Chapter 24 - Revelation

“You’re such a crybaby,” I whispered near her ear as the movie came to a close and the credits rolled on the screen. Dulce sniffled in response, grabbing a tissue from the box placed on my bedside table.

“But Jack died in the end,” she sobbed, dabbing her eyes with the tissue and leaning back to my arms. I embraced her immediately with one arm and stroked her hair with the other hand, trying to calm her. “That’s because Rose is a selfish girl. If she really wanted Jack to survive, she should have asked the boy to find another floating thingy in the water. Heck, she could have shared the door.”

Dulce laughed at my statement. “Now that you said that, I can see where it went wrong.” She sniffled on the tissue while I shut the laptop off and placed it on the table next to the box of tissue. It was a Friday evening and Dulce and I were watching the movie Titanic inside my room. I was so happy that we could do this again. Even seeing her sitting beside me thrilled me to no end. I could ogle her all night.

“So,” I started. “Have you told your mom yet?” She sighed, taking my arm off her and moving to my left side. “No Glace, I haven’t. Mom has been gone for work ever since we got back from the amusement park. She’s in New York again for a client.” Seeing my frown she added, “Don’t worry, she’ll be back tomorrow so I can definitely talk to her.”

“Okay baby.” I kissed her forehead and watched as a smile spread on her face. “I just want to get this over with so we can be officially together.”

“Me too,” she murmured, pulling the comforter over us. “Come here Glace, I’ve missed you.” Doing as she wished, I scooted closer and savored the warm embrace she gave me. Dulce never failed to give me a warm and fuzzy feeling. “Maybe I should take my clothes off,” I teased.

“Maybe I’ll pounce on you if you do.” I sensed her rolling her eyes even though I was snuggled on her chest. “You know how easily you make me horny,” she said after a while. I swallowed the lump in my throat. “I feel the same way,” I whispered.

“Is someone talking about sex?”

Dulce and I glanced in the direction of the door in surprise and saw Eris and Patty walk in. I almost forgot that we invited them too. They were late so my girlfriend and I watched the movie without them. “Where’s Tim?” Dulce asked. We invited him too.

Patty shrugged and pulled a chair next to the bed, sitting down comfortably. “He couldn’t come. His boyfriend took him to their cabin for the weekend. You know how Tim gets excited when it comes to Fabio. He ditched us.”

Dulce snickered. “Yeah, that sounds like Tim alright.”

“How are you two lovebirds?” Eris asked, removing her stiletto’s one by one. When she was done, she shamelessly went to the bed, forcing me and Dulce apart as she wedged herself between us. “Oooh threesome!” she said playfully. Remembering that Patty was also in the room, her eyes darted to her girlfriend and shrank back on the bed, almost as if she wanted the pillows to swallow her.

Patty’s smile froze in her face. “If you say that again, I will spank you.” Her tone was sweet but her blue eyes gleamed at Eris. My friend gulped loudly beside us making me laugh. Patty was clearly the top in the relationship.

“Okay I can’t handle this,” Dulce said while getting up from the bed. “Where are you going baby?” I asked as she opened the door. “I’m going to get ice cream from the fridge Glace.” She turned to our two companions. “Want some?”

“What’s wrong with you people?” Eris muttered under her breath. “Can’t you see I’m on a diet? Well whatever, go and get me one darling. Oh and don’t take too long.” Eris snaked her arms around me and stared naughtily at Dulce. “I’ll steal your girlfriend if you do.”

Dulce glanced from Eris to Patty and smiled. “I doubt that Eris.” She vanished behind the door, leaving me with our friends. “No fair,” Eris pouted, releasing me from her grip. “She’s not threatened by me anymore.”

I stared directly at Patty. “Can you please teach your girlfriend a lesson?” Patty cocked her head to side. “Don’t worry. I’m totally going to place her in my lap one of these days for a thorough spanking.” Eris choked beside me. Serves her right for teasing Dulce. But we were kidding of course. Life would be dull without all her teasing.

Dulce came back a minute after, bringing with her a pint of Greek frozen yogurt for Eris and Patty to share, and a pint of crème brulee for both of us. While eating, Eris decided to start another topic. “There’s like 4 months left till your graduation guys. What do you plan to do after that?”

“I want to be an editor,” Patty mumbled, licking her spoon for leftover yogurt. Eris smiled endearingly. “Yes of course. That will be perfect for you.” Turning to Dulce she asked, “How about you?”

“I’m aiming for culinary school. I haven’t joined any competition for cooking this year, but I’ve done lots of that in the past.”

“Did you win?” Eris said. Patty answered for her friend. “Yeah, she won every single competition she entered. Tim and I even convinced her to enter competitions in TV but she refused to do it.” Eris pointed a spoon at Dulce. “You should consider that. Your girlfriend is a Hollywood actress. At least your career path will cross at one point if you go on TV, even for a cooking show.”

“Don’t go pointing spoons at people Eris,” I scolded. She lowered her hand immediately. “Besides, Dulce can do what she wants to do. She doesn’t even have to work. I’ll support her.” Eris scooped a large portion of yogurt with her spoon. For a girl who was on a strict diet, she surely loved to eat. “How about you Frio? You’re planning on coming back for the big screen right?”

Dulce and Patty glanced at me with interest. I haven’t even thought about it yet. Getting Dulce was the highest priority so acting was far from my mind. “Maybe,” I said coyly. “But I’ll miss the hot girls if I don’t come back.” Dulce angrily snatched the pint from my hand. “That’s it,” she said with a frown. “No more ice cream for you.”

“You know I’m kidding right baby?” I asked sweetly. She ignored my puppy eyes and said, “And we’re not having sex until we’re forty.” I groaned loudly and covered my face with the comforter. My plan to tease her backfired on me. Patty and Eris snickered on her behalf. Good for nothing friends, I thought bitterly.

The night pretty much continued like that. The four of us talked about different things like the career we wanted to have, the songs we enjoyed, and other topics. We slept at around midnight, with Dulce cuddled right beside me and the other couple inside the guest room. When they left early in the morning to go about their business, I was surprised to receive a call from my dad.

“Hello?” I answered with a frown. “Go to Andrea’s place around noon.” That was all he said before he hanged up. With a shrug, I placed the phone on my desktop and forgot about it till it was around 11 am. When I came back to the room, I saw that the mobile was off due to dead battery.

“I need to prepare,” I said loudly to no one in particular, going straight to the bathroom to take a shower before heading to Dulce’s house. At the back of my mind, I was wondering why my dad wanted me to go there. But I pushed the thought back and decided to worry about it later. After preparing and dressing with my usual outfit, I drove straight to my girlfriend’s house and rang the doorbell.

“Hey,” Andrea greeted while opening the door widely for me. “Go to the kitchen. There’s food there.” From a single glance, I noticed a lot of people inside the house. And when I said a lot, I meant twenty or more people. What’s going on? Before I could ask Andrea what the occasion was, someone called her attention, making her turn to the person immediately.

I was left to my own devices. Walking around the house, I felt people stare at me. Who were they and what were they doing here? Was someone having a birthday party? I went up the stairs and bumped with Dulce who stared at me with wide eyes before dragging me to her bedroom. She locked it behind her and gave me a look of panic.

“What’s going on?” I asked the question as calmly as I could. Years of acting allowed me to sound almost as relaxed as possible, but the inner chaos bubbling inside me was threatening to burst out at any minute. “I don’t know as well,” Dulce replied, pacing back and forth in the room while tucking her hand inside her jeans pocket. “I was about to talk to my mom about us this morning when my relatives arrived.”

“Those are your relatives?”

Dulce stopped pacing and glanced at me. “Uh-huh. Fudge Glace! I didn’t know what to do. I’ve been calling you all morning.”

I groaned loudly. “Sorry baby. I was caught up in playing the piano that I didn’t notice it when my phone died.” My feet carried me in front of her and I placed my hands on her shoulder to stop her from trembling. “Don’t worry. Whatever is happening, we’ll figure it out. I’ll talk to Andrea now.” I kissed Dulce’s nose and quickly opened the door in search of her mom.

As I turned, I saw Andrea come down the stairs. I trailed behind her, excusing myself politely from the other guests so I could reach her. “Andrea,” I called out as she went to the direction of the kitchen. She didn’t hear me and continued on her way. “Andrea,” I called again. This time, someone grabbed my hand and dragged me up the stairs and inside a spare room.

“What’s happening dad?” I asked angrily, snatching my hands from his grip.

“It doesn’t really concern you,” he said with a smile.

“Then why did you ask me to come here?” I was struggling not to curse my own father, biting my tongue to prevent from doing that. It was not because I still respected him but due to the fact that I loved myself enough not to make that mistake. My actions would reflect on me, not on Rick.

“I didn’t ask you to come here, I instructed you to do so,” he corrected. “I want you to stop your fantasies with Dulce. That’s why you’re in this very house now. And don’t even plan on ruining this day for me Glace.”

“Or what?” I challenged him.

“Or you’ll never find out the truth about your mother and yourself,” he sneered. My hands turned cold and even though I wasn’t looking at the mirror, I knew that I was pale. “What are you talking about?”

“You’ll find out if you shut up in the corner and stop flirting with your future sister. The way you stare at each other is disgusting. Do you know why Dulce is hanging out with you? That’s because she haven’t tasted a man yet. Once she goes to the real world and meet a nice guy, she’d leave you in the dirt.”

“You’re the disgusting one,” I hissed. “You totally don’t know what being a lesbian means.” Forgetting who I was talking to I said, “It means we love puss-“ he slapped me hard in the face, halting my thought process.

Holding my cheek with my right hand, I stared daggers at him. “Well that’s going to bruise,” I mumbled. “But hurting me doesn’t change the fact that I’m in love with Dulce, that I lust after her body even though she’s a woman and vice versa, and that I hate you from my core. I wish you weren’t my father.”

“Well aren’t you a smart-mouthed one,” he chided, glancing down his wristwatch, ignoring my hatred for him. “It doesn’t matter though, I have business to attend to. I’ll deal with you later.” He quickly walked out the door, shutting it with a bang. To calm myself first, I started to count to ten. Once I was sure that I wouldn’t chase my dad with a knife, I went to the door, turning the knob with my hand. It was locked.

I tried prying it open again and again, but it wouldn’t budge. To cut the long story short, I was stuck inside. Groaning to myself, I snatched the phone in my pocket and stared at the dead screen. I should have charged it before leaving the house. Stupid Glace, I thought bitterly. With no more option left I began to call out for help.

A minute after, Dulce opened the door for me. “Glace,” she said worriedly. “I was looking all over for you. Why are you here?” I walked passed her. “I’ll tell you later. We need to talk to Andrea first.” Both of us ran to the stairs, only to see Andrea, Rick, and Dulce’s relatives gathered around the two. Fudge!

Andrea raised her glass filled with white wine. “Everyone,” she said with a smile while glancing at Rick. “This is Rick. He’s my fiancé.” The guests oohed and aahed, happy that Andrea was able to find a nice man again. He was a man alright, I thought angrily. But nice he was not.

I walked quickly down the stairs and grabbed Andrea’s hand, surprising her relatives, my father included. “We need to talk.” I felt my dad place a hand on my shoulder, as if warning me to stop what I was doing. But I didn’t care anymore. This madness had to stop. It had to or I would have gone insane with anger.

I shook my dad’s hand away from my shoulder and stared pleadingly at Andrea. “I’m in love with your daughter,” I said as truthfully as I could. “Please don’t marry my dad. He lied about everything. I’m begging you Andrea. I want to be with Dulce, that’s all.”

The guests gasped collectively while Andrea’s eyes darted to my dad in confusion. “Rick. . . What’s going on?”

“I don’t know what she’s talking about,” he denied. “Andrea, this kid is out of line. She’s a spoiled brat who just wants my attention.” Andrea stared from my dad to me, bafflement on her face, before walking out of the living room in frustration.

“See what you’ve done?” Dad asked angrily. “You embarrassed me and Andrea. You’re a worthless human being who shouldn’t have been born.”

“How can you say that to your own daughter?” Dulce asked from behind me, grabbing my hand and squeezing it gently to show her support. “You’re a bastard. I’ll never allow you to marry my mom.”

My dad laughed cruelly. “That bitch is not even mine. She’s the bastard. Literally,” he said with satisfaction.

“What?” I heard myself speak. “But I thought you’re my dad?”

“Well you thought wrong. How can I have a lesbian daughter like you? You’re not mine Glace. That’s why I never loved you.”

Everything I’ve known to be true crumbled in that instant. Now I knew the reason why he never gave me a second glance, even while I tried my best to be the perfect daughter for him. Peeling my hands from Dulce, I began to walk out of the door and away from the havoc that was ripping me from skin to bone.