Queermance Anthology, Volume 1 Read Online Free Page B

vet. Adam, like his dad, would study law; for
me, the idea of working inside all day made my skin crawl.
    I spotted Mum standing on the veranda. Her smile was tremulous, but thankfully the tears hadn't
started yet; or rather, again.
    Stepping up onto the veranda, I leaned down so she could give me a kiss. ''Bye love,' she said,
new tears streaming down her face. 'Call when you get there, yeah?'
    I gave Mum a hug, briefly lifting her up in my arms before gently placing her back on her feet.
'Course, Mum. Love you. See you at Easter, yeah?'
    Dad wandered up behind Mum, wrapping her in his arms as she sobbed on his shoulder. I shook the
proffered hand that he'd freed from around Mum, then raced to my ute, thankful I could escape Mum's
waterworks. You'd think I was moving to the fucking moon with all the bloody fuss she was making. I
was only going to be three hours up the coast!
    Driving to Adam's was a surreal experience. These roads, and the fields they crossed, had been
the background to my life as I travelled from home to school and back again. Today, everything
seemed brighter. I wondered if I would miss the green hills, throbbing heat, heavy humidity and the
thick copses of trees choked with lantana. I'd never lived anywhere where the horizon wasn't empty.
Would I miss the space, the open sky?
    An hour later, Adam and I were driving toward the Queensland border. The high cab of my ute made
it easy to keep Adam's sleek sedan in view. We'd agreed to stop at Tweed Heads for lunch, and I
followed Adam's car to a park overlooking the river. Mum had packed a picnic for us, so I tossed a
packet of sandwiches across to Adam as we walked toward a bench shaded by a banksia tree.
    Before I took a bite of my sandwich, Adam piped up with, 'Did you hear that Bundy and Stick are
sharing one of the units near us?'
    'No.' Thinking of our two mates, I sent up a prayer of thanks that I'd decided not to move in
with them. Their major game plan for university was getting drunk and laid as much as possible. With
the course load I'd be taking on, I'd have struggled to study in the inevitably chaotic party
atmosphere.
    For the rest of the time we ate in companionable silence, watching the sluggish waters of the
Tweed River. I'd always found it easy to spend time with Adam. Unlike our other friends, he didn't
need to fill every silence with mindless chatter or constant movement. With Adam I could just be .
    Eventually, Adam scrunched up his rubbish and lobbed it toward a bin before saying, 'Let's make
like a tree and go.'
    I dutifully provided the response in an awful imitation of Biff from Back to the Future as
we walked back to the cars. 'It's leave you idiot. "Make like a tree and leave ." You
sound like a damn fool when you say it wrong.'
    Adam laughed as he hopped in his car and accelerated away in a spray of gravel. Not wanting to
fall behind, I started my ute and gave chase.
    ****
    Standing beside our parked cars as their engines ticked and cooled, I looked around
at my new home. The original, stately weatherboard - divided into two units - stood upon its
stilts with palm trees shielding its wide verandas. Parking and a utility room took up the space
underneath. The traditional quarter acre back yard held a more modern building divided into another
two, slightly smaller units. I let Adam walk ahead of me, pleased to see we'd be in one of the newer
units out back.
    As Adam unlocked the door I had to stop myself from crowding him. I was desperate to feel him,
smell him and most importantly, touch him. For two weeks I'd been dreaming about this; about being
alone with Adam again. The closer I came to getting Adam to myself, the hotter I became. Although
Adam had referred to our weekend in Lennox on the phone, I still wasn't sure if he wanted to
continue having sex with me. I was hopeful but I didn't know how Adam really felt.
    Once we were inside, I tentatively stepped into Adam's personal space. His eyes widened, shocked;
his pupils dilated,