Los padres de ambos al ver tal conexión entre ellos, también se unieron más y comenzaron a realizar reuniones en sus casas. Decidieron inscribirlos juntos en la misma escuela y hasta en las clases de fútbol; ambos eran hijos únicos así que podían apoyarse como hermanos. Pocas fueron las ocasiones donde estos chicos discutían, y su hermandad era admirada por muchos y criticada por otros en su escuela.
Sin embargo, con el pasar de los días y viviendo la plena adolescencia, John comenzó a notar que su mejor amigo estaba teniendo algunos cambios "raros" en su comportamiento; en varias oportunidades lo vio observando en los vestidores de hombres a otros chicos, más de lo normal. Jonh, no quiso darle importancia a esto, tal vez eran pensamientos locos de él. Prefirió olvidarlo y seguir como si nada. Al fin y al cabo por lo menos, Antony nunca había tenido comportamientos extraños o lujuriosos hacia él.
Transcurrieron varios meses y pronto sería el cumpleaños de Antony. Ambos estaban pensando en hacer una gran fiesta e invitar a sus amigos del vecindario y la escuela. John para ese entonces ya tenía una linda novia, a la cual había conocido en las gradas del estadio de fútbol; Jenny era hermana de Sergio, un compañero de partidos; y desde ese momentos los dos quedaron flechados.
Sinceramente Antony no estaba muy alegre con esta nueva relación, es normal que ahora John dedicará más tiempo a su novia. Pero él prefirió no hacer ningún tipo de comentarios a su amigo y aparentar disfrutar de su alegría tanto como él.Un día, Antony no asistió a la escuela y a John le pareció muy raro que no le haya aviso nada. Decidió ir a visitarlo al salir de clases, igual era su vecino y estaba muy cerca. Él solo quería confirmar que todo estuviese bien con él, aunque obviamente algo inusual estaba pasando. Su fiel amigo Antony recibió la visita, pero John se preocupó mucho al ver el semblante depresivo y pálido de su querido hermano.
— Pero Tony, ¿Qué es lo que tienes?, ¿Necesitas ir a un médico? ¡Vamos, yo te acompaño! - dijo Jonh con gran preocupación.
Pero Antony solo pudo bajar la cabeza en ese momento y sonreír de forma sarcástica.
—No, hermano, gracias pero no hace falta —respondió Tony mientras le miraba directamente a los ojos—. Sé muy bien lo que tengo y seguro es algo emocional, no pude dormir en toda la noche y estuve llorando, sé exactamente cual es mi necesidad y por eso es que quiero confesarte algo...
—Sí, dime lo que desees.
—Jonh, lo que necesito decirte es que soy gay. Yo no aguanto un día más con esta presión adentro y siento que voy a explotar, eres mi mejor amigo y no quiero seguir ocultandotelo.
A pesar de que Jonh sospechaba algo, su expresión tras la confesión de Jonh, fue tétrica, quizás se puso más pálido que el mismo Tony, sus ojos ahora estaban llenos de lágrimas y no le salían las palabras.
—Pero Antony... Esto sinceramente era algo que no me esperaba. ¿Cómo te diste cuenta? No me vayas a decir que estás enamorado de mí, por favor.
—Jaajaja, no, te juro que no, ese no es punto simplemente debía desahogarme contigo... Son cosas que pasan en la vida, siento que no decidí esto pero mi cuerpo y mis sentimientos no mienten. Solo espero que las cosas contigo no cambien, eso me destrozaría.
—Lo siento, pero estoy muy desconcertado con esta noticia. Tampoco sé como manejar esto. Si antes bromeaban con nosotros, ahora cuando todos se enteren imagínate que no inventaran. No quiero vivir esas situaciones, mi novia quizás también se preocupe...
—Wow, increíble. ¿En serio esta es tu respuesta? Esperaba un rechazo de mis padres pero nunca de ti, eres mi hermano, nos criamos desde pequeños, ya sé que no te importo un comino. Sí, vete por favor no quiero verte.
El pobre Antony quedó desalmado en su habitación. Estaba desconsolado y sentía que ya nada tenía sentido, aparte de estar viviendo el proceso de aceptación de sí mismo, tenía que comenzar a lidiar con el rechazo de sus "seres queridos".
Inmediatamente de llegar a su casa, John le escribió a Jenny para comentarle todo lo que había pasado. Al fin y al cabo ella era su novia y necesitaba un consejo, apoyo; él se sentía mal en todo sentido y no sabía que hacer respeto a su mejor amigo. Lo único que le respondió Jenny al respecto fue que debía pensar en él mismo primero, que se cuidara las espaldas para que no le hicieran bullying y lo asociaran como gay también, que Tony con el tiempo estaría bien.
La vida debía seguir y John asistió a las clases de fútbol, sin embargo, al llegar notó que sus compañeros estaban murmurando entre sí, al momento que lo observaban con mala cara. Tony no se había acercado muy bien cuando unos de sus compañeros los llamó "Marica loca", al mismo tiempo que los demás se reían y le decían que no querían a su equipo manchado por su culpa.
John también había llegado y observó la situación, estaba perplejo pues el no le había comentado nada a sus compañeros al respecto, entonces volteó la cara hacia las gradas y ahí estaba Jenny saludando sonriente.
"Maldita sea, tuvo que haber sido ella, seguro le contó a su hermano con toda la intención de divulgar la información", pensó John mientas se acercaba de forma agresiva a su compañeros.
John no pudo controlarse, cuando llegó frente a su compañero comenzó a golpearlo por los comentarios tan desagradables, lo único que le dijo fue que dejara en paz a su hermano, que todos se mantuviesen al margen o si no les iba a ir peor que a Sergio.Antony estaba impactado, pero a la vez sentía una gran felicidad y un alivio inmenso, su hermano estana de vuelta, ese si era el buen amigo pretector y de corazón noble con el que él había crecido. Jonh no dudó en terminar con la chismosa de Jenny y le pidió disculpas a Tony...
"Siempre has estado para mi cuando más lo he necesitado. Eres parte de mi familia y la familia no debe abandonarse, y menos por lo que vaya a pensar la gente malintencionada. Discúlpame, te quiero, hermano".
[Imagenes de Pexels; uso libre]
English
John and Antony were not related by blood, however, a great bond had united them since childhood. Currently both were 16 years old, but they met at the age of 5 when they went out to play in the park of the same urbanization; and from then on they were the best of friends.
The parents of both, seeing such a connection between them, also joined more and began to hold meetings in their homes. They decided to enroll them together in the same school and even in soccer classes; they were both only children so they could support each other as siblings. There were few occasions where these boys argued, and their brotherhood was admired by many and criticized by others in their school.
However, as the days passed and they lived through adolescence, John began to notice that his best friend was having some "strange" changes in his behavior; on several occasions he saw him observing other boys in the men's locker room more than usual. John didn't want to give importance to this, maybe he was crazy thoughts of him. He preferred to forget it and carry on as if nothing had happened. After all at least, Antony had never behaved strangely or lustfully towards him.
Several months passed and soon it would be Antony's birthday. They were both thinking of throwing a big party and inviting their friends from the neighborhood and school. John by then already had a nice girlfriend, whom he had met in the stands of the soccer stadium; Jenny was the sister of Sergio, a party partner of his; and from that moment both were crushed.
Honestly Antony was not very happy with this new relationship, it is normal that now John will spend more time with his girlfriend. But he preferred not to make any comments to his friend and to pretend to enjoy his joy as much as he did. One day, Antony did not attend school and John found it very strange that he had not told him anything. He decided to go visit him after school, he was his neighbor and he was very close. He just wanted to confirm that everything was okay with him, although obviously something unusual was going on. His faithful friend Antony received the visit, but John was very worried when he saw the depressed and pale countenance of his dear brother.
— But Tony, what do you have? Do you need to go to a doctor? Come on, I'll go with you! - John said with great concern.
But Antony could only lower his head at that moment and smile sarcastically.
—No, brother, thanks but you don't have to, —Tony said, looking directly into his eyes—. I know very well what I have and I'm sure it's something emotional, I couldn't sleep all night and I was crying, I know exactly what my need is and that's why I want to confess something to you...
—Yes, tell me what you want.
—John, what I need to tell you is that I'm gay. I can't stand another day with this pressure inside and I feel like I'm going to explode. You're my best friend and I don't want to keep hiding it from you.
Despite the fact that John suspected something, his expression after John's confession was gloomy, perhaps he became paler than Tony, his eyes were now full of tears and the words did not come out.
—But Antony... This was honestly something I didn't expect. How did you realize? Don't tell me you're in love with me, please.
—Hahaha, no, I swear no, that's not the point, I just had to vent with you... These are things that happen in life, I feel like I didn't decide this but my body and my feelings don't lie. I just hope that things with you don't change, that would destroy me.
—I'm sorry, but I'm very taken aback by this news. I don't know how to handle this either. If before they joked with us, now when everyone finds out, imagine that they didn't make it up. I don't want to live those situations; my girlfriend may also worry...
—Wow awesome. Is this really your answer? I was expecting a rejection from my parents but never from you, you're my brother, we grew up from a young age, I know you don't give a damn about me. Yes, please go away I don't want to see you.
Poor Antony was heartbroken in his room. He felt that nothing made sense anymore, apart from living the process of accepting himself, he had to start dealing with the rejection of his "loved ones".
Immediately after arriving home, John wrote to Jenny to tell her everything that had happened. After all, she was his girlfriend and needed advice, support; he felt bad in every way and didn't know what to do about his best friend. The only thing Jenny told him about it was that he should think of himself first, to watch his back so he wouldn't be bullied and associated as gay too, that Tony would be fine in time.
Life had to go on and John attended soccer classes, however, when he arrived, he noticed that his classmates were whispering to each other, while they were looking at him with a bad face. Tony hadn't gotten too close when one of his teammates called them "Crazy Fagot," while the others laughed and told him they didn't want their team tainted because of him. John had also arrived and observed the situation, he was perplexed because he hadn't said anything to his teammates about it, so he turned his face towards the stands and there was Jenny waving smiling.
"Damn, it had to have been her, she must have told her brother with every intention of divulging the information", John thought as he aggressively approached his companions.
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John could not control himself, when he got in front of his partner, he began to beat him for such unpleasant comments, the only thing he told him was to leave his brother alone, that everyone stay out of it or if it was not going to be worse for them than for Sergio. Antony was shocked, but at the same time he felt great happiness and immense relief, his brother was back, that was the good friend and noble heart protector with whom he had grown up. John didn't hesitate to break up with gossiping Jenny and apologized to Tony...
"You have always been there for me when I have needed you the most. You are part of my family and the family should not be abandoned, least of all for what malicious people will think. Excuse me, I love you, brother."
[Pexels images; free use]