“I am gay,” he said to himself. He had learned the word from films on the cable channel. The beating convinced him that the word applied to him. There was a new counselor at school, a recent college graduate who had made it clear that she wanted to be Lyosha’s friend. He dialed her number now, from his sickbed, while his mother and stepfather slept in the next room. Lyosha’s courage ran out once she picked up the phone, though. They stayed on the line for five hours, alternating between filler chatter and awful silences. “Is this about something illegal?” she asked. “Drugs?” she asked. “Are
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As it was reported earlier in the book, he had already started to come out to himself. This incident basically sealed it; and because of the vulnerability of it he put himself in the hands of some trusted friends.
Thank God this went the way it did. It isn't always like that. And it has dire repercussions for kids, young adults, and older folks who don't get the support they need when stuff like this happens.
