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

We parked outside his building and sat there for a while. Aside from not knowing whether he was home, we weren’t even 100% sure this was where he lived. I suggested we call him, but Mama said he might not believe it was us. She wanted to go knock on the door, but couldn’t bring herself to do it.


I got out of the car without another word. Mama called after me, but didn’t try to stop me. I walked up to the door just as someone was coming out. She held the door for me, but then realized she didn’t know me. “Do you live here?” she asked.


“No, but my brother does. Leon W—Uh, Sterne.”


Her eyes lit up. “Oh! You’re Leon’s brother! Joshua, right? He didn’t tell me you were coming. Go ahead. He’s on the fifth floor.”


“Uh, thanks.” My mouth went dry. This was definitely the right address.


Chapter 10