Stepson 1 (1/4)

When Santiago passed away, I lost the best friend I would ever have. Since we were 16, we were inseparable. I had hidden from his parents that drunken night and subsequent stomach pumping at the village festivals, the joints in the neighborhood park... It was our time in high school. We also went to whores for the first time together, at 19 or 20 years old; our first time; the first and last for me (I already knew I liked men). I know that for Santi, there were a few more.

We were like brothers. I would invent some new girlfriend or other while he would go from one woman to another and, moreover, leave them devastated when he lost interest in them. Santi was a handsome guy, with blue eyes and that hairy chest under his unbuttoned shirt.

One night, over drinks, just before his wedding. He fixed his gaze on me.

"Sebas, I'm getting married soon, and there's something that needs to be settled before."

"What is it?" - I thought maybe it was some last-minute issue with the preparations or something about the bachelor party.

"No, dude, nothing like that" - he assured me after I had suggested all sorts of things.

"It's between you and me, Sebas. It's about us, what we need to clear up."

I felt a heat rising up my chest and face.

"You tell me..." - I whispered, unable to look at him, pretending to be calm.

"Sebas, I don't need to tell you what you are to me, or what I am to you" - he sighed, exhaling all his air.

"Santi, you're starting a new life, that's all. We'll see each other less, which is logical. But that's..."

"Sebas, stop messing around. You're into men. You've been that way forever, dude, I've known it for centuries. You're my friend, like a brother... Not me, you know that, I would have told you if it were otherwise, but that's not my thing, damn it! It's time to stop with all this nonsense, with all these girls I never get to know because... Uff! Either they live far away, or you're not serious about them, or you've just broken up with them or..."

"Santi, I don't..."

"Sebas, it's me, Santi. You've gotten me out of a few tight spots, man, and nobody knows more about me than you do. If you don't tell me anything, I'll start thinking you don't really trust me."