Hallelujah

Cover Art by JoelPhilArt @ Deviant Art

A rock star, David is torn between his public persona and the man he is at home. When on stage, he praises the Lord, as would a good Christian, while young women clamor for his attention, but behind the heavy gates that guard his home, he is a man with more than one secret. David is a Jew, not a Christian, and no woman will ever hold his heart. The one he hurries home to is Nathan, the quiet man who turned his life around. As his fame escalates, a secret from his past threatens everything he would willingly die to protect.

* * *

“And the Grammy goes to…” A hush fell over the crowd at that moment and David sat in the front row with his eyes closed. Let it be me, he repeated to himself several times. Then it happened. “Son Phoenix!” The audience went wild as the band made its way to the stage to accept the award for rock album of the year.

When David lifted the statue high above his head, the audience roared. They had all been contenders, but David was the best. He was the lead singer, the member of the band that made young women faint, but David Wassenstein was known as Blade to them. He crossed himself and thanked the Lord for the honor, as was expected of a good Christian.

Nathan Gelman sat in the very back row and watched the hypocrisy. David, or Blade, clutched his chest as if he were touching a cross that hung from his neck, but Nathan knew the truth. The Star of David dangled from Blade’s neck. Nathan had given it to him six months ago on their two year anniversary. David said that Jewish men didn’t become rock stars, but that was exactly what David was…a rock star…and a Jew.

David didn’t look at Nathan when he accepted the award. He didn’t dare. He didn’t care all that much if his fans thought or knew he was gay. Men and women pushed through the crowds to look at him, to touch him, to hear him speak a few words only to them. David didn’t look at Nathan because he knew what he would see in the eyes of his lover. He would see disappointment, betrayal, and hurt because he had denounced his faith, at least in public. When the two of them were together in their home, locked behind heavy gated walls, David was as true to the Jewish faith as Nathan.

David didn’t notice when Nathan quietly exited the theatre, but he had expected him to leave as soon as the winner was announced.

Nathan drove through the gate that closed behind him and turned on the lights inside the mansion they shared. He lit a fire in the fireplace and waited for the sound of the black limousine that would bring Blade home to him again. His fingertips lightly outlined the matching Star of David that clung to his chest as he thought about the separate lives they led.