Brandon sat staring at the TV. If someone had asked him what show he’d tuned to, he wouldn’t have been able to tell them. All he could think about was Curt. His gay brother Curt.

His faggot brother Curt. That’s the part that scared him. Brandon knew that their relatives would never accept Curt once they found out he was a faggot. They’d shun him, and shun their mom and dad as well. Brandon didn’t care about that part for himself, about being shunned by them. He had little use for most of their relatives. They were assholes, narrow minded, bigoted people. But they were his parent’s families, and his mom and dad would be devastated if their relatives found out about Curt and cut them off.

It wasn’t that Curt was gay or not. What pissed Brandon off was that he’d decided to come out to their folks first, then afterwards to him. Why couldn’t Curt have talked to him first? That was just like Curt, always going off half-cocked, doing what he wanted without ever thinking it through first, and never coming and asking his big brother for advice.

What did their folks really think about Curt’s announcement? Brandon didn’t have a clue. But it turned out okay.

Mom was very opinionated, she made up her own mind about everything, and made sure everyone always knew exactly what she was thinking. She told Curt that being gay didn’t change how she felt about him, he was still her baby boy. Geez, what did that mean? Curt was 16 years old, and he was still mom’s baby?

Dad was something else. He was a “man’s man” who kept his opinions to himself, but didn’t give an inch anytime. He was simple, and straightforward, and no-nonsense. His response to Curt was that it was his life and he could make something positive out of it or not. So was Dad okay with it or not?

Things would become a lot more of an issue if Curt ever brought home a boyfriend. God, that sounded so wrong, Curt having a boyfriend. Why the hell did he decide to be gay? Did he meet someone who confused him, twisted him, seduced him, turned him gay? No, that wasn’t Curt. Like Mom, he was just as opinionated and made up his own mind, and he just couldn’t keep things to himself. If he was gay it was something he’d decided — or as Curt put it, discovered — on his own.

Brandon leaned back and closed his eyes. What did he think about Curt being gay? It was a lot harder for him to define his own opinion than to understand his folk’s opinions. Did he approve? That was tough. On one hand, he felt to his core that it was wrong. But this was Curt, his little bro. They’d been best friends while growing up. Curt had attended every one of Brandon’s basketball games and been his biggest fan. Brandon had been Curt’s protector whenever he got into a scrap. He opened his eyes and shook his head. He just couldn’t abandon Curt. He wouldn’t abandon him. He was still Curt, he was still his little bro, and he probably needed his big bro to be his protector even more now.

He grabbed the remote and shut off the TV. He’d been acting… what, brusque? …yeah, that was the word, he’d been brusque to Curt ever since he made his announcement. He owed Curt a phone call. He had to tell him that his big bro was still there for him, that he didn’t give a damn if he was gay. He grinned. He just knew that Curt was waiting for that phone call. And he realized that he’d been waiting to make that call.