Sordid Lives Page #6

if it's wrong...

is that he likes to

dress up like a woman.

- That's wrong.

- According to who, Latrelle?

According to the Bible.

According to God.

- Off and runnin'.

- You mean to tell me that there

is a scripture that says...

- men shalt not dress up

in women's clothes?

- Y'all!

- Maybe you're the crazy one, Latrelle.

- LaVonda!

I'm not the one who wants to

bury a woman in a mink stole

in the middle of a heat wave.

- Mama loved that stole, Latrelle.

- Yes. And she had

the good fashion sense...

not to wear it in the summertime.

[ Latrelle ]

Sissy.! Sissy.!

Say something!

I thought you were on my side!

I am not on anybody's side!

I don't care, quite frankly!

I am trying to quit smokin'!

[ Breathing Heavily ]

And the two of you

are gettin' on my nerves!

[ Breathing Heavily ]

And my arm hurts.

It don't matter if Sister

wears that mink stole or not...

because she is dead.

And she's gonna be buried shortly...

and everybody will just forget about it

in no time flat anyway.

It don't matter!

So just hush up!

Both of ya!

[ Breathing Heavily ]

- You wanna know why she don't

want Mama buried in that stole?

- No! I don't want to know!

'Cause she wants it for herself.

Why would I, of all people,

want that mangy, old mink stole?

It's an antique and it's valuable.

And that stole is in real good shape.

- [ Scoffs ] Please.

- Don't try to deny it, Latrelle.

Although, that is your specialty,

if I'm not mistaken: Denial.

What are you talking about?

Denial. Denial about what?

Denial about everything.

About how Mama died.

And about why you want to

keep Brother Boy cooped up

like some damn animal.

- And why is that, pray tell?

- Never mind.

No, I want to hear this.

[ LaVonda ]

Look, all I am saying is that--

- You know how close me and Ty are--

- Don't you dare...

bring my son into this sordid picture.

What does my son have to do with this?

All I'm saying is that Ty

has more in common with Brother Boy...

- than you're willing to admit.

- Oh, Lord.

I think you blame Brother Boy

for the way Ty is.

Ty isn't anything. So you just

shut your mouth about my son.

I went out to L.A.

to see a play he was in.

- You did what?

- I went out to L.A.

To see Staccato.

Opening night.

And he was real good.

Sissy, the play was spectacular.

It was very... sensuous...

with a powerful message.

And I went out afterwards

with Ty and the all-male cast,

and we went to an all-male bar.

-That's when he told me.

-My son is not a homosexual! So shut up.

- I don't wanna hear this.

- You're in denial, Latrelle.

I am not in denial.

Would you quit saying I'm in denial?

- I am not in denial.

- All right. I'll quit saying it!

- But it ain't gonna change the truth.

- I don't wanna hear the truth!

Did you ever think

I don't wanna know the truth?

[ Sniffling ]

- [ Sniffles ]

- Hey. Hey.

- [ Sobbing ]

- Shh.

- [ Crying ]

- It's okay. Oh.

[ Crying Continues ]

I'm sorry.

[ Crying Continues ]

Well, I never would have

quit smoking if I'd have known

Sister was going to die.

[ singing:
I was standing

[ singing:
By my window

[ singing:
On one cold

[ singing:
And cloudy day

[ singing:
When I saw the hearse ]

[ singing:
Come rolling ]

[ singing:
For to carry ]

[ singing:
My sister away ]

[ singing:
Will the circle

[ singing:
Be unbroken

[ singing:
By and by, Lord

[ singing:
By and by

[ singing:
There's a better home

[ singing:
Awaiting

[ singing:
In the sky, Lord

[ singing:
In the sky

[ singing:
I will follow

[ singing:
Close behind her

[ singing:
Try to hold on

[ singing:
And be brave

[ singing:
But I cannot

[ singing:
Hide my sorrow

[ singing:
When they lay her

[ singing:
In her grave

[ singing:
Will the circle ]

[ singing:
Be unbroken ]

[ singing:
By and by, Lord ]

[ singing:
By and by ]

[ singing:
There's a better home ]

[ singing:
Awaiting ]

[ singing:
In the sky, Lord ]

[ singing:
In ]

[ singing:
The sky ] ]

When I was on the soap,

I'd do interviews, you know, press.

And I did this one with

this hysterically funny, queeny guy...

from Soap Opera Digest.

I don't know.

I-I dropped my guard.

Started being, you know, me.

Suddenly we were just laughing,

talking about Madonna's new

""Ray of Light'' video.

You know, her new black hair.

And had she had plastic surgery or not,

'cause she looked so great...

or was it just her newfound spirituality

and motherhood agreeing with her...

or just good lighting?

Well, this is not a conversation

that a couple of straight men

would be having.

And he leaned in to me,

and he said...

""I'm glad you're one of us.''

I just looked at him...

and realized I had f***ed up.

So I put it back on,

you know, the butch thing.

And I said, ""I don't know

what you're talking about.''

And he just said, ""That's okay.

I understand.''

""That's okay. I understand.''

Well, they do not understand down there.

- Do you know what you're doing to me?

- No.

I have a book deal,

pending on my success with you.

- Ooh.

- Simon & Schuster.

And you're my ace in the hole, Earl.

If I can dehomosexualize you,

I can dehomosexualize anyone.

That would mean my theory works.

And I'd be famous.

I'll be on talk shows.

But you're not helping me, Earl.!

Well, I tried.

I did them

stupid masturbation exercises.

I can't help it

if you don't float my boat.

And I walked right down that hall

without my hair on...

everybody catcalling at me,

making fun.

Just-Just looking like

some kind of a damn fool.

You always look like a fool.

Well, that's not very nice.

""Nice.'' ""Nice.''

I don't give a sh*t about ""nice,'' Earl.

I am on a deadline.

This has got to work, so I can

get the hell out of this shithole...

and get on Oprah.

Is-- Is that so complicated?

Is that too much to ask for?

- No.

- Can you just get that

through your head?

Or has the heat from all the wigs

all these years caused you some kind

of brain damage?

Oh, you're starting to scare me.

And I don't particularly care

being called a fool.

- I need a tissue.

- No!

And don't start blubbering again,

because I am not in the mood.

Well, I just... don't...

consider myself a fool, Dr. Eve.

I consider myself a lot of things...

but I do not consider myself a fool.

His name was Ben Flack.

The guy from Soap Opera Digest.

Oh, Ben just loved our show.

Kind of became a friend of the cast.

He'd come and hang out at the set...

and parties and stuff.

But he stopped coming around,

and my friend Bobbie Eaves--

she played my fiance on the show--

won the Emmy--

'cause they killed me off.

She got to play grief for six months.

[ Scoffs ]

Anyway,

Bobbie told me that Ben was sick.

And he didn't want any of us to come

to see him, so I sent him a card...

just telling him that I missed

seeing him around and...

just hoped he was feeling better.

The new meds...

they don't work for everyone, you know.

And he wrote me back.

He said, ""Ty Williamson...

""You're a beautiful man.

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