Read Online Rainbow Road by Alex Sanchez - Free Book Online Page B

out a red pleated plaid skirt, monogrammed IMMACULATE CONCEPTION GIRLS’ SCHOOL, while Jason roled his eyes, crossed his arms, and mumbled something in Kyle’s ear.
    “Stop being such goobers,” Nelson scolded them. “Have some fun! Pick something out.” He convinced Kyle to wear a ruffled blue tuxedo shirt (“Very sexy!”) but couldn’t budge Jason into anything, not even a little white sailor’s cap that would’ve looked adorable on his dark curly hair.
    “You guys hungry?” Horn-Boy asked, casualy taking Nelson’s hand. “Let’s go eat.” That marked the first time a guy had held Nelson’s hand since Jeremy, though he tried not to show it. He didn’t want to seem too eager. Besides, he wasn’t quite sure how he felt about the “open relationship” thing.
    Horn-Boy guided them to a clapboard house emanating music, with a sign on the door: WORK-FREE DRUG PLACE.
    Inside, the rooms glowed in candlelight. Faerie shadows danced across the wals, cast by a crowd of uniquely dressed guys and women. Jason’s eyes grew wide, as if in disbelief, whereas Kyle looked more curious.
    At a buffet heaped with bowls of roasted tofu, summer squash, apple-raisin salad, and grapes, the boys piled their plates. Then Horn-Boy led them to a table where a bald guy wearing a bone through his nose introduced himself: “Hey, I’m Sonny Bone-Nose.” And a bearded man in a nun’s habit said, “I’m Sister Missionary Position.”
    Kyle moved his food around his plate and asked, “Um, so, like, can you tel us more about the Faeries?”
    “Wel,” the bearded nun explained, “the group started with Harry Hay.”
    “The Harry Hay School!” Jason abruptly broke in. “That’s the name of the school where I’m speaking in L.A.!”
    “Harry pioneered the gay movement,” Bone-Nose elaborated. “He believed that we as gay people see life through a different window. That’s why the mainstream is scared of us.”
    Jason nodded as if trying to understand. It made Nelson feel glad for insisting on coming here.
    After dinner and cleanup, the boys joined about a dozen Faeries on the rug of the living room for something caled a “Heart Circle.”
    “Someone starts the circle,” Horn-Boy explained, “by raising the talking stick.” In the center of the room lay a foot-long knobby piece of wood, worn smooth and dangling with multicolored beads and feathers.
    “When the stick comes around, you either pass or speak about what’s in your heart.” As the stick began going around, individuals talked about al sorts of life stuff. A guy with a Mohawk was scared because his sister had been diagnosed with breast cancer. A woman in a footbal jersey felt hurt because her girlfriend had moved back in with her parents. And an old white-haired guy was excited about going to trapeze school.
    Nelson listened in amazement as people spoke so openly about their sorrows, dreams, and joys. When the stick reached him, Nelson rubbed his fingers along the smooth wood. “I think you guys are awesome,” he told the group. “It’s like The Wizard of Oz when you suddenly go from black-and-white to Technicolor. I haven’t felt this excited since Madonna kissed Britney.”
    The crowd laughed and Nelson passed the stick to Kyle. “Um …” Kyle said. “Thanks for letting us stay with you.” He passed the stick to Jason, who merely said,
    “Ditto. Thanks,” and quickly passed it on.
    When the circle ended, Horn-Boy helped the boys unpack the car. He guided them by flashlight to a meadow behind the cluster of houses and helped them set up their tent. “You’l have a glorious view of the valey in the morning.” As he spoke, a drum began beating in the distance, quickly folowed by another.
    “The fire circle’s starting. You guys want to come?”
    “Of course!” Nelson said. He didn’t want to miss anything.
    But Jason complained, “We should go to sleep.”

    Kyle grabbed his hand. “Come on! I’d like to see it too.”
    Once again