Chapter 2

I am stretching my limbs after my daily morning run on the beach. The sweat is glistening on my forehead and my chest is heaving up and down.

In spite of the early hour, the sun is already up and shining. I can tell it’s going to be one hot day. A broad smile crosses my face. Today is the real beginning of the summer; today, the families will arrive… hopefully with a bunch of beautiful daughters.

I take another long sip from my bottle of water and headed home for a shower. Home is an appartment above my aunt’s souvenir shop, that I share with her. I had been waiting for years to be able to move out of the house I shared with my father.

Our relationship has never been cordial and when Maxine, my mother, left her family, it only got worse. It was like Maxine was the reason we didn’t get at each other too much, but when she was gone, all hell broke loose. I simply can’t stand my father’s narrow-minded and stubborn ways. He always has to have control over everything. It goes so far that he tries to tell me how to feel.

I get along with my aunt way better. Melvin’s sister and me have a real connection, a connection I have never felt with my own father. When we had had our rows again, I would always find solace with my aunt Lucy. Lucille Porter is an adorable woman and you just have to love her – unless your name is Melvin, that is.

The first thing I did when I moved in with Lucy, was cry. I cried on and on for hours, letting all the tears out I hadn’t been able to shed at home. Lucy was just there with a cup of coffee and a shoulder to cry on.

I’m now 22 and I live with my aunt since I’m 13. The past nine years have been the best ones of my life. When I discovered my feelings for women, Lucy was the one to help me out and make a confession of her own. I had always thought that my aunt was straight. It wasn’t something I had given a lot of thought – okay, she wasn’t married, but that was just her. She won’t marry anyone, she has a strong desire to stand on her own. When I told her about feeling attracted to a girl in my class, Lucy told me that she was bisexual herself.