When I came out
my mother's second response
(right after,
"Oh my God, I knew it!
No you're not.)
was,
"It must have been that
friend of yours
who turned you this way."
I guess my only question was--
which one?
Was it
Beth?--
Super-butch
Lesbian Avenger
who came out in 3rd grade and
used to hit on
the school nurse.
How about Brenda
who burst open the closet door
(with her girlfriend)
in my 9th grade
English class?
---and why just friends?
What about my
middle school orchestra teacher
3 cats and a 4x4?
And when everyone else was showing us
pictures of their brand-new fianc?
she was showing us pictures of her brand-new
roommate Betty.
What about
Miss Applegate
Home-Ec
Miss Bradley
Phys-Ed
Miss Collins
Harley-Davidson.
Or the drama teacher?
Josephine... call me
Jo.
There was a big surprise!
Maybe you're right though.
It could always have been my
best friend.
Miss
"Dear God I did not know you could
do that with your tongue!"
So you see
Mom
it could really have been almost anyone
who first pointed me in the
other direction.
What's that?
We need to cut this short?
Oh, that's right,
I forgot--
you're having lunch with
Jane
today.