Free Alma's Will by Anel Viz Page A

the first time in his life, he initiated the kiss, and he stayed the night and gave himself to Baron again before they fell asleep.

    For the first couple of weeks after they became lovers, Jay remained a passive partner. He would fondle, caress, and kiss, but it took him a while before he'd worked up enough courage to top Baron, and longer before he dared take him in his mouth.

    * * * *

    Lost in thought, Jay didn't budge from the window when he heard the door open and Baron come into the living room. Baron came up behind him, put his arms around him and kissed his neck, and Jay pressed back against him.
    "Horny?" Baron asked. "Do you want to make love?"
    Jay smiled. "I just spent a whole morning imagining us doing that. But first tell me how it went."

Magda Caille

    To be sure, brother and sister coming face to face in Marker's office was an unpleasant experience for both parties. By no stretch of the imagination could one have called it a reunion; "confrontation" was a more accurate description. Ed's prediction had hit the nail on the head, though: If anyone found the brief meeting traumatic, it wasn't Cameron—it was Liv.
    When she got to Marker's office and saw that the black man had brought three people there with him, none of whom was his homosexual lover, she thought, "They've hired a whole team of lawyers!" She hadn't expected three. Mr. Worthy had told her that someone called Magda Caille, from Lambda Legal, would be representing them.
    She had to be told what Lambda was. "A lesbian," she said, making a face.
    "Not necessarily. I have no idea what Magda's sexual orientation is. I only know her professionally, and I can assure you that she knows her law inside and out. She's one of the best lawyers in the state."
    "Why else would she work for them?"
    "Because someone in her family is homosexual. Because she has homosexual friends. Because she believes in equal rights for everyone, whatever their sexual orientation. Other people have values too, Mrs. Redding. Just because they aren't ours doesn't mean they don't have them."
    "They have all the same rights we do," Liv had commented. Seeing her now, though, a petite woman with curly blonde hair and wearing a stylish, very feminine skirt and blouse, Liv thought he might be right. Her manner was brisk but not unladylike, the rapidity of her speech clashing with her Southern accent. This Ms. Caille neither looked nor sounded like her idea of a dyke.
    After explaining that his "partner" would not be joining them, Christ introduced the other three. It seemed the two men were not there in a legal capacity and were both named Blacknoll. Liv eyed them with distrust.
    "Brothers?" she inquired. She didn't see much of a family resemblance, but it wouldn't hurt to appear sociable.
    "No," one answered. "I took Ed's last name when we were married."
    Liv made no attempt to hide her disgust. She turned to Mr. Worthy and said bluntly, "I told you they had equal rights already."
    "Only in Massachusetts," the man said. Then he dropped the bombshell. "Before we got married my name used to be Cameron Enslik."
    "Ronnie's dead," she snapped back.
    "Ronnie's dead, but I'm still very much alive."
    "Who's Ronnie?" Mr. Worthy asked Liv.
    "Her brother," Cameron said.
    "I think it would be best if Ms. Caille explained the situation," Marker said, and in a few brief sentences Magda sketched in the story of the gay son Bill and Alma Enslik had chased from their home a quarter century before.
    "Let him prove it! I dare him to prove it!" Liv cried.
    "That will be easy. And let me tell you this, Livvie—"
    "I don't want him to call me that! I'm Mrs. Redding."
    Cameron fixed a stern gaze on his sister and continued, speaking with emphasis as if to drive his point home, "You take my word for it, I'm going to fight for this will with all the strength I have. I'm not going to let go of it. It's the only thing I have that tells me Mama loved me. And if we lose—"
    Magda Caille put a hand on his arm, and