Page 99 of Structure of Love

Dad shushed her. “Not so loud. We don’t want the neighbors hearing us.”

Oh, of course, the tired old phrase:What will the neighbors think?Rather than focusing on their own child, they were far too absorbed with their image. They always had been, hence all my legal troubles being shoved under a rug rather than them owning up to their shitty parenting.

I could sense, too, that while my mother wanted to deny everything she’d heard, she already felt some disgust toward Erin. Her body language told its own story as she took a half step back, orienting herself more toward the house than the baby girl she’d tried to haul back inside not a minute ago.

Zar took a few steps forward. “I understand this is upsetting for you, but your daughter is completely correct. At eighteen years old, she can decide where she wants to be. If she tells me she doesn’t want to go with you, I’m backing her up. You can’t force her into your house. Frankly, I’m inclined to arrest you if you’re going to be violent with her.”

I completely understood why Gage loved Zar. He was awesome.

“I am gay,” Erin quietly repeated the words with such force, they were almost hissed. “I won’t marry a man. I won’t give you grandchildren. After what you did to my brothers, and to me, you don’tdeservegrandchildren.”

Our father’s eyes searched her face and he whispered, “I did everything for you.”

“Yeah, while ignoring your five sons! You thought I was happy about that?” She pointed a finger at me. “Look at him! How amazing he’s become. And he’s got this handsome partner, too, and you won’t even look at him. Or say hi to his boyfriend! What the hell is wrong with you that you can’t take joy in your kids unless you’ve twisted us into this weird carbon copy of yourselves?”

Mom protested, tears streaming from her eyes. “I do love you!”

“I don’t give a fuck if you do,” Erin snapped. “Your love is conditional! Clearly, since you can’t love your sons because of gender disappointment. Which is the stupidest thing on the planet.”

Mom lowered her eyes, and she seemed to be at a loss for how to turn the situation around, what to say to quell Erin’s anger.

Good luck. It wasn’t happening.

Erin was done with the show at this point and turned for the truck once more. “Don’t bother contacting me. I’m done with both of you. I’ll come to your funerals. Maybe.”

I had no plan to even attend their funerals, so she had more grace in her than I did.

Gage took her backpack and led her toward his truck. I didn’t follow because I wasn’t about to turn my back on these two. Even with cops on hand. I’d get a brick to the back of my head.

Mom instinctively ran after Erin, trying to grab her from behind, but Madison was faster. She intercepted Mom before she could actually get hold of Erin, forcing her back.

“Ma’am. Don’t make this harder than it is.”

“You get out of the way, she’s my baby!”

“No, she’s your adult daughter, and she’s told you she’s done. Maybe sit and reflect on everything you’ve done wrong, to the point she orchestratedpolice presencein order to leave you.”

Mom stared at Madison as if her presence had just now penetrated. I think she’d been so focused on Erin, she hadn’t thought throughwhypolice would be here, but now you could see realization spread over her face. The horror of it—how her own daughter didn’t trust her and had made sure police were here to stop them from keeping Erin here.

My father, of course, kept on yelling.

“You can’t do this, we haven’t broken any laws! GET OUT OF THE WAY!”

Erin ignored them, climbing into Gage’s truck. I glanced at Zar, but he waved me on. I mean, it probably would be easier to de-escalate the situation with Erin no longer here. I shrugged, mouthedSorryat him, then threw Erin’s duffel into the back seat before climbing into the passenger side. The second my door closed, Gage started the engine.

The entire time, our parents screamed at us, mostly alternating between threats directed at me for daring to takeErin, and pleas for Erin to come back and talk. I ignored it all, as did Erin, who resolutely faced forward.

Gage backed out of the driveway, and through the window I caught glimpses of both Zar and Madison physically holding our parents back so they couldn’t throw themselves in front of the truck. Which they absolutely would have done if left to their own devices.

Erin blew out a noisy, relieved breath the second we turned off their street. “I’m so glad you have cop friends.”

“Me too. That wasn’t quite as ugly as I feared it would be, but I think that’s only because we caught them by surprise. You must have done a great job acting and holding it in.”

“I did. I realized it would be worse, so much worse, if they realized what I planned. I wanted to make sure I had all of my paperwork, like my birth certificate and crap like that, so they didn’t have any leverage over me.” Erin leaned between the seats to put her head against my shoulder. “What a birthday.”

“Yeah.”

I felt for her, I did. As relieved as she must have felt to finally be free, this was hardly a celebration for becoming an adult. “Your real birthday plans are still good. Grandma’s got the party set up for you with your friends in about two hours. We figured you’d want to decompress a little first.”