Future Queens of England (55 page)

“And her own parking space?”

The Head’s left eye twitched, “Yes, and her own parking space.”

“Then we have a deal.  I would shake on it, but as you can see it might be a little difficult at the moment.”

The Head nodded, “Thank you for being so understanding.”

“One more thing,” Tony said, as the Head got up to leave.

“Please don’t push your luck, Mr Horwood.”

Tony smiled, “Regarding my accommodation, I’ll stay in the Larry Grayson Boudoir, if it is all the same to you.  I am more than happy there.”

Chapter Twenty
Eight

“So this is it then?  This is the end of the road,” Hugh said with a touch of sadness.  “I can’t believe it’s over.”  He looked over at the two empty beds that once belonged to Marc and Bruce, “It feels strange that we are about to graduate without them.”

“You almost lost me as well,” Tony piped up.

“I am amazed that you’re still here,” Gareth chuckled.  “When you first arrived I didn’t think that there was a chance in hell that you’d still be with us at the end of the year.”

“Me neither.  When you first walked in the door I thought that this guy is never going to actually graduate,” Giles added raising his eyebrows.

Uwe turned to face them, “And you were right, that guy would never graduate.  The man that stands before us today is not the same person that started the course.”  He gave Tony a small nod and then went back to preening himself.

Everyone in the room remained silent for a moment.

“I think that was a compliment.  Are you feeling alright Uwe?” Gareth said a little taken aback.

“Aye, praise from Caesar,” Keenan laughed as he straightened his tie.

Uwe ignored their jibes as he continued to style his hair.

Tony looked out of the window and reflected on their words, they were right, he was a different person.  When he thought back to his initial reaction when he appeared in court he could not have dreamed that he’d actually want to be there, let alone negotiate his way back into the place.

Hugh walked across to Tony, “Shall I help you put your jacket on?”

Tony nodded and let Hugh remove the sling from his left arm.  They worked together to thread Tony’s left arm still in its cast into the left sleeve of the suit.  Once it was pulled through Hugh placed the sling around Tony’s neck again and placed his broken arm back in the sling.  They repeated the same manoeuvre with his right arm and once this was completed Tony thanked Hugh.

“Could you do me a favour and just scratch my back for me?” Tony said.

“Yeah sure,” Hugh said and put his hand in the centre of Tony’s back and began to scratch.  “Here?”

“Up a bit, up a bit, left a bit, ahhhh!  That’s the spot,” Tony said with obvious relief.

Uwe sneered and tapped his watch, “I hate to break up this bro-mance but it’s time for us to shine.”

“Shit!” Keenan said excitedly, beaming from ear to ear, “I can’t believe this is it.”

“Well, believe it guys!  Let’s go and graduate,” Uwe said with a smile ushering them out of the door.

The five of them joined the crowds at the entrance to the main hall.  They pushed their way excitedly through the assemblage of students as they looked for their seats.  Shuffling sideways along the row they found them and hurriedly sat themselves down. 

“Oh look!  There’s my Mum and Dad,” Gareth said pointing over at couple seated in the visitors area.  He stood up and waved at the couple trying to get their attention, eventually they spotted him and waved back.

A look of shock appeared on Uwe’s face, “O.M.G! They’re your parents?” he laughed incredulously.

Gareth scowled, “Yes, is there a problem?” 

“In that case I think you might have been adopted, just look at what they’re wearing.  Aran sweaters!  Can you believe it?”  he wiped his eyes as he wept with laughter. 

“Don’t say sweaters Uwe, you’re not in the US, they’re jumpers.

Uwe ignored him, “Oh, I must see the photos of you as a child if this pair dressed you.  I bet you looked ridiculous.”

“This hurts all the more coming from a nation that is ten years behind England when it comes to fashion,” Gareth said in retaliation.  “Are your parents here?  If they are I bet they’re wearing stone washed denim.”  He craned his neck looking for a couple of people dressed like it’s 1985.

The smile disappeared from Uwe’s face, “Don’t waste your time looking, you won’t find them.  They didn’t come, they couldn’t bear the thought of eating Yorkshire Puddings and Spotted Dick.”

“Eating Spotted Dick,” Tony laughed.  “Where’s Bruce when you need him?  He would have loved that.”

“Well if he’s getting any action in Mykonos then he’ll probably have a spotted dick of his own by now,” Keenan chuckled.

Hugh scanned the room looking for his Dads, his eyes moved across row after row of uncomfortable looking fathers and proud mothers.  At last he found his parents and the three of them made eye contact.

“Oh shit!” Hugh said and turned around in his seat.

“What’s up?” Tony said.

“I can’t believe that they brought George with them!” he whispered not daring to look back again.

“Really George is here.  Then you’ll have to introduce me later,” Tony said. 

“No!  No! I can’t,” Hugh said breaking out in a sweat.

“What?  Why not?”  Tony stood up and looked at the visitor’s area trying to spot them.  “Where are they sitting?”

Hugh pulled at Tony’s arm forcing him to sit down.

“Careful!” Tony bellowed, “Jesus Christ, I don’t need you to break another piece of my arm.”

“Sorry!  Sorry!” Hugh said patting Tony’s cast.  “Just don’t worry about looking for them.”

All of sudden the music began to play and the ambient noise of the audience dropped to a whisper. 

“Ladies and Gentlemen,” the voice boomed from the speakers, “the school for Future Queens of England welcomes you to our graduation ceremony.  And without further ado please put your hands together for the Headmaster of this fine establishment, Doctor Bruno Clements.”

The crowd applauded wildly, except for Tony who just rolled his eyes.

“Come on Tony, you old misery,” Uwe shouted over the noise.  “Let’s see you clap your hands.”

Tony shook his head slowly, “Very good Uwe and even if I could clap I wouldn’t cheer that old bastard.”

“Welcome, Welcome, one and all,” the Head started.  He took his place at the front of the stage, his most senior teaching staff sat behind him to one side.  He surveyed the hall and smiled warmly, basking in their glow.  “Our numbers this year are at a record high and I’m pleased to see so many families here today supporting our boys.  So please, give yourselves a clap.”  He clapped his hands together and
the
rest of the room joined in.  “We’ve got so much to get through today, so I will keep my introduction short.  As I said our numbers this year are our highest yet, does this mean that there are more gay people in the world?”  He paused for a moment to let everyone consider this.  Hugh sat uneasily in his chair and took a furtive glance back at his two Dads as they sat there proudly listening to the Head’s speech.  He looked a
t
George and gave a weak wave.

“I say no!  I believe that the reality is that society is becoming more tolerant.  I say without a shadow of a doubt that the dark days are over.  Dark days when we had to hide our true nature from friends, from family and from the world.”

The room echoed with the sound of applause.  Hugh began to bite his nails nervously.

“These young men, seated here today, do not feel persecuted.  They do not feel ashamed.  Each and every one of them knows that their family and friends will fully support them.  Each and every one of them can feel confident to stand up and announce proudly ‘I am gay’.”

The audience cheered wildly at the Head’s words.  Hugh began to hyperventilate.

“Are you okay Hugh?” Tony said with some concern.

“It’s no good, I can’t do this,” Hugh said
,
rocking back and forth in his chair.

“Calm down Hugh!”  You’re alright.” Tony said with some confusion.

“No, it’s not alright.  I need to say something.”  He stood up and waved his hands at the Head.  “I need to say something.”

All eyes turned toward Hugh and the hall was filled with deafening whispers.

The Head coughed, “Oh, do you have something that you want to share with us?”

Hugh nodded and coughed.  “I’ve been living a lie and I need to stand up today in front of you all and finally admit it.”

Hugh’s Dad, Ron, took George’s hand, “Oh no, he’s going to make a scene.”

“This is not normally how we do things here, but I suppose my words have moved you.  So please feel free to make your announcement,” the Head said pompously.

“Thank you,” Hugh replied.  “There’s something you should all know,” Hugh said addressing the crowd, his voice wavering slightly.  “I cannot go on living a lie.”

The crowd let out a spontaneous cheer.

“I must be honest with myself and come out,” Hugh said, gaining some confidence.

“Right on brother!” someone in the audience shouted.

“I must find the courage within to stand up and say the days of concealing my sexuality are over!”

The crowd whistled and clapped.

Encouraged by this Hugh took a deep breath and announced, “I am straight and proud!”

The room fell into a stunned silence.

“Is this a joke?” the Head asked nervously.

“No, I’ve never been more serious in my life.  I’m not gay, I’ve been living a lie.  My god it feels so good to finally say it.”

The silence continued for a moment, but was quickly followed by a series of boos. 

“You people make me sick!” a voice from the crowd shouted at Hugh.

“It’s not natural!” another voice screamed.

Hugh’s face fell as the anger in the room increased.  He looked around in disbelief as the baying mob grew louder and louder.

“Please, please.  Show some control,” the Head called over the speaker system, but this only served to fuel the fire.

Suddenly Tony leapt up and shouted at the top of his voice, “Shut it now!”  

The crowd fell silent, Tony’s face was like thunder.  He remained silent for a moment as he glowered at the students in front of him, daring them to speak up.

“You should be ashamed of yourselves!”  He let his words ring in their ears.  “Put yourself in Hugh’s shoes for a moment.  Ask yourselves how did you feel before you came out?”  He let them think about this for a moment.  Still snarling he continued, “At times like this you should be giving your support not condemnation.”  Row after row of guilty and embarrassed faces bowed their heads.  “It wasn’t so long ago that I would have quite happily kicked the living shit out of any one of you because of your sexuality.  Now it seems to me like you’re an inch away from doing this to Hugh.  Why do you any of you care where he sticks his cock?  Why should that matter to you?  Come on!  Tell me!”  he ordered.

The silence was deafening.

“Yeah, I thought so,” Tony growled.      

“Thanks Tony,” Hugh said gratefully.

“You need to think about something too,” Tony said.  “What about George’s feelings?  Did you seriously think that letting him know that you’re not gay in front of all these people was a good idea?  You’ve humiliated him.”

Hugh laughed.

“You think it’s funny do you?” Tony said his temper flaring again.

“Well, it is a little bit funny.  You see, George isn’t a man.”

“What are you talking about?”

Hugh pointed over at George, “I mean, George is actually Georgina, she’s a woman, but we all call her George.”