103 - Bedtime

*There is no way that I’m sending my child to a place like that. Do you know what I see in the emergency room with kids that survive those camps? You want to know how many of them don’t survive the hospital stay? No. I will not have some doctor who doesn’t know my child be the last person to see him take a breath. - Keisha*

Camille and Darkness sat the kids down after dinner and explained to them that their grandparents and aunt wanted to see them. They were quiet and both adults knew that there was more to the situation. Something that the three kids were not going to tell them.

“We’re not going to make you go, if you don’t want to,” Darkness assured them.

“It’s your decision.” Camille added. “And you don’t have to make that decision tonight.”

“Thank you,” Vin said as he stood up to leave the office. His brother and sister followed him.

There was nothing else said to any of the adults about the requested meeting for the rest of the night. Unable to do anything else, they gave the three siblings space as they huddled together speaking softly amongst themselves. While everyone else gathered in the living room to watch a movie, the kids closed themselves off in the game room.

After the movie, with the door to the game room still closed, Darkness told them goodnight through the door. He went upstairs to their room and sat on the edge of the bed as Camille brushed her teeth in the attached bathroom. Feeling defeated, he stripped off his plain gray pocket T-shirt and grabbed the lotion on the bedside table.

The master bedroom was decorated in dark fall colors and Darkness found himself thinking that Keisha would have loved it. The first night here, Camille had looked through the closet and found the different bedding sets that were obviously changed during the year. She immediately swapped the burnt orange for the dark purple.

“Priss would love this,” she snapped pictures of the new bedding and sent it to her best friend. There was still no response, and he knew that his wife was worried.

Whatever was going home, no one was discussing. Even her parents skirted some topics and changed the direction of conversations. Critter knew, but he also refused to talk about it. Darkness wondered if the others also knew.

He wondered about that again while he watched Camille as she stood by the long vanity with double sinks. She wore a blue tank top and coordinating sleep shorts with the Simpsons on their infamous couch on the left leg. He loved seeing her toned and muscular legs and normally would be thinking about what he was going to do between those legs. But tonight, he was exhausted – emotionally and physically.

Camille came and stood in the doorway, toothbrush still in her mouth, “Still nothing?”

Shaking his head he began to apply the lotion to his arms and torso. “No, they’re still in the game room.”

“Why do you think they don’t want to see them?” Camille asked around the electric toothbrush.

“I… I…” he shook his head and sighed as she went back into the bathroom to spit and rinse her mouth.

Before he could finish voicing his thought, or even fully put it together, there was a tentative knock on the door. He cocked an eyebrow at her, and she shrugged as she swished her mouthwash. Tilting her head, she indicated that he should open the door.

Rubbing the lotion into his hands, he stood and approached the door. Opening it, he found Vin on the other side standing in the hall. Stepping back, he motioned for his nephew to enter. With a small nod, the younger man entered. The teen reached over and gently pulled the door out of his uncle’s hand and quietly closed it.

“We’ve talked about it, and we’ll meet them,” Vin explained, and Darkness relaxed. “But we have demands of our own.”

Camille walked out of the bathroom and moved to stand next to Darkness. She slid her arm around his waist, and he rested his arm on her shoulders. “Tell us what you need.”

“When they say it’s time to go, we go,” Vin demanded.

“Agreed,” Darkness confirmed.

“Tell us what you really need,” Camille prodded. A lifetime in therapy and years of volunteering at the North Star Ranch made it easy for her to read people.

The teen looked at her and opened his mouth, closed it and then let out a deep breath. “No matter what they say, don’t leave us. Don’t leave us alone with them,” he seemed to think about what he was about to say, but after a moment, he added, “Especially Mitch.”

“Is it because he’s gay?” Camille asked and Vin looked at her in surprise.

The dark chocolate eyes went wide in surprise, “How…?”

She smiled at the young man only a few years younger than herself. “I have several friends that are gay. He’s at the age to be checking out girls and he’s watching Duke. I admit, he’s easy on the eyes. The kind of eye candy that will give you a cavity.”

Vin chuckled and looked at his uncle, “You going to let her talk about another man like that?”

Darkness kissed her on her temple and pulled her into his chest. “As her friend phrased it, ‘She’s team Black all the way.’ So, no worries.”

She grinned, “Cookie, he’s the ultimate Team Cray-Cray.”

“Two women and a baby, he’s more than crazy,” Darkness chuckled at her amused smirk.

“Molly?” she asked.

“That man is straight up insane,” he laughed before turning his attention back to his nephew. “Is that why?”

Vin nodded, “Yeah. Destiny wanted mom and dad to send him to a conversion camp. Grandma kept saying that it was just a phase. Said that he just needed to be with a woman, and he would get over it.”

He clinched his fists closed as he fought with the anger inside him. With his eyes tightly closed, Vin did not see Camille move away from Darkness. At the gentle touch of her hands on his wrists, he jumped slightly as he opened his eyes and looked at her.

“We’re not going to love him any less because of who he is,” she gave him a reassuring smile. “The women in my family are feracious momma bears. My mother’s Oma lost her older brother to the Nazi’s because he was gay. I will *not* lose another family member to someone’s bigoted ideals.”

Vin looked at her for a moment and then moved quickly to pull her into a hug. “Thank you.”

“You’re welcome,” she replied quietly as she fought back the tears that were filling her eyes. Automatically, she hugged him back.

Vin stepped back and she dropped her arms back to her side and moved back to Darkness. He slid an arm around her waist, resting his hand on her hip.

“Mom and dad,” Vin said with a small tremble in his voice, “they tried. Mom saw stuff in the emergency room. But the church…. Pope Francis has made it a little easier. But it’s still hard for him. He’s always scared.”

“He doesn’t have to be scared anymore,” Darkness assured his nephew. “Make sure that he knows that. He’ll probably believe you more than either of us.”

Vin nodded, “I will. He… he hasn’t really told anyone…”

“You haven’t told any of his secrets,” Camille told the teen.

“Thanks,” he gave a small nod and then moved to open the door. With his hand on the door handle, he turned and faced them again. “Our parents could be shitty at times. God knows that they did some crappy ass shit. Nicki got the brunt of it. When they weren’t ignoring her, they were making her life hell.”

Vin swallowed and then took a deep breath through his mouth. “Mom saw kids like Mitch go into the ER after they tried to kill themselves. They babied him. They expected me to follow in their footsteps and Nicki just fell off the radar. Until they needed her to do something.”

“But they were still our parents. And all our lives have been here. Moving away is going to suck. But not worrying about the kids picking on Mitch or the family demanding that Nicki babysit will be great.”

“What did they expect from you?” Camille asked gently.

Vin scoffed, “Perfection.”

With that, he turned the knob and walked out, pulling the door closed behind him. Camille turned towards Darkness and wrapped her arms around his neck. He wrapped his bare arms around her and held her tightly to him. He buried his face in her neck as a small shudder rippled through his body.

“Why was my brother such a horrible parent?” Darkness quietly asked.

“I don’t know, honey,” she admitted. “We’ll make it better from now on.”