend?”

“Yeah, she was dating that chick, Heidi, who she used to bring home all the time.”

“She just brought Heidi home all the time because Heidi was her best friend. They were both Women’s Studies majors and they liked the same writers and stuff.”

“Such as …”

“I don’t know, Getrude Stein and Patricia Highsmith. And that poet … Sappho. Okay, I see what you’re saying, but how do you know they were sleeping together?”

“I caught them in a liplock once. And trust me, seeing two chicks making out and having one of them be your sister is a very confusing moment for a thirteen-year-old boy.”

“Oh. Well she must have dated guys too. What about Jack from grad school? Her bedroom was right next to mine and I know he wasn’t just a friend.”

“You mean Jacqueline Reardon?”

“Jack is girl?”

“Well, not now maybe, but then … Jack was. Technically.”

“Oh … kay. Well, still if Jack was becoming a guy …”

“I don’t know! Our sister, Sarah’s a lesbian, end of story.”