1. Chapter - Welcome back "home"
For those who care my name is Rick. I hated that name most of my life but as with many things one just deals with it. When I was kid, I thought it sounded like name for old man and when I got to high school, I hated it mostly cos my parents named me after my homophobic and despotic grandfather. I never really liked him till the day he died. He was biggest reason I rebelled, even though I was too afraid to admit in front of him that I am gay, and I hated him for the way he talked about them.
I suppose every family has its own and in the 90's it was not that easy to get accepted as it is today. Hell, I was worried most of my teenage years, that if I told my parents, they'd tell him, and he would make them send me to one of those camps where they brainwash you or beat you into being straight. You know those good, nice Christians, who love all gods' creations... Nothing against Christians in general, just those who think their Bible interpretations are more important than their children.
So, when he died, I was nearly 21 and on day of my birthday I gave my family last chance of deciding for themselves and told them I am gay. I will not go into detail about the worst day of my life but as you can figure out, I moved out that day.
On those rare occasions I had the chance to speak with my sister she informed me that no one is allowed to step into my room and father acts like his son died and mom sometimes cries and hopes her straight son will come home... My sister in general hated me for "ruining my family", she said she doesn't care who I fuck, but she finds the image repulsing. I replied that I find the image of anyone sleeping with her repulsive, and that those were probably the last words spoken between us until our parents' funeral.
They died in a car accident about a decade later, for some reason they never wrote a will, so I was informed by a lawyer that I was entitled to the same part of inheritance as my sister. She of course tried her best to cut me out, but after all that dirt she pulled I decided not to leave her anything of mine. So, we sold the car, but she was adamant to keep the house. She was living there and planning to stay there after her wedding which I of course wasn't invited to. I allowed it, knowing she is too cheap to pay me half of market price and she would rather wait till I die. So, I made it very clear that half of the house is mine and one day I will come for it.
Honestly, I was pissed, but in the end, I really couldn't be bothered enough to spend my life energy on ruining hers... So, for 4 years we lived in the same city without any contact, and I was fine with renting until I'd find someone worth having a mortgage with.
But then covid came... My landlord once called if he could stop by for a chat, given all restrictions at the time I was not excited but agreed. When I invited him in, we spent a couple minutes in some small talk, he told me then that his daughter had a few issues, and he will need my house for her. And so, in a few days, I received an email that my lease will not be prolonged as usual, and I must find a new place within 2 weeks.
I was looking, but I had a tough time finding anything suitable in the area. I didn't feel like bothering my friends for who knows how long and paying for a hotel seemed also a bit much. So, I decided to call one person I hoped that I would never talk to again. I suppose she picked up only because she didn't have my number saved.
I informed her about the situation and told her that I will come live in my room within 10 days and if she decides to make it troublesome for me, I don't mind calling some of my friends in local police and we can make a spectacle for our curious neighbourhood.
As I promised on that Friday morning I parked in front of our house and for a long while just sat there looking at it and questioned my life choices. After a long while I took a deep breath and made my way to the door. As I expected my key didn't fit and no one was answering when I knocked. When I tried to call Ashley on her phone she wouldn't pick up. So, I wrote her a message.
- Hi Ash. I am pretty sure you know I am here. My key is not working. Are you going to open the door for me, or should I call Carl and Steve? They know about our situation and are waiting if I will need them
Carl was a good friend of mine who worked at the police force and Steve was my first boyfriend when it all had to be hush-hush and now was married to an amazing man and owned a business in Locksmithing which was extremely convenient right now. Even though it was a bit weird calling him after all this time for such a favour but because he knew our family history, he was more than willing to help.
When she didn't reply I send
-if you don't come out in 10 min I am calling them, I am sure both will be glad to see you after all these years.
After 10 min I came to the door again and dialled the number.
"Hi Steve, so yeah I will need a new lock."
"Hi Rix, yeah, I had a bet with Mark and suppose he owes me dinner." I could hear smile on his voice
"I don't remember when last time someone called me Rix" I laughed
"Well, and I remember that when John called you Rick back in high school you nearly punched him."
"John was an asshole that doesn't count." This short flashback to teenage years made my day after this drama with the door open. I would rather spend this time chatting with him reminiscing about the old days, but everything I owned was in my car and I didn't feel like driving it to a hotel.
"When could you be here?"
At that moment Ashley opened the door.
"Well, hello dear sister!"
"Shut up and come in." If looks could kill I would be obliterated in the spot, she wouldn't even have to bury the body.
I filled in Steve and said my goodbyes as I walked into that house. I'd rather save your time and mental energy (and mine) trying to recreate our heart-breaking and excruciating conversation.
In short, she hated me for ruining her live this time as she and her husband are trying to have a baby and she needs the room for her future offspring, she hates me and wants me out but refuses to pay me half the house market price and yeah, I nearly forgot, she doesn't want her (now still non-existent) children to be influenced by something so fucked up as gay man.
Anyway, she proceeded to be so gracious that she allowed me to live in my old room and she will let me have a bathroom which is connected to our rooms and she will use the one downstairs, but I am to have my own kitchen somehow in that room and not to step into any other in the whole house.
I was dumbfounded as I listened to her prolonged rant and firstly couldn't even react.
Let me give you a small tour of our house. Downstairs is a small hall, spacious living room, kitchen and room which used to be our parents' bedroom with a big, beautiful bathroom with a corner bathtub, but from what I could see, Ashley changed this bedroom into an office. Upstairs is a wide corridor leading to two big bedrooms which were ours growing up and in between is a long bathroom with toilet, two sinks, small bathtub, and corner shower. To this bathroom are two entrances, one from each of our rooms.
From what I gathered they probably have a "master bedroom" in her old room.
So, as you can imagine the house should be definitely big enough for three people for a couple of weeks or, hopefully not, months.
I shook my head and asked for keys. She refused to give them to me until I agreed to this ridiculous idea. I took a deep breath and constantly reminded myself that she is not worth spending time in prison. I calmly as I could muster reminded her that this is also my house, and she can decide if I will have a short, pleasant stay and be looking for an apartment or very long unpleasant stay and I will do everything legal to make her days living hell until she will decide to leave. She knew me well enough to just scoff and leave into her office without looking at me.
