Chapter 33

“So, Jethro,” Carl said, “what does a gay guy find to do in a place like Starke?”

“Not much,” Jethro said. “I go to college and I go to work.”

“That doesn’t sound very exciting,” Carl said.

“No,” I said, “but when he starts his junior year in Gainesville this fall, he’ll have a couple of thousand gay guys after him.”

“Yeah,” Rion said, “and redheads are in this year, aren’t they?”

“Oh, to be a junior in college again,” Mitch said, “knowing what I know now.”

“What do you know now that you didn’t know then?” Jethro said.

“For one thing,” Mitch said, “I didn’t know that I was gay.”

“Really?” Jethro said.

“Oh, yeah. As I learned years later, others had already figured me out, but I didn’t figure myself out until I met Rion.”

“Sounds like there’s a story there,” Jethro said.

“You could say that, but it’s kinda long.”

“Excuse us,” George said, “but we were first in, and I think we need to be the first to take a break.”