Kid has never been more glad or miserable for his lessons with Celia. “You’re letting me go?” He covers his face with his hands. The worst days of his life begin typically. Kid’s parents went out for lunch and never returned. His uncle went out for a beer and wound up with his head separated from his shoulders twenty-four hours later. The normality of the events leading up to each catastrophe has always sat heavy in his gut. This morning, he woke up to Celia’s warm kisses and Felipe’s hot mouth on his skin. He was happy.
“Isn’t that what you want, boy?” Felipe asks. “Your freedom?”
“Yeah…I guess.” Please. Don’t send me away. Celia thrusts her face onto his chest and sobs. “Celia—”
“—We’ll travel by car for a few hours to a private airstrip. Reynaldo can take you anywhere you wish,” Felipe says. His tone gives nothing of his emotions away. Except…Kid can see how hard he’s gripping Celia’s hand. He can’t look away.
Kid has been wary of ever feeling safe and secure. Wary of the happiness those things might bring him. Terrified of what might happen if he ever found himself completely alone.
Terrified of this fucking moment.
“Boy. Look at me,” Felipe says.
Kid calls upon every lesson Felipe and Celia have taught him. He meets the other man’s eyes without sobs or protests. He sits, quiet and patient, as this world crumbles around him too.
“Do you remember what I asked you when we met in the dungeon?”
Kid answers steadily. “You asked me what I wanted most in the world.”
“Do you remember what you said?”
Kid doesn’t dare look down toward Celia who is still sniffling on his chest. Felipe has a fondness for poetry, and Kid has to hand it to him—this shit is poetic. He’s going to give Kid his freedom now that he doesn’t want it anymore. Felipe has somehow found a way for him to provide his own send off and break his own fucking heart in the process. “I said…” he wipes at a tear that has somehow escaped, “I said I wanted to go home.”
“Yes, and you said you couldn’t because there is no one left to love you,” Felipe whispers.
“That too.”
“Do you still believe you’re unloved?” Celia’s shuddery words are softly spoken against him.
Kid shrugs. He’s getting fed up with this shit. “I guess.”
Felipe stares at him for several minutes as though he’s trying to decipher truth from fiction. “I’d wager you’re wrong,” he says simply.
Kid can’t take any more. “What are you saying?” He glances first at Felipe, then Celia. “You want me to go? I’ll go. You want me to stay? I’ll stay. Stop being so shy all of a sudden because we all know how ridiculous it is and tell me what to do! You’ve been doing it for months. Nothing new.”
Felipe kisses his teeth but a smile lurks in his expression. “I’ll take your desire for instruction under advisement, boy. For now, I’m asking you: Will you choose to stay with Celia and me? Will you choose us? Will you give us the chance to love you?” There is a hint of yearning in the question.
Simultaneous emotions bombard Kid’s every synapse. He’s falling and flying. Terrified and yet elated. He wants to cry and to laugh. But he settles for spewing out a stream of consciousness. “Fuck!” Kid exclaims. “Why the fuck didn’t you just say that? I thought you were getting rid of me! I’m over here choking down my dinner so at least I have something in my stomach when you toss me out. I’m wondering how I’m going to live without you guys, and the whole damn time, you never said I can stay?”
Felipe laughs heartily and pulls both his lovers close to him. He kisses both their heads. “Language, boy.” He pecks the younger man’s lips when Kid lifts his head. “Such a filthy mouth.”
Celia wipes her eyes and grins. She kisses Felipe, and then Kid. “We’ll just have to remind him of his manners.”
Kid laughs. “Yeah, I guess you better.” He boldly reaches beneath Celia’s dress to bury his fingers in her slippery pussy. Seconds later, he takes those fingers and slides them into Felipe’s mouth before he kisses the older man senseless.
They unbuckle their seatbelts because:
Celia can be too brave.
Felipe can’t tell her no.
And Kid is determined to obey.