Flip and Trey Ch 02
Meet the 'Rentsâat least some of them
This story is entirely fictional. All characters engaged in sexual activity are over 18. References to past or present Broadway musicals are co-incidental. Man yof the characters is this series will be familiar to those who have read one or more of the Flip series. But these stories are written to be stand-alone. Š 2024, Brunosden. All rights reserved.
Two weeks ago Trey had asked me to arrange tickets for his family (8 of them) for Oklahoma! It proved difficult even for me since the two country stars were just beginning their engagement, and the box office was wild. But, I pulled it out: 8 seats in the second row, center. Meanwhile, Trey's Dad (call me "Jack, my Dad was always Andy") had blown a good piece of the family savings on a week in New York in suites at the Waldorf. Fuck, they were coming for a week! Next week! And Trey and I had still not decided how or if to break the news of our relationship. What were we going to do with them for a week?
We had met with Brent and Kirk and asked their advice, but really were no closer to a solution. Neither had had parent issuesâBrent's Dad had died unknowing of his son's "sexual persuasion" and Kirk's family had always known. But, Brent warned. "It's going to come outâprobably next week. So be ready with a response as between the two of you. Do you know what you want? And what you need? Trey, is Flip more important to you than your family, if it comes to that?"
That conversation had set the fire. Trey and I had talked. We had decided that we were a couple, and that we were ready to shoot for a long future. But, then those nasty circumstances came up. I was about to undertake the career making role of my life. Rehearsals were starting in two weeks. Imagine starring in an ALW musical?
Trey knew what his family expected. His future had been decided for himâand it was in Mobile, or possibly Birmingham, where the largest manufacturing facility existed. His mother would find him a girl. He was a talented engineer. He loved the challenge of theatre lighting. He was growing to love New York. But family was big, really big in his life. Obviously not all of this was possible.
Theoretically, I could go back to being an electricianâand possibly might even find a role in the Maguire Empireâbut I was first and foremost an actor. I didn't think I could return to the Southâand certainly not as part of a gay couple.
And all of this assumed his family would accept us as an US. And not disown him or banish him.
Trey said it first. "If it's between you and my family, it'll be you, Flip. It's really not a choice at all. If you'll have me, that is."
I paused, confused. "Trey, I want you with all that I am. I'd even give up the theatre for you. But, in a few years, would I resent you for having taken this from me? Or would you resent me for taking you from your familyâand your fortune? Can't we both have everything?" It wasn't as final a statement as the one he had made, but it was as close as I could get at that moment.
So with that foundation, Trey went to greet his family at the Waldorf when they arrived. He had decided he was going to continue to workâwhich meant the four night minimum, but he had warned the union that we wouldn't be taking on any other responsibilities that week. He decided to live with his sister every night that week. And he even staged a "fight" with his girlâwhich would explain no dates that week. The work of course would mean he didn't need to be with them every night. And we had decided that we weren't going to do the couple act this week, but if the issue came up, we'd admit it and bolster each other to withstand the storm.
The first night was a dinner (Trey wasn't working) with cocktails in their suite before. (I wasn't invitedâso most of the rest of this is third hand from Trey's account later.) That gave his Mother hours to find out what was "really" going on with her only son. Trey was careful, drank little and conveyed even less. His sister had dropped the news of the fight, but that didn't stop questions about what she was like, where she came from, who her family was and on and on. Trey ducked most with a good deal of diplomatic skill. But then, in frustration, his Mother proclaimed, "Boy, you've been dating this girl for six months. You can't tell me you don't know anything about her. Is it because you're ashamed? Of us or her? Is she a Yankee? Colored? What are you not telling me? I can handle a lot more than you give me credit for."
Everyone in the suite gazed over at the pair as Momma's voice had been raised in a very un-ladylike, un-Southern way. So all were poised for his answer.
"To tell the truth, Momma, Angela doesn't exist anymore. We broke up two weeks ago. And it's final. I'm not dating any girl in New York now, Momma. I'm not ready to date New York girls yet. My experience has taught me to avoid them all."
Sis was about to ask the potentially devastating follow-on questionâso where are you all the nights you're away from the apartment since the breakup? But, Daddy announced that the cars were downstairs waiting to take all to dinner. The question was avertedâand Momma and Sis (and the three Aunt Em's) had time to ponder what was going on, imagining all kinds of scenarios, except perhaps for the real one.
The conversation didn't turn back to Trey over dinner. Rather Momma began to third-degree Sisâwho also wanted to tell as little as possible about her guy. Evie had her dream job. She had graduated from Loyola in New Orleans with majors in fine arts (painting) and museum curatorship. She had applied and been hired to the four-person team at the Museum of Natural History to renew the dioramas. (There were forty showcases in all, and each had to be "renewed" every ten years. The team did four a yearâso their jobs were essentially secure forever.)
Neither Trey nor I had ever met Evie's "boy". We knew she had met him at Loyola, but nothing more. We later learned he was a painter, living in his studio in the West Village. He hadn't had a show yet, and was nearly pennilessâso Evie had been bringing food for their "dinner dates" which typically ended in his small loft bed. We also learned (again much later) that his work would be considered blasphemous or perhaps even sacrilegious by Trey's Evangelical family: it depicted God doing ordinary human things (like drinking with the guys and sleeping with women)! Declan wasn't a feared "Yankee." He was an Irish exchange student who had overstayed his visa (and was thus "illegal"), and, God have mercy, a Roman Catholic! And not just a Catholic, but one who was still practicing! And expected Evie to convert. She might be in love, but she was definitely in trouble!
Trey managed to escape after dinner and returned to his sister's placeâafraid that the Angela alibi would no longer work. (Evie just assumed that Trey was sleeping with various Broadway starlets or groupies that he was picking up at the theatre. She didn't probe, because she too didn't want to talk or answer any more questions about her own situation.) The family's night at the theatre was next.