Feral Sephrian

Joshy grew up watching his Bible-thumping dad and his ballet-loving brother Leon argue and shout at each other for years, but never really knew why. When new neighbors move in down the street, suddenly Leon spends time with their son, Kalil. Once again, Joshy is completely in the dark about his brother’s actions and is taken by surprise when both Leon and Kalil run away together. The rest of his childhood and adolescence are spent wondering what became of the pair, until one day ...<br><br>Leon was different from day one, and even though it caused friction with his dad’s narrow-minded views, he never gave up on what he truly was. Exploring his sexuality generates little more than confusion and frustration, until he meets Kalil. They find out they have more in common than people expect, and Leon helps Kalil come to terms with that. Both yearning for freedom from the oppression of their parents, they hatch a plan to escape to New York, where a new life and new opportunities await.

Lost and Found

“I’m saving up for college,” he told me. “You should too, when you’re old enough. That way, when you find a place you want to go, it won’t matter how much it costs, you can just do whatever you want.”


I started putting my spare change in a jar that night.


Life went on for months and years. Eventually Emma and Jess got friends their own age, and I spent more time playing with the kids in my class. I was the El-Sayeds’ designated dog-sitter though, and if they went away for vacation Leon and I had a key so we could go over and make sure Malak had food and water and went for his daily walks.


Leon got his driver’s license almost the minute he turned eighteen. As though to make up for all the lost time over the past couple years, he took me everywhere. He dropped me off and picked me up at school, drove me to friends’ houses, took me out to get food or go somewhere fun; anywhere I wanted to go, he took me. I felt like I was finally getting my big brother back.


Chapter 7