Life Within the Gilded Cage

Steven leaves for Costa Rica

Wayne's roommate Steven is leaving for Costa Rica to live with his lover Gerardo. Wayne has been my hairdresser for years, but more importantly, he's a dear friend. He invited Steven's parents over for lunch, so they could say goodbye to him. I wanted to do something for Steven to let him know how much we all love him, but couldn't buy him anything that he could take with him -- he told me his suitcase already weighs 75 pounds. So intead I went out to the bakery and bought a strawberry mousse cake and cannoli's. As luck would have it, I timed it perfectly, and arrived just after they were finishing lunch, and were sitting out on the front porch sipping coffee and ice tea.

Knowing that Steven's parents are old fashioned and do not like to talk about the gay life, and although my long hair is streaked blonde for the summer, I toned down the way I normally dress and just wore a pair of Levi's and a boy's black t-shirt. Still, Steven introduced me as Stefani -- which was nice, but I could tell his parents were confused by my gender identity.

When Wayne saw what I had brought he started to cry. He told me later that he was so glad that someone from the community had stopped by -- so that Steven's parent's could see how much he is loved by all of us. Wayne was a mess later at the going away party at the Raven. Even though Steven and Wayne are only roommates, they've been living together for 7 years, and well, Steven is Steven -- a very handsome, well-built man, with a shaven head, deep blue eyes, and a heart of gold.

We will all miss him.

While we were standing outside the Raven, Wayne plucked one of Robert's white flowers from the garden, and asked me for a bobby pin. He clipped it behind my ear, and smiled.