"Fine. You have the right to be wrong," Cameron said with a smile.
Jay and I walked in the middle.
"Leo, can I ask you something?" Jay said with a serious voice.
"Sure," I replied.
"Do you think people can change?" Jay asked with doubt.
I thought for a moment.
"I think people can try to change. But they don't always succeed. And sometimes, what looks like change is just the same person learning to hide what they really are better," I replied honestly.
Jay looked at me.
"You're direct, kid," Jay said with surprise.
"So I've been told," I replied with a smile.
"And who taught you to be like that?" Jay asked with curiosity.
"No one. I learned on my own," I said simply.
"Well, you learned well," Jay said with respect.
We kept walking. Shorty and Mitchell were on the fifth hole. Mitchell had hit the ball, and it had only rolled a few meters.
"Better next time. Less force, more precision," Shorty said encouragingly.
"That's what I always say," Mitchell replied with irony.
"Then say it louder," Shorty said, laughing.
"Less force, more precision!" Mitchell shouted with amusement.
"That's it," Shorty said with approval.
Jay approached Shorty.
"Shorty, can I talk to you for a moment?" Jay said with a low, serious voice.
"Sure. What's going on?" Shorty replied with curiosity.
"It's about... something. Something I noticed," Jay said with discomfort.
"What something?" Shorty asked, confused.
"I don't know how to say this, but... we've been friends for a long time, haven't we?" Jay said with hesitation.
"Thirty years, more or less," Shorty replied with a smile.
"And I love you, you know? Like a brother. And I want you to know that... if there's something you need to tell me... something that's been hard for you... you can tell me. I won't judge you," Jay said with clumsiness but with sincerity.
Shorty stared at him.
"Jay, what are you talking about?" Shorty asked with bewilderment.
"About... whatever it is. Whatever you need to tell me. I... I went through this with Mitchell, and I didn't handle it well. But I want to handle it well with you," Jay said with effort.
Shorty blinked. Once. Twice.
"Jay, do you think I'm gay?" Shorty asked with absolute incredulity.
The silence was total. Mitchell stopped practicing. Cameron and Scotty approached. I stayed where I was.
"No... I didn't say that," Jay stammered with panic.
"You said it with your face. And with your words. 'Something that's been hard for you.' 'I won't judge you.' 'I went through this with Mitchell.' What is that supposed to mean?" Shorty said with a mix of offense and amusement.
"That... that you're a good guy and that I care about you," Jay said defensively.
"That I'm gay?" Shorty insisted, raising an eyebrow.
"I didn't say that!" Jay exclaimed with desperation.
"You implied it," Shorty said calmly.
"I did not imply it!" Jay denied forcefully.
"You implied it with your face and your shoulders. With the way you looked at me when I said I liked pants without pleats," Shorty said with a smile.
"That doesn't mean anything! I like pants without pleats too. They're more comfortable and more elegant," Jay replied, offended.
"Jay, my father was a tailor. He taught me to appreciate clothes. That doesn't make me gay," Shorty said with patience.
"I didn't say it makes you gay!" Jay almost shouted.
"You said it with your eyes," Shorty said calmly.
"My eyes don't say anything!" Jay exclaimed with frustration.
"Your eyes say everything. They always have. That's why you lost the poker final last year. Your eyes gave you away," Shorty said with a mischievous smile.
"That's because I had a bad card!" Jay replied defensively.
"You had a pair of aces. That's not a bad card," Shorty said with amusement.
"It's bad if the other guy has a full house!" Jay insisted.
"Who was going to have a full house? It was impossible!" Shorty said, laughing.
"Nothing is impossible in poker! You taught me that," Jay replied with irony.
"I taught you to read opponents. Not to be afraid of the cards," Shorty said with wisdom.
Mitchell approached me.
"Is this normal?" Mitchell asked quietly, with astonishment.
"In golf, everything is normal. Once, Jay got into a fight with a tree because a ball hit him on the head. He said the tree did it on purpose," I replied with a smile.
"And what did the tree do?" Mitchell asked with disbelief.
"Nothing. It was a tree. But Jay apologized afterward. He said he'd been unfair," I said with amusement.
"He apologized to a tree?" Mitchell asked, eyes wide.
"To the tree, and to the bird that was in the tree, and to the ground because he'd stepped on it too hard. It was a very emotional moment," I replied.
"No wonder," Mitchell said with a smile.
"Of course I'm right," Cameron said from behind, not understanding.
"I wasn't talking to you," Mitchell replied with fatigue.
"You're always talking to me. Even when you don't know it," Cameron said with a romantic smile.
Meanwhile, Jay and Shorty were still arguing, but something had changed. Their voices were lower.
"Shorty, I'm sorry. I shouldn't have assumed anything," Jay said with shame.
"No, you shouldn't have," Shorty replied with severity.
"It's just that... Mitchell told me that... that you might be... that you could be..." Jay said with hesitation.
"That I could be what? Gay?" Shorty asked with a smile.
"Well, yes," Jay admitted with shame.
"And why would Mitchell think that?" Shorty asked with curiosity.
"Because he notices these things. He has a detector. He says it never fails," Jay said with resignation.
"A detector for homosexuality?" Shorty asked with amused incredulity.
"Something like that," Jay admitted.
Shorty let out a short laugh.
"Jay, I'm going to tell you something, and I want you to listen carefully," Shorty said with seriousness.
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