“What did you just say?” Lom asked in disbelief.

“I fucked him to find out if what you said was true. You were wrong; I'm not in love with him.” Fah sneered at Lom.

“You slept with him after you slept with me? You said you loved me. How could you?” Lom was furious.

“Where's the problem? I kissed you and you left me on a sofa to fuck him. You said you didn’t love me and that I only thought I loved you because we had sex, so I tested your theory.” Fah stared ahead, arms crossed in front of him. He didn't even spare Lom a sideways glance.

“Fine.” Lom started the car and began driving. He turned on the radio and proceeded to sing along as if he were alone and happy. After an hour on the road, he pulled over for gas. “Are you coming?” 

“Mm,” Fah said as he slid out of the SUV. After visiting the bathroom he browsed the snack aisles in the convenience store, deciding what to buy. His phone rang; it was Ton.

“Yes sir, we’re on our way. We just stopped for gas… I know, we’ll come straight there. Will Mom be there?... Okay, see you soon.” He returned to the car. 

Lom was in the bathroom so Fah waited. His anger dissipated and now he felt guilty for hurting Lom’s feelings, although he thought he shouldn’t. 

As Lom approached the SUV Fah smiled at him. It wasn't reciprocated. Lom got in, buckled his seatbelt, turned to check that Fah was buckled, and without a word, started the car and pulled back onto the highway. 

“Ton called,” said Fah, hoping to break the ice.

“He called me too,” Lom said in a tone that discouraged all conversation. 

Fah stared out the window. Now he worried they wouldn't be a united front when meeting with Ton. He also had no idea if Lom hated him now. The rest of the trip, he stole numerous glances, hoping for a sign of forgiveness but encountered none.  

Forty-five minutes later they pulled up to the gated drive. They buzzed and the gate opened. They drove past bamboo, ferns, and banana plants. House geckos darted across rocks and along wooden fencing. Lom parked and promptly jumped out. Fah followed a few feet behind. 

Entering through the kitchen door, they ran into Taeng, the cook. As usual, she was busy at the stove filling the house with the scent of massaman curry. Seeing the new arrivals she couldn't help but smile. 

“How are my two boys?” she asked, her face beaming. They said hello and Fah hugged her. “Your father is in his office. He doesn’t appear to be very happy. I tried making his favorite breakfast but I’m afraid it didn’t help.”

“Thanks for trying, Taeng. Is Mom around?” Fah hoped to put off seeing Ton for as long as possible. Mom had always been his protector from Ton’s anger. 

“She’s here, she’s upstairs. However, I’m not sure you want to see her right now either,” whispered Taeng.

“Oh,” said Fah, blinking several times. Unable to move, it seemed he was rooted to the spot. Taeng hugged him again and whispered, "Go on, sweetie, you need to face it. I'm making a great meal for all of you to share later and hopefully, whatever is wrong blows over." 

Lom had already gone to Ton’s office. Fah left to follow him. Both boys entered the office and sat down in chairs facing the large desk. Ton didn't acknowledge their presence but continued writing on the documents in front of him. After a few minutes, he put his pen down and looked up. A nod to his assistants sent the men out of the room. 

“I wish I could say I am happy to see either one of you, but I’m not.” He scowled at them. “What do you have to say for yourselves?”

Lom spoke first. “I’m sorry, sir. It will never happen again. It was a mistake.” 

Hearing Lom’s words, Fah thought he would vomit. His eyes became glassy and he knew he shouldn't try to speak. He stared at his knees, letting his hair fall to cover his eyes.

“What about you?” Ton directed his gaze at Fah. 

Lom stared at his shoes and ignored Fah. 

“I am sorry I embarrassed you. I am sorry I disappointed you.” His words hung in the air as Ton’s wife, Nara, entered.

“Is that all that you have to say? We took you in when you had no one willing to give you a home. We never complained about it. We made our home your home. We fed and clothed you all these years. We paid for your piano lessons, trained you in martial arts and weaponry, and took you on vacations with our family. We paid for you to go to the university. You paid us back by seducing our son?” As Nara spoke the pitch of her voice kept getting higher and her hands shook.  

Fah reflected on her words ‘seducing our son’ and wondered if Ton hid Lom's sexual orientation from her. He felt the sting of her words and realized as much as he had always believed she alone thought of him as another son, in reality, she had never viewed him as anything but an interloper. 

“I’m sorry, Mom,” Fah said, bowing his head.

“I am not your mother! Your mother died when you were six,” she snapped. 

Lom and Ton looked at her in surprise. Lom couldn’t believe what she'd said. Now he felt worse that he hadn’t been kinder to Fah in the car. 

Fah kept his head bowed so no one saw the tear that fell. 

“I’m sorry, Auntie,” said Fah. He kept his head bowed as he spoke. He was afraid she’d forbid him to call her auntie as well. He waited. He heard her walk to the office door, open it, and leave. He glanced up. Both Lom and Ton noticed he’d been crying. 

Ton finally spoke. “I will no longer be paying for your school or your condo. You probably guessed as much. For what you’ve received from this family already, you owe us nothing. However, from here on out you are not a member of our family. This is not your home. Do not use my name for jobs or help. You are now a stranger to us, do you understand?” Ton spoke quietly and calmly. 

Lom was horrified. In his wildest dreams, he never would have imagined his parents treating Fah, the adopted son they expected so much from, in this manner.

“Yes, I understand.” Fah barely got the words out. He wanted to run away and leave now but he didn’t have his car with him. 

“You may go upstairs to your old bedroom. Nara has everything that belonged to you packed in boxes there. You may take those now and make sure you never come back.” Fah nodded his head and left the room. 

“Dad, you can’t mean this, you can’t be kicking Fah out! He didn’t do anything wrong. He and I did the same thing, are you kicking me out as well?”

“I’m not kicking you out, you’re my son. However, we no longer consider him our son.”

“Why not? He didn’t do anything to hurt you,” said Lom who slid to the floor and kowtowed to his father.

“Lom, get up! You were the first one in this house to think of Fah as someone who wasn’t part of our family. Or would you have had sex with him even if he were your brother?”

“No, but,” said Lom.

“No! There you go. You showed us he is not part of this family. Your mother doesn’t know about you because I didn’t want to break her heart. Unfortunately, she was sitting with me when the text message came. She’s upset with you as well, but she’s been blaming Fah and focusing her rage on him. Later she might come after you, so be ready. I doubt she will ever forgive Fah.” 

Upstairs in his old bedroom, Fah surveyed the boxes. He looked inside: books, video games, DVDs, CDs, debate awards, swimming trophies, clothes. Grabbing a pen and a post-it note he wrote a message and stuck it on top of the boxes. 

Silently he descended the stairs and slipped into the kitchen. He saw Taeng crying. He hugged her, thanked her for all her years of kindness, and wished her well. Quietly he went out the back door and called for a ride to the train station. 

Back in Ton's office, Lom was trying everything to get his father to take Fah back. He couldn’t believe it had gone this far. “Dad, please, isn’t there anything Fah can do for you to accept him back? He loves you and Mom. He didn’t do this to hurt anyone. This happened because we love each other.”

“Now you say you love each other. You just told me it was a mistake that would never happen again, didn’t you? Or were you lying to me?” Ton asked.

“I said that because honestly, that’s what I thought you wanted to hear. And I was upset with Fah.” Lom stood back up, holding his hands in front of him, his shoulders hunched and his lip trembling.

“Why were you upset with Fah?” Ton was curious.

“Because he asked me to be his boyfriend and told me he loved me.”

“I’m confused. Isn’t that something you would have wanted?” Ton stared at him, waiting for his answer.

“Yes, it is what I want, but I knew you’d never allow it. Also, I didn’t think you and Mom were going to do this to him. I thought if he earned a law degree and went to work as a lawyer, I would only hold him back. I didn’t want to keep him from achieving his goals.” 

Lom fell silent. He wanted to run upstairs and hug Fah right now, but he knew he’d be in trouble if he tried to leave before his father was finished with him.

“That sounds like you love him too,” Ton said. 

“I do.”

“Hmm, I didn’t think the two of you were doing anything more than having sex.” 

Neither spoke for several minutes. Each minute dragged on for Lom who wanted to run to Fah as soon as possible. In the silence he found himself staring at the tiny garuda figure on his father's desk. It had been there since he was a child. Once Fah had picked it up. It was the first time he ever saw his father lash out and scream that no one was to ever touch it. He was brought back to the present by the sound of Ton clearing his throat.

“I don’t agree with what the two of you are doing. I won’t fight you if you want to be a couple, but your mother will never accept it. You should think long and hard about that before you decide. If you choose to be with Fah, I can try to help him find work in the organization, maybe with your Uncle Max's family. Although given our relationship, I doubt he'd agree to anything I wanted. I cannot pay for school or anything else because if your mother found out she’d kill me. People think I’m the dangerous one, but they haven't met your mother,” said Ton. 

“Thank you, Dad.” 

“If you two live together, your mother must not find out, and if you tell her that I said that you will be in big trouble.”

“Okay.”

“It's obvious you want to go talk to him so go upstairs but take him out of the house to talk. Your mother doesn’t want him here now or ever again, I’m sorry.” Ton walked around to the front of his desk and they hugged.  “Go on,” said Ton. Lom ran out the door and headed upstairs.