Chapter 9
Monday morning I picked Davey up early, before
anyone else
in his grandmother’s house was even awake, and we ran around the track
at the
school. By the time we were done, the
gym was opened and Coach Cole nodded at us as we came in for a shower. Davey was exhausted, but once again
completing the run had left him in a good mood.
We hit the cafeteria for breakfast, and I noticed him choosing
much the
same food that I did, staying away from the high cholesterol, greasy
stuff that
he might have normally eaten.
Since he didn’t have to work that afternoon, he
stayed
around school while I went to baseball practice. I
could see him sitting there on the
bleachers, sneaking looks at the guys on the team in their practice
gear, and smiled
to myself since I was the recipient of most of those looks. Mark Spencer was spending most of the
practice ignoring me until sliding practice where he tried to swipe my
leg with
his cleats. Coach Anders spotted his
attempt and sent him running laps for the rest of practice with a
threat that
if he did it again, he’d be suspended from the team for a week.
“Yo, Breckenridge, I hear that Jones guy over
there is
bobbing your knob now.” Adam Mitchell, another junior on the team who
also
played football said to me in a low voice as we stood near the dugout
while the
sliding drills continued.
“If he was, it’d be better than that bitch
Marcie.” I said
forcefully and Mitchell burst out in laughter, nearly doubling over.
“Yo, Jones, why don’t you do something useful
instead of
sitting there?” Coach Anders called out to Davey a few minutes later
and Davey
looked up with curiosity. “Get over
here.”
Davey complied, getting up and putting away the
book he’d
been reading. Anders gave him the
clipboard he’d been making notes on and then had Davey following him
around,
scribing notes on the clipboard about the performance of different
members of
the team. That left a smile on my face,
and I wondered again at how the staff at a school with over two
thousand students
still found time to do little things like Anders was doing.
“What the hell do you think you’re doing,
Spencer?” Anders’s
voice boomed out near the end of practice and I looked up from where
I’d just
slid into second base before the tag to see Spencer caught red-handed
rifling
through Davey’s backpack. Davey had left
it on the bleachers where he’d been sitting, and Spencer was halfway
through
tearing some pages out of the book Davey had been reading.
Davey stood next to the coach with a look of
anger on his face.
“I…uh…” Spencer stammered but the Coach cut him
off with a
wave of his hand.
“Get your stupid ass into my office and wait for
me there.”
Anders growled. “Everyone, twenty laps
and practice is over. Jones, make sure
they all complete their laps and then help Riley get the equipment put
up
before meeting me in my office. I want
to talk to you too.”
“Yes, sir.” Davey said weakly, glaring at Spencer.
“Oh, and make sure nothing’s missing from your
backpack and
give me the details of anything Spencer damaged.” Anders ordered before
walking
away, following the path a sullen Mark Spencer was taking to the gym
and the coach’s
office. I gave Davey a sympathetic look
that he shrugged off before joining the team to make the laps.
“That was plain wrong.” Adam Mitchell said as he
jogged near
me. Trevor was further back in the
bunch, and
“Which part?” I asked Adam after staying quiet for
a
moment. His statement could have gone
both ways.
“Spencer going through his backpack.” Adam said
softly. “I
heard your ex-girlfriend bragging at lunch about how Spencer slashed
that Jones
guy’s tires over the weekend and now this.
She’s fucking wacko. Dude, you
know I was just teasing you about the fag shit, right?
I mean, no one really believes the shit she’s
talking about. Most people know she’s
pissed you dumped her ass for being a slut and she’s just trying to get
back at
you.”
“Don’t worry about it, dude.” I said with a shrug.
“So, Jones, he’s a pretty cool guy?” Adam asked a
lap
later. Trevor and a few other teammates
were now running with us.
“We knew him in junior high at La Loma.” Trevor
answered
before I could say anything. “He’s a bit
geeky but not bad. He played on the
freshman team before he moved to
“I heard his dad’s a pervert.” Rich, another of
our
teammates said derisively. “It was in the papers how his old man was
porkin’
Jones’s sister.”
“Don’t even fucking joke about that shit.” Tim,
another of
our teammates said with a disgusted sound in his voice.
“Imagine if that was your sister.”
“I don’t have a sister.” Rich said defensively.
“You do have a brother, don’t you?” Tim shot back.
“Don’t fucking even suggest that shit.” Rich’s
voice filled
with anger.
“Now imagine what it must be like for Jones.” I
said softly,
gathering everyone’s attention, and after another lap that passed by in
silence, Rich spoke up again.
“How does he stand it?” Rich asked quietly.
“Do you think Jones will help Riley and Coach out
for the
season?” Tim asked me in the silence that followed Rich’s comment.
“Probably not.” I said with a shake of my head. “He works a lot you know.
I’m giving him a ride for now until his car’s
fixed and he was only here today because he had the day off. His mom and sister need the money bad. His mom, she’s getting ready for a major
surgery in a week or two, and his sister’s going to therapy that he has
to pay
for since no one else can.”
“Dude, he pays for all that shit?” Rich asked with
surprise. “Why don’t someone else pay,
like his father or the state?”
“Who’d hire his father after he was in the news so
much?” I
snorted. “His mother can’t work, at
least until after the surgery because of her back and the state’s
dicking her
around on disability. Someone has to pay
for that stuff, and so he works his ass off.”
“Dude, that’s so unfair.” Tim said quietly. “Fuck, how’s he paying to fix his car with
all those bills?”
“Dad’s paying for it.” I said with a shrug.
“He’s lucky to have you for a friend.” Trevor said
with a
hint of bitterness in his voice. I
guessed the bitterness was for his having taken Marcie’s side of
everything at
first.
“More like I’m lucky to have him for a friend.” I
replied.
“Why’s that?” Rich asked quietly.
“He likes to play sports.” I said quietly. “At his last school he played football,
basketball, track, just about every sport they offered, and he was on
the
debate team and a whole bunch of other stuff.
The guy’s smart, and he’s had to give all that up so he can earn
enough
money to pay his sister’s psychologist’s bills.
How many of us would give up everything we wanted to help our
family
out? That’s loyalty, and he gives the
same loyalty to friends, too.”
“Oh.” Rich said, and we finished the rest of our
laps in
relative silence. Davey was already
inside the gym as I entered with the rest of the team.
There was no sign of Mark Spencer, but Davey
was in with Coach Anders while I got undressed and showered. By the time I was clean and dressed in my
street clothes, there was another commotion and we all turned to see
Coach Cole
leading a red-faced Mark Spencer into the gym. He had Spencer’s right
arm bent behind
his back and had the angriest look on his face I’d ever seen before.
“Breckenridge, get in the office now!” Cole roared
and I
jumped to obey, stuffing my dirty practice uniform into my bag before
leaving
the bag on the bench and double-timing to the office.
“What’s he done now?” Coach Anders asked as I
entered the
office and shut the door behind me. The
rest of the team was trying to hear what was going on without looking
like it,
but Cole crossed the room to close the blinds.
He’d dumped Mark into one of the chairs where Mark was glowering
at
Davey and I in turn. Davey’s shoulders were hunched up, and he was
looking at
the floor.
“I found him taking a key to Breckenridge’s car.”
Cole
growled angrily before looking at me.
“Sorry, Breckenridge, you’ve got a couple of good scratches that
are
going to require the car to be repainted probably.”
“You son of a bitch.” I growled, turning angrily
to Spencer.
“Watch your language, Breckenridge.” Coach Anders
growled at
me. “That’s five laps you owe me
tomorrow before practice.”
“Yes, coach.” I said, turning my anger down to a
hard
simmer.
“Spencer, what part of me sending you to the
Principal as
punishment for what you’d already done didn’t you understand?” Coach
Anders
asked of Spencer who just shrugged his shoulders while staring at his
hand. “Do you understand what has to
happen now?”
“Borsch already suspended me for two days and I
have to pay
that faggot back for the stupid book.” Spencer said sullenly.
“You can count on another trip to Principal’s
office for
that.” Anders growled.
“What, you give Breckenridge a couple of laps and
send me to
the Principal?” Spencer sneered. “That’s
really fair.”
“Breckenridge is on the team, you’re not.” Anders
said
sternly.
“What?” Spencer’s voice almost cracked in his
surprise. “Since when?”
“Since Coach Cole found you keying Breckenridge’s
car.”
Anders retorted. “I won’t have a vandal
on my team.”
“That’s fucking great.” Spencer murmured, glaring
daggers at
Davey and then at me. “You’ll pay for
this, both of you.”
“Actually, it’s you who’ll pay.” Cole said angrily. “We’ll be calling the police here in a few
minutes for them to come and take our statements and photograph the
evidence of
what you did. Breckenridge here is going
to press charges, so there’ll be criminal charges, and you’ll have to
pay for
the damage you caused.”
“Like fucking hell I will.” Spencer growled. “I’ll
pay for
slashing the fag’s tires before I’ll pay for Breckenridge’s car.”
“What?” Anders growled with wide eyes as he sat up
a bit
straighter. Spencer realized he’d said too
much, and kept his mouth shut. “What’s
he talking about, Jones?”
“The tires were slashed on my car over the
weekend, Coach.”
Davey explained in a voice that was tightly controlled.
He was glaring at Spencer and flexing his
hands like he wanted to hit the guy. “We
were pretty sure it was him who did it, and a couple of people have
told me
they heard Marcie bragging about him doing it, but you know, that’s all
hearsay. Now he’s admitted it front of
me. Can you please call the cops? I want to file charges for that too.”
“We all heard him, Jones.” Cole said sternly.
“Brian, you think the shop that’s working on the
car threw
the tires out?” Davey asked.
“We’ll find out.” I assured him and he nodded, and
this time
it was he who glared daggers at Spencer, who was now looking fairly
pale. Most of the team had left by the
time that
the police finished, and while they weren’t sure if they could get
charges to
stick over Davey’s tires, they were quite certain they could get a
conviction
for the keying of my car, even though it was only a misdemeanor
vandalism
charge, and he’d likely get only a few hours of community service.
The important part was that his father was called
in by the
police, as was my father. No one could
reach Davey’s mother, who was in the Bay Area having tests done, but
his
grandfather showed up, ready to spit nails.
The look of shock on Davey’s face as his grandfather took up
Davey’s
side and threatened Mr. Spencer with lawsuits and the ‘almighty
judgment of the
Lord God on your worthless son’ was a sight to see, and I think for the
first
time in a long time, Davey realized his grandfather really did care for
him.
“Davey, I’ll give you a ride home.” Pete said as
we stood
outside looking at my car. “Brian, I’m
sorry this had to happen to your handsome car.”
“I’m just glad we know who did it and he’ll be
paying the
price for what he did to not only my car but Davey’s car as well.” I
said and
Pete nodded.
“Davey, this one here’s a good guy.” Pete said
with a jerk
of his thumb towards me. “You keep him
close and we’ll see about changing some things around the house.”
“Thanks, Mr. Barrow.” I said quietly and he
snorted.
“Call me Pete, son.” He said as he held out his
hand and I
shook it firmly. “Now, let’s get a move
on, Davey. Mr. Breckenridge, you’ve got
a fine son there, and I appreciate all the help you’ve given my
grandson. As soon as his car’s fixed, you
bring me the
bill.”
“Thank you.” Dad said with a nod, although the
look in his
eyes said Pete would be a long time waiting for that bill.
“Brian, you want to get your car to a shop
and see about an estimate?”
“Let’s wait for Davey’s car to get fixed.” I
suggested and
Dad nodded.
“I’ve got to get back to work.” Dad said. “I’ll see you at dinner?”
“Yep.” I said and smiled at him as thanks for his
support
and help.
Finding Trevor waiting for me on the front porch
of the
house wasn’t a surprise, but
“Hey guys.” I said as lightly as I could and
Trevor smiled
half-heartedly while
“I’m sorry.”
“I forgive you.” I said immediately and held out
my
hand. He sighed with relief and took it
quickly. “So does this mean we’re all
three single again?”
“Yeah.” Trevor said with a grin.
“I got a call as soon as I got home demanding
to know what I was going to do to help Marcie and Mark get back at you
and
Davey and I told her it was over.”
“I did too.”
“What’s that?” I asked as a little knot of worry
filled my
gut.
“Marcie, she had me follow you and Davey the other
day.”
“You’re serious.” I said with a frown. Marcie had ammunition now, and if she used
it, there wasn’t much we could do about that, not without some help at
least.
“Yeah, I’m sorry I helped her out.”
“Tell that to Davey.” I snapped and he winced. “Sorry, I shouldn’t have snapped like that.”
“I deserve it.”
“He’s being taken care of.” I said with a smile,
and related
the afternoon’s events to them, or at least what they didn’t already
know.
“Whew, he’s going to be in a world of shit.”
Trevor said
with a chuckle. “His father ain’t
exactly the most understanding of guys.”
“You can say that again.”
“We’re good friends, almost as good friends as I
was with
the two of you.” I said pointedly and they both nodded slowly.
“You mean as good friends as we are again.” Trevor
countered.
“We’ll see.” I replied and they both nodded with
acceptance
of that.
“So, you two are going to look for new
girlfriends?” I asked
and
“You know, I think I’ll stay single for a bit.”
“I will too, besides there’s always the barn.”
Trevor said
with a wink towards Brandon who blushed a bit before smiling. I turned away, not really ready to deal with
this yet from my friends. How could they
flip-flop so easily between denying they ever did anything with guys
and then
be this open? “Brian, you want to join us?”
“Um, no thanks.” I said with a blush and they
laughed.
“Well, we’ll like see you tomorrow at school,
right?”
“Yeah, see you guys at school.” I assured them and
then I
winked. “Don’t have too much fun in that
barn.”
“We will.” Trevor said before leading the way out.
The phone rang before the door had even finished
shutting
behind them and I went to answer it before the machine picked up the
call. The fact that it was a crank call
with heavy
breathing and threats on the other end didn’t surprise me.
The way they hung up when I mentioned that
the police were monitoring all calls to the house in light of recent
events
ended the call rather quickly.
There was homework to do, and a list of chores
from my
mother that kept me busy for most of the afternoon. I even put my
practice
uniform in the wash and it was almost dry by the time she got home. Apparently she’d already heard about my day
from Dad, and wanted to hear more details, which I gave to her as she
started
dinner. Davey’s upcoming problem with
his residence was in the back of my mind, and the obvious solution was
something I wanted to approach carefully, so I didn’t tell her about
that
yet.
Over dinner, Dad had more to say about the day’s
events, and
he informed me that he’d hired an attorney to represent me and Davey
both in a
civil suit against Spencer’s and Marcie’s parents.
He never really expected to see any money out
of them, but he wanted the suit on record, because it would be a
permanent record
against not only their parents but against Marcie and Spencer.
“Dad, there’s another problem you should know
about as
well.” I said calmly after dinner was over and Dad had finished his
dialogue
about how Marcie and Spencer were being dealt with.
“What is it?” Dad asked just as calmly.
“Brandon and Trevor came over after I got back
today.” I
said and Mom smiled.
“You guys have made up?” She asked.
“Yes.” I answered and she smiled broadly.
“I told you it was just a matter of time.” She
reminded me.
“You were right, but
“Marcie somehow figured this out?” Dad asked.
“Yeah, she had
“So she’s reported it to the District?” Mom asked
and I
nodded.
“If they investigate they’ll figure it out and
send Davey
back to Ceres.” Dad said shortly. “You
know, that is where he should be going to school if he lives there.”
“He’s miserable there, dad.” I responded.
“He was fairly miserable at
“Was being the key word there.” I pointed out and
he
nodded.
“What do you expect me to do about this?” Dad
asked me
point-blank.
“Expect?” I said. “I
don’t expect anything, but I was hoping we might be able to help Davey
come up
with some alternatives to having to switch schools just when things are
starting
to look up for him here.”
“You mean besides the crap Marcie’s pulling?” Mom
said
scornfully.
“I hate to say it, but I don’t know what you ever
saw in
that girl.” Dad snorted.
“I don’t either.” I replied in complete honesty.
“Well I think the first thing we should do is call
Pete and
Davey and maybe get together with them to discuss this.” Dad said.
“I agree.” Mom said and I nodded.
He got up to leave the room and as soon as he
was gone, Mom turned to me. “Brian, have
you thought about dating again?”
“Nope.” I snorted.
“After Marcie, it’s far too early to think about stuff like
that.”
“Good.” Mom said with a nod of her head that
surprised
me.
“Brian, Pete’s asked us to come by their place.”
Dad said as
he came back into the room. He was
frowning and I got worried. “Davey’s mom
was hospitalized by the doctors in
“Oh no.” Mom murmured, and she got up to go get
her
jacket. “I’m coming as well.”
“I’ll get my jacket.” I said as it had gotten
chilly outside
as soon as the sun had set. The weather
reports also called for a light rain tonight.
The house was in near-pandemonium when we arrived. Two of Davey’s aunts, Fran and Priscilla were
there, as was Davey and his sister, Jenny.
Both of them looked really worried, and had food left over on
their
plates while almost everyone else had finished their food.
His cousin Shantill was there, while her
mother Fran held Shantill’s daughter in her arms, trying to calm the
crying baby. Pete was sitting at the head
of the table
with a scowl on his face, and he nodded to my father as we entered, and
smiled
at my mother when Dad introduced her.
“Let’s go in the living room.” He said, leading us
through
the doorway that connected the dining room with the living room. It was paneled in a dark wood, and had an old
stereo console that ran the full length of one of the walls. We all sat down in the room, with Pete in one
armchair, Davey in another while I sat on the couch with my parents. Pete shut the folding door across the kitchen
for more privacy while Fran and Priscilla kept everyone else occupied. When we were all seated, and Priscilla had
brought in some glasses of water for us, he spoke again.
“I appreciate you folks coming down here like
this. Davey’s made some good friends in
you and I hate to impose on you any more.”
“We’re honored to have Davey as a friend of our
son’s.” Dad
said. “He’s a fine young man.”
“He can be when he puts his mind to the job.” Pete
said with
a sideways look at Davey who was looking withdrawn.
“Monta’s in a fit right now what with
“Do we know what’s wrong yet?” Dad asked.
“All they said was complications from her back.”
Pete said
sourly. “That girl’s had to deal with
too much in her life as it is without this.
There’s nothing we can do about that now but pray.
Monta said you had a place you were willing
to rent to her?”
“She insisted on paying rent.” Dad said firmly. “As far as we’re concerned, she’s free to use
it anytime without charge.”
“We’ll pay for what we use.” Pete said just as
firmly. “We do appreciate the use of the
place,
though. I’m heading up there in a bit to
help Monta out. That woman will spend so
much time in a tizzy over
“I’ve brought the keys and directions on how to
get there
from Children’s Hospital.” Dad said, pulling a folded piece of paper
and a set
of keys from his pocket. He gave them to
me and I got up and handed them to Pete.
“It’s much appreciated.” Pete said and then he
looked over
at Davey for a long moment.
“Thanks for all the help you’ve been giving me and
my
family.” Davey said in a way that suggested he’d been told exactly what
to
say. Despite that, his eyes showed that
the sentiment was real.
“We’re glad to be of help.” Mom said immediately. “It’s the right thing to do, and I knew if we
needed help like this, you and your family wouldn’t hesitate to return
the
favor.”
“I don’t want to have to ask this, but I do have
another
favor to ask.” Pete said at that point.
“Fran and Priscilla will take turns watching out for Shantill
and
Whitney, and the mother of one of Jenny’s friends has offered to take
her in for
a week or two until I get back in town.
Monta won’t leave that city until
“Papa.” Davey started to protest, but quieted at
the look on
his grandfather’s face. Mom and Dad looked
at each other and then at me for a moment before they nodded at each
other.
“Pete, we’d appreciate it if you’d let Davey stay
with us
until things settle down here at home.” Dad said. “He
and Brian get along well, and he’s proved
to be helpful around the house. We’d be
honored if you thought it was good for him to stay with us.”
“I can help out with his room and board.” Pete
said
gruffly. “We had a talk tonight and he’s
going to quit his job tomorrow. There’s
just too damn much stuff going on with this family for him to waste his
time
working away. He’s already proved he
would if he had too, and that’s good enough for me.
I’ve told him tonight that as long as he’s
getting good grades in school, and doing extra-curricular work, I will
pay his
car payments, insurance, and cover Jenny’s bills. The
coach of the baseball team offered to pay
him twenty bucks a week if he worked as an equipment manager for the
team, so
he’ll have some spending money at least.”
“We won’t take a dime, Pete.” Dad said firmly. “He’ll do chores around the house just like
Brian and that’ll cover his room and board.”
“You sure about that?” Pete asked.
“You’ll give him real chores to do?”
“Yes.” Dad said firmly, and my stomach did a
little
flip-flop. Davey was going to be staying
at my house full-time now. It made me
excited, but at the same time nervous.
“Then I’ll not push that.” Pete said sternly. “Mind you, it’s just for a few weeks until we
get things settled with
“It won’t be a problem even if it goes a bit
longer.” Dad
said confidently and Mom nodded her agreement.
“We’ll cross that bridge when we get there.” Pete
said
stolidly. “Davey, why don’t you and
Brian go pack your stuff for a week, and remember what I told you.”
“Yes, sir.” Davey said as he stood up. I stood as well, and followed him into the
house entryway and through the kitchen where he was all but tackled by
his
blond sister.
“I can’t believe this is happening.” Jenny cried
into his
shoulder while their aunts looked on.
Shantill was on the phone again, laughing at whatever she was
hearing
from the person on the other side of the line. It seemed almost cruel
for her
to be laughing while her cousins were going through a bad time.
“It’ll be okay, sis.” Davey said softly, rubbing a
hand
through her long, blond hair.
“I don’t want you to go.” She whined and I felt
sorry for
her, and felt a bit selfish that I was so happy Davey would be staying
with us.
“It’s only for a week or two, and my car will be
fixed by
the weekend, so we can go see her then.” Davey said.
“You promise?” She asked hopefully.
“What about your work?”
“Papa says I don’t have to work anymore.” Davey
said with a
hint of disbelief in his voice. That
brought a smile to my face, because it was something the Pete Barrow I
remembered would have done for his grandson.
“Really?” Jenny asked.
“What about my appointments?”
“He’ll take care of them.” Davey said with even
more
disbelief showing in his voice. “You’ve
got Brian’s number, right?”
“Yes.” She said.
“You’ve got the number to Stacey’s house, right?”
“Yep.” Davey agreed with a smile.
“I’ll call you every night, okay?”
“Okay.” She said and wiped her nose with the back
of her
hand like I’d seen Davey do over the weekend.
It was a cute family trait, one I’d noticed several times before
in the
other timeline.
“Good, now I’ve got to go pack and you should
too.” He told
her gently. “Stacey’s mom will be here
soon.”
“Yeah.” She said with a smile and went down the
hallway to
the bedroom she shared with her mother.
I followed Davey down into the family room where he pulled out a
suitcase, a duffel bag, and his school backpack before putting clothes
in them.
“I really appreciate this.” He said to me as I
stood and
watched him. Part of me wanted to help,
but I sensed this was something he wanted to do himself.
“You know it’s not a problem.” I told him and he
nodded his
head while he finished loading his suitcase and bags.
When he’d finished, he looked wistfully at
his stereo. “You going to bring your
stereo?”
“You don’t think it’d be a problem?” He asked. “I mean it’s only for a week or two.”
“Dude, if you want to bring it, bring it.” I
encouraged him
and he smiled before moving to disconnect all the wires. It
took only one trip for the both of us to
load up the trunk of Mom’s car with his stuff, and when we shut the
trunk, we
turned to find my parents standing there with his grandfather on the
sidewalk.
“Thank you for everything, Papa.” Davey said and
the old man
nodded gruffly before pulling Davey into a very quick hug.
That was a loud statement of affection from
the man who usually only gave handshakes unless it was to a pretty girl.
“You just do what we talked about.” Pete said
sternly and
Davey nodded his agreement.
“Let’s get going so we can get you settled in,
Davey.” Dad
said kindly and turned to shake Pete’s hand before we got into the car. I could see Pete’s smile when Mom hugged him
before joining us in the car.
It was a slight surprise, but a welcome one when
Davey’s
hand reached across the back seat to find mine in a tight grip as Dad
drove us
home.
This story brought to you by a lot of hard editing from Emoe, and
beta-reading by Trebs.
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