CHAPTER 7: Damian

My phone rings in my pocket. Pulling it out, I see Phil’s number flashing on the screen.

“Hey, bro” I answer the call.

Joshua is three years younger than me and we weren’t close growing up—for the most part I thought of him as my annoying little brother.

That all changed four years ago. I had no idea Phil was gay until the day he came out to me first. Sure, looking back now the signs were all there, but I was so wrapped up in my own life I was oblivious to them.

His announcement came as a shock, but he is my brother and I love him regardless of his sexuality. Our parents though, that’s a whole other story.

Our father was the worst, but our mother didn’t even try to defend her son. Father is a tyrant, so in a way I can understand why Mum didn’t speak up, but I can’t forgive her for standing by while Father kicked Phil out of the house and wiped him from their lives as though he never existed. He’s their flesh and blood. Their son. That should’ve been enough. He was only eighte