Three young men from very different homes, just coming into their own sexuality, bond at a time when information about homosexuality is scarce to the average teen. Their strong connection cannot survive high school and heartache, however, and their triangle collapses under the weight of prejudice and a need to escape.<br><br>Ten years later, Tucker is bitter and hurt by all the tragedy in his life since those long ago happier days. Reclusive, somewhat animalistic, and completely content to stay that way, he’s brought up short by an unexpected confrontation with the past and feelings that won't stay buried.

Fur, Feathers, and Claws

Tucker had never really thought about whether sudsing up armpit fuzz or pubic fluff in the middle of the room you were supposed to cook and eat in, while a bunch of cats tongued at their haunches and a dog licked the dripping foam that ran down your leg, was normal or not. One day, when Mrs. Burke and her teenage son showed up at the open screen door when he was doing it—and also touching himself—and one of them screamed, Tucker discovered that some people did. He’d never asked his friends if they bathed in the kitchen. He figured most of the other kids in his class bathed in the tub, like he used to, but surely someof them bathed in the kitchen. Right?


“God! Do you ever shower?” Roy McKenna asked one day.


Chapter 10