Getting It Read Online Free PDF Page B

was born that way.”
    Sal snapped the DVD case shut. “And I was born this way.”
    Carlos pondered that. As furniture emerged from beneath the debris, Sal commented, “It’s looking better. But the place needs some drama. Something uniquely you.”
    â€œHuh?” Carlos wondered: what the hell Sal was talking about? Then, from beneath a pile of board games, Sal uncovered Carlos’s collection of butterflies, bees, and beetles pinned to Styrofoam.
    â€œYou collect
bugs?”
Sal’s face twisted in disgust. “Well, I guess it makes sense with you living like this.”
    He started to toss the Styrofoam panel into the trash bag, but Carlos grabbed it away from him. “No! Don’t throw those out!”
    Sal’s brow crinkled in surprise.
    â€œMy pa helped me collect them,” Carlos explained.
    Sal’s glance shifted between Carlos and the bugs. “Well …,” he said at last, “then I guess they’re something uniquely you. Set them aside for now.”
    Carlos carefully propped the panel of bugs against the wall. Then they went to put the clothes in the dryer. As they returned from the laundry room, Carlos asked Sal something else he’d been wondering: “Do your parents know you’re gay?”
    â€œAre you kidding?” Sal laughed. “They figured it out before I did. That’s why I’m so well-adjusted.”
    Carlos didn’t get what Sal meant. It seemed like every time he asked Sal a question, the response was never what he expected.
    Amid a final pile of stuff, Sal discovered Carlos’s female praying mantis. “Whoa! Now
this
is drama.” He gazed admiringly at the shiny green insect. “Hey, aren’t these the bugs that eat their boyfriends after getting it on?”
    â€œYeah, sometimes,” Carlos replied, though he’d never thought of their mates as boyfriends.
    â€œWell, we’ll definitely have to do something with this.” Sal gently laid the mantis aside and looked at his watch. “But for now, we’d better finish.”
    Carlos saw the time and frowned. Nearly three hours had passed. How long would this take? The TV show only lasted an hour for the entire makeover. And yet, he felt guilty complaining; no one had ever helped him pick up all his crap before.
    Sal helped him lug six garbage bags to the Dumpster, fold and put away his clean laundry, make the bed, and even vacuum the carpet.
    â€œWe’ll figure out what to do with the room next time,” Sal said, grabbing his backpack to go. “Anything special you had in mind?”
    â€œUm …” Carlos gazed around the tidied room, recalling the TV guys redecorating the straight dude’s apartment. “Um, I always wanted a headboard. You know, like people on TV have. But my ma says they’re too expensive.”
    â€œHmn.” Sal peered at him. “Let me think about it, but I’ll need another twenty bucks.”
    Carlos bristled, not knowing where he’d get the money. But he said, “Okay.”
    He was sitting at his computer when his ma came home. She gazed around his room wide-eyed and grabbed the doorframe, pretending to steady herself from shock.
“Mi’jo! ¿Quépasó?
Your room looks great!”
    She whisked across the clean carpet and gave him a big, long hug that smashed his nose. He took advantage of her exuberance to ask, “Can I have twenty bucks?”
    Her arms fell away from his shoulders as she gave him a curious smile. “Oh, I get it. So that’s what this is about. What do you need twenty bucks for?”
    Carlos shrugged. “To fix up my room some more.”
    His ma’s face scrunched up. “What do you want to do with it?”
    â€œI don’t know.”
    When he went to sleep that night, he still wasn’t sure how cleaning up and redoing his room was going to help him get Roxy. But at least his ma had given him the money.