Prologue
Cory
Williams had been in a bar, drinking his fifth beer when he realized his
picture was on the television again. And they hadn’t been discussing the pop
fly ball he’d caught that had won his team’s baseball game that afternoon. Nor
had they been discussing the fact that his team was having their best year in
at least ten years. What they had been discussing was his ex-girlfriend’s
accusation that he was gay. Cory didn’t have an issue with other people being
gay. He was firmly of the opinion that what a person did in the bedroom was the
business of no one but that person and whoever they might do it with. He didn’t
care who or what they liked and figured it was none of his business. What he
didn’t like was an ex-girlfriend saying he was something he wasn’t. He really
didn’t like the media jumping all over the accusation. He didn’t want or need
the distraction.
“You’re
that baseball player, right?” the guy sitting on the barstool next to him
asked.
Cory
glanced over at the guy. “I’m Cory Williams, short stop for the Giants,” he
said, his hand out to shake.
“Jerry,”
the guy said, holding Cory’s hand a little longer than Cory was comfortable
with.
As
he took his hand back Cory glanced around the dark room. He could just make out
a few couples here and there.
“I
think it’s great that you came out,” Jerry said to him.
Cory
suddenly realized he’d walked into a gay bar. “I’m not gay,” he told Jerry as
he started trying to get the bartender’s attention.
“Everyone
knows. San Francisco is an open town, man. It’s nothing to be ashamed of,”
Jerry argued.
“And
if I were gay, I wouldn’t be ashamed. But I’m not.”
A
tall, very large man walked up to Cory and Jerry. “You’re not flirting with my
boyfriend, are you?” he asked Cory.
“No,
I was just explaining to your friend, I’m not gay.”
Cory
didn’t know if it was the beer, his annoyance over the media fascination with a
lie or what but he did know he lost his temper when the guy scoffed at him. At
least according to the police report that’s what happened. He lost his temper
and punched the guy. Fortunately the guy decided not to press charges against
Cory. He did however, proceed to tell every radio talk show host on the west
coast that he and Cory had gotten into a fist fight over his boyfriend. And
that Cory had lost.
Now
as he sat at home, suspended for a fight he didn’t remember starting much less
losing, his cell phone rang. Seeing his cousin, Mark’s, number on the caller
ID, he answered.
“Cory,
what are you doing next week on Tuesday?”
With
a sigh, Cory said, “I’m going to be sitting at home alone. Drinking. Heavily.”
“Would
you like to do something more productive?”
“Not
especially. I’m swearing off all contact with people. Especially women not
related to me.”
“Oh
my God, you are horrible at this. Let me talk to him,” Cory heard Mark’s wife
Annika shouting.
A
moment later, Annika was on the phone with him. “Cory, if you’re not busy on
Tuesday would you like to come to E3?”
“I
suppose that would be more fun than drinking by myself at home.”
“Why
not call and invite a friend over?”
“See
you Tuesday, Annika,” Cory said as he ended the call.
Cory
groaned when another story about him being gay came on SportsCenter. He was
really beginning to hate that show. Changing the channel he stopped briefly at
a preview for E3. He grinned when he heard them anticipating his cousin’s
newest game. When the story changed to one about a small company that had had
their game nominated for game of the year but wasn’t going to be doing a demo
of a new game, he changed the channel again. He settled on a sit com from the
eighties about a happy family. He smiled as he leaned back on his couch,
thinking about his childhood and wondering why things had gotten so messed up
recently.
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