I think the birthday party is starting to get a bit old. The kids are now separated into small groups, small groups of boys and small groups of girls. 

I see Charlie and Joy talk to another boy near the table. Trying to look like I’m not listening to them, I get closer to supposedly get a bit more juice.

“Yeah, but this is a costume,” the kid is saying. “That’s what you wear every day!” 

“My clothes are great! I picked them myself!” Joy is saying. 

“Yeah, but I go home to a home. I go home to my two moms. And I don’t fight anyone ever.” 

I hear the longing in Joy’s voice when she says, “You have two moms?” 

“Joy doesn’t know who her mom is,” Charlie explains. “She never had a mom.” 

“How many moms can you have?” Joy says. “Why do you get two?” 

“No, Joy, it’s not like that. They didn’t both give birth to him. Just like my Mom was with my Dad, Dylan’s mom, um, she…” Charlie goes red.

“Mom and Mama fell in love and they wanted to get married and they wanted to have a kid. So they had me. That’s how it is. Don’t you know what gay is?” 

Joy shakes her head, clearly embarrassed. 

“Don’t you know what a lesbian is?” 

“No,” Joy says, sounding on the verge of tears. 

“Well, you’re an ignorant hick!” Dylan tells her. 

“All right, all right,” I have to get involved. “There’s no need for name calling. Joy, you do know what gay is. We’ve met a few of them. Colin has Hugh for a boyfriend, remember? And we met Laura, who–”

“But what’s ‘gay’?”

“Gay, that’s what gay is. Didn’t your Dad ever explain it to you?” I ask. 

Joy shakes her head. 

“Ignorant. Pirate. Hick!” Dylan aims his words at her and fires. With each one, Joy doubles over as if she is being punched in the stomach. 

With the last word, she cries.

(To be continued…) 

—Told by Grampa Walt