Chapter 1
“Welcome to Seventh Grade English.” The short, pretty woman with black hair said after the bell had rung and we’d all taken seats. To be honest, I was kind of nervous at the start of the class. English wasn’t my best subject, but it was something we had to take, and I’d managed to get into one of the better classes, according to my aunt. Aunt Wilma was the Deputy Principal of the school, and said this teacher was one of the best teachers in the school, so that at least was a good thing. “I’m Mrs. Klopf, and I’ll be your teacher for the year. I’m going to call out roll and when you hear your name, I want you to answer “present.” Adams, Michele?”
“Here.” A frumpy girl on the far right of the classroom said almost immediately. My geek meter went off and it was all I could do not to snort out loud. Trevor, my friend from football was sitting just behind me and I heard him not quite achieve the control I had when he let out a strangled sound – kind of like a snort. He tried to hide it behind a cough and the teacher didn’t even look in our direction. Brandon, who was sitting on my left was having a tough time controlling his giggling. The new kid, the guy whose buddy had gotten in my way was sitting in front of me, and I could see his broad shoulders shake as he tried not to laugh.
“Breckenridge, Brian.” The teacher’s voice called out and it took me a moment to realize I was supposed to respond.
“Uh, present.” I said after a long pause where people were looking around. The teacher just looked at me, nodded and called out the next name. Brandon was almost losing it now after my embarrassing goof-up, and I could feel my cheeks starting to heat up. When the teacher called “Jones, David”, the guy in front of me sat up a bit straighter.
“Present, and I prefer Davey.” He told her in a voice that was deeper than mine. I couldn’t believe how easy he seemed telling the teacher what to call him, and she just wrote a note in her grade book before calling the next name!
I hadn’t recognized the guy when I first saw him, but after he’d made that comment about striking me out, I remembered the little league game. I had thought for a moment I’d be able to hit a homer like Trevor had done, or get walked like Brandon, but he’d gotten his groove back by the time I was up to bat and he’d struck me out flat. After that year, I got involved with Pee Wee Football, along with Brandon and Trevor, my best friends, and hadn’t played in the same league with him for baseball. Still, I’d heard he was a good pitcher.
I wondered briefly if he’d be any good at Quarterback? Sure, that was Trevor’s position, and Trevor was good at it, but if the new guy was good, maybe he could be the back up? That would give our team some real depth, and as long as the guy wasn’t one of those kids who moved every few years, he’d be on the team with us when we started High School in a couple of years. That’s what really mattered, well that and being the top kids in the school.
Between the three of us, Brandon and Trevor and I were probably the best athletes in the school, and we knew it. We had a plan for this school year. Together we’d be the top dogs, no one would challenge us, not even the eighth graders, and when we went to high school, it’d carry over from there. This new guy, Davey, he looked like he could fit in with us and…
“Hey, you awake?” The voice of the guy I was thinking about snapped me out of my thoughts and I realized everyone in the classroom was turning their desks to talk to people next to them. Brandon and Trevor, sitting in the last seats of the two rows, were teaming up already, and the new guy looked like he’d taken it on himself to pick me as his partner for whatever we were doing.
“Uh, yeah.” I said like a stupid geek when I realized I had no idea what we were supposed to be doing. “Um, I just like zoned out there. I was thinking about football, and stuff.”
“I get it.” The guy said and I stared at him for a moment. I remembered from my run-in with him that we were the same height, although he must work out way more than me because his shoulders were broader than mine, and his arms were like thick oak tree trunks sticking out of his sleeveless shirt. The shirt was so tight across his chest that I could see his nipples sticking through and for some reason my mouth went dry.
“We’re supposed to get to know each other, ask a bunch of questions and write the answers down.” He explained, probably guessing that I had totally missed being told what we were supposed to be doing. He was probably some type of boy genius as well and here I was being a freaking idiot!
“Okay, what’s your name?” I asked and then groaned aloud. Like, how much more stupid could I be?
“I’m Davey Jones.” He said with a slight smile though, and I didn’t know whether to slide under my desk or sit up straighter. He answered like it was no big deal, and I realized he might be an alright guy after all. “What’s yours?”
“Brian Breckenridge.” I answered him, realizing he really wasn’t being patro…patronizing I think the word was.
“Nice to meet ya, Brian.” He said with a smile. I noticed he was wearing braces and wondered what they were like. I’d never had to wear the things since I’d always had near-perfect teeth. “So, I guess we should find out more about each other, now, eh?”
“What, are you Canadian?” I asked him when he’d ended his sentence that way. It was funny the way his eyes crossed at that.
“Um, no, I was born and raised mostly here in Modesto.” He said and I wrote it down quickly. “We lived in Florida for a few years, but moved back here when I was in the second grade.”
“That’s cool, I’ve lived here all my life, too.” I told him and saw him write it down carefully. He had this real fancy handwriting, I noticed. “So, um, what does your Dad do? Does your mom work?”
“Both my parents work.” He answered me, but this time he wasn’t smiling quite as much. “My mom is a political fundraiser.”
“What’s that?” I asked because I wasn’t sure what he meant.
“Oh, she puts on parties and stuff like that for politicians trying to raise money.” He explained quickly and I just let it soak in instead of trying to write everything down as he spoke quickly. “People pay lots of money to show up, usually because there’s a big name speaker at the event and she gets to keep a percentage of whatever money was raised after expenses.”
“That’s… cool.” I said after he finished, not sure quite what to say. It sounded freaking weird. “What about your Dad?”
“Um, well, he was the Assembly member for Modesto.” Davey answered and I scrunched up my eyebrows, fairly certain I knew what he meant. He explained any way. “That’s the State government, they write and pass all the laws for California.”
“I know what the State Legislature does,” I said with a hint of scorn in my voice. He just shrugged though. “You said he used to, does that mean he lost the last election?”
“Oh, no, he won re-election easily with almost seventy-percent of the vote.” Davey said with a smile. “Uncle Ronnie wanted him to work back in Washington with him.”
“Uncle Ronnie?” I asked, confused slightly since he hadn’t mentioned an uncle yet. It was funny, though, the way he reacted to my question. He started blushing and coughing so much the teacher started to walk our way.
“Is everything okay?” She asked, bending over slightly and putting a hand on Davey’s shoulder.
“Yeah, just…swallowed wrong.” The guy said and I felt sorry for him. He even looked at me with a silent apology. “Sorry, I just…I keep on forgetting that I’m not supposed to call him that in public. My Dad works for President Reagan.”
“My Aunt’s the Deputy Principal here.” I said quickly, not quite sure why the words tumbled out of my mouth like that. Who cared where my freaking aunt worked, this guy called the President ‘Uncle’!
“You know, I think we’ll have you two boys start out the introductions first thing in the morning.” Mrs. Klopf said with a smile as she walked away. I let out a groan at the same time as Davey and we both smiled at each other when we noticed.
“So, um, your Dad works for the President?” I said, getting started again. This was cool, when you thought about it. I mean, how many people had a kid in their class who knew the freaking President?
“He’s a Special Assistant working on the AIDS thing.” Davey said cautiously and I didn’t have to even think about what he was talking about. Uncle Rich had come back to visit during the summer and was frightened about it, and then there’d been that news conference my parents had only let me watch part of…
“Your Dad…he’s David Jones!” I said far more loudly than I intended as I smacked my forehead and drew the attention of everyone in class, including my best friends who looked at me like I was crazy.
“What was your first clue, Breckenridge?” Davey asked sarcastically, but he had a gleam in his eye that told me he was just kidding. It was funny, but in a way I felt like I’d known him for years and yet, we’d just really met.
“Um, maybe you have the same names?” I joked and he burst out laughing, earning us both stern looks from the teacher. When I looked down at my nearly blank page, I realized I had written almost nothing down, but I wasn’t too worried as I’d have plenty to say when we did the introductions tomorrow.
“That’s pretty lame.” Davey teased me and I smiled.
“So, think you’re going to show up for football?” I asked him and noticed that my two friends weren’t bothering to talk anymore, since they knew each other as well as I knew them, and they edged their desks over until we made a group of four, although they were far enough apart that the teacher wouldn’t really complain. “These are my best friends, by the way, Brandon and Trevor. Guys, this is Davey Jones.”
“You’re the pitcher aren’t you?” Trevor asked and Davey nodded.
“Yeah.” He answered and then looked back at me. “My mom will have a cow at the idea of me playing football unless you think you can get your mom to talk to her.”
“I can try, if that means you’ll show up.” I offered and he stuck out a hand. We shook on the deal right there while Brandon and Trevor smiled.
Yep, it was going to be a great year!
* * *
“So my dad’s a Bank Manager and my mom works as a secretary for an attorney.” I told Davey as we walked along the canal bank towards my house. The school day was over, and so was football practice, and he’d arranged with his mother to walk home with me. I’d called my mom and she said she’d take him home after she got off work. That left us about an hour at my house, which was coming up here soon.
“That’s cool.” Davey said as I silently pointed out my house and we crossed the street. I used my key to open the garage, and he gave a low whistle when he saw my weight equipment. “Not bad.”
“I work out three times a week.” I told him proudly. “My Uncle Rich showed me how to do it properly.”
“That’s great.” Davey said as he ran a hand over the bench press. “I’ve got a lot of free weights. If you want, we could switch places every other time, working on your equipment and then mine.
“I usually work out with Brandon and Trevor whenever they can make it.” I said, not sure how he’d take that.
“That’s fine, I usually work out with Sean.” He countered and I nodded. The little guy hadn’t been too friendly when Davey explained he was going to stay for football practice after school, but then I’d apologized again for knocking him down and he just shrugged.
“Fine by me.” I said and Davey nodded.
“You thirsty?” I asked him and he nodded again, so I led him into the house. I showed him where the glasses were and we made some ice water really quick before draining the glasses. It was weird, really, but I didn’t feel the need to chatter all the time with him. Just being around him seemed nice.
“Show me around?” He asked and I nodded before putting my glass down on the counter and showing him around the house. It wasn’t a big house, I knew, but we had a big back yard with mats I could pull out for practicing wrestling with my dad or my friends. Maybe one day I’d invite Davey over and we’d practice wrestling. We were almost the same size, and if he didn’t…
The ringing of the phone interrupted my thoughts and I ran back inside to answer it. “Hello, is Davey there?” A woman’s voice asked and I frowned, wondering how anyone would know to call him here. “This is his mother. Did he give me the right number?”
“Uh, yes ma’am.” I answered a little stupidly as Davey came inside. “Um, he’s right here. Davey, it’s your mom!”
The last part was whispered as I put my hand over the handset and he just nodded before taking the phone. I kept on getting caught in his eyes. They were this sky blue color that just seemed like he was soaring above the clouds, almost. It was weird. Everyone had always called my eyes ‘ice-blue’ like I was frozen or something.
“Okay, Mom, see you then.” He said with a slight smile as he hung up the phone on the wall. I just waited with a curious look on my face. “My Dad got into town early. He has meetings in San Francisco all this week but he finished early today so he’s home on his way home.”
“Do you get to see him a lot?” I asked, wondering what it was like having a father who worked on the other side of the country.
“About three or four days a month.” Davey answered with a shrug. “This week, he’s got a whole series of meetings in SF, so he’s just driving to and from the house. He’s on the way here to pick me up. I gave Mom the directions earlier.”
“Oh, okay.” I said with a little disappointment. I was hoping we’d at least get to work out a little so I could make sure he knew how to work out the right away.
“So why don’t we go see if we each know how to work out right?” He said with a smile, almost as if he was reading my thoughts. “I mean it’ll probably be another twenty minutes before he gets here.”
“Sure, that sounds like fun.”
“Great.”
It wasn’t enough time for a full work-out, but by the time a black sedan pulled up in front of my house (we’d left the garage door open since it was still hot), Davey shot up from where he was doing some presses and shot out towards the car. A man in a beige suit had just gotten out of the back seat of the car when Davey all but slammed into him, giving him a hug. For a moment, I was confused since the man didn’t look a lot like Davey. He had brown hair, and a bushy brown mustache and was just about the same height as Davey and me, although he was much thicker in the torso region. I noticed he was bordering on fat, but looked like he at least tried to keep it under control by working out some. The driver of the black sedan pulled further in front of the house so he wasn’t blocking the driveway as Davey led his father up towards the house.
“Brian, this is my dad.” Davey said with a broad smile.
“It’s nice to meet you, sir.” I said, realizing I was feeling a little scared. Davey’s father looked so serious, but he did smile as he reached out to shake my hand. He had a firm grip.
“It’s nice to meet you too, son.” He said in a deep voice. I noticed up close that he had slight circles under his eyes, making him look a little tired. Davey said he traveled a lot, and I wondered how tired that might make someone. “You look familiar.”
“I don’t think we’ve met.” I said a little shyly. I wasn’t quite use to meeting people like this, and the fact that he’d arrived in a chauffeured car was something I’d never really seen before. Davey hadn’t told me his dad had his own driver.
“Wait, I know where I’ve seen you before.” He said with a weird smile, shaking his head slightly. “I just saw your picture this morning, I think. Do you have an uncle named Richard Wright?”
“That’s my mom’s brother!” I exclaimed in surprise. How did he know my uncle?
“I was in his office earlier today.” Mr. Jones explained to Davey and me. My new friend was looking at me with a weird smile. “He’s going to be handling some outreach to the um…”
“To the Gay and Lesbian community?” I supplied after he’d paused for a long moment. I knew my uncle was gay. It wasn’t something my family exactly advertised, but both of my parents were proud of my uncle who owned a Public Relations firm in San Francisco.
“Yes, he’s helping with one of our outreach programs on AIDS.” Mr. Jones said and I shuddered for a moment at the thought of the disease. I clearly remembered hearing about it with my parents on the news, and it had been this man in front of me speaking about it on television. That was weird, almost as weird as the fact he’d just met with my uncle earlier today.
“It really is a small world.” Davey said with a broad smile, and I sighed with relief that he hadn’t reacted badly at finding out my uncle was gay, but then again he might not know yet. Just because my uncle worked with gays didn’t mean he was gay himself.
“Your uncle laughed when I saw your picture on his desk and asked if it was his son.” Mr. Jones said with a small chuckle.
“I bet he did.” Davey said with a small smile and I wondered what he meant by that. I forgot about it though, when a car pulled up into the driveway and we moved out of the way just in time. It was my mom, her long blond hair done up in a bun like she always wore it for work with the attorney. She had a look of curiosity on her face as she got out of the car, but I rushed over to hug her like Davey had rushed to hug his father.
“Hello honey, what’s going on?” She asked in a low voice as she returned my hug.
“Mom, this is my new friend, Davey, and his father, Mr. Jones.” I said as I pulled back from her hug. She nodded at me for the introduction and moved to shake Davey’s father’s hand first.
“It’s a pleasure to meet you.” She told them as she shook each of their hands. “I’m Brenda Breckenridge.”
“It’s a pleasure, ma’am.” Davey’s father said as he shook her hand gently. “My wife told me that Davey was over here and I’m just on my way back from the Bay Area so we swung by to pick him up.”
“Oh, yes, Brian called and I’d volunteered to take him home, but it’s just as well.” Mom said with a bright smile. “You are the Assemblyman, aren’t you?”
“I had the honor of serving for the past several years.” Mr. Jones said with a bright smile. “I’m currently serving at the pleasure of the President though.”
“Oh, yes, that’s right, I saw you on the television.” Mom said lightly.
“Yes, I was just telling Brian that I had the pleasure of meeting with your brother earlier today.” Mr. Jones said kindly. “He’s a smart man with lots of good ideas. I’m glad we were referred to him.”
“I’m going to have to call Rich and congratulate him.” Mom replied.
“Yes, well I hate to rush, but it’s rare that I get to be home during the week.” Mr. Jones said quickly. “If you’ll accept my apologies, we really should be going.”
“Not a problem, thank you for picking Davey up.” Mom said with a smile and a farewell shake of Mr. Jones’s hand.
“See you tomorrow.” I said to Davey who nodded and smiled before heading off with his dad towards the black car. When they were inside and the car had pulled away, Mom stood there staring at it for a few moments as if she was lost in thought.
“Anything wrong, Mom?” I asked her.
“He wasn’t anything like I expected.” Mom said, almost as if to herself. “He was a lot nicer than I thought he’d be.”
“Who, Mr. Jones?” I asked with curiosity.
“Yes, he’s a Republican, you know.” She said as if that explained everything. I guess in a way it did since Mom didn’t really like Republicans, but just disliking someone because of something like that would be as wrong as people who didn’t like Uncle Rich because he was queer.
“Wouldn’t not liking someone because he was a Republican be as bad as people who don’t like Uncle Rich because he’s queer?” I asked Mom, putting my thoughts into words. She frowned at me for a moment.
“You should really watch how you use that word.” She told me sternly as she began walking into the garage and further into the house. I followed her, listening as she spoke. “I know your uncle uses that word all the time, but most people use it as an insult.”
“That’s why Uncle Rich always uses it, to turn the meaning around.” I told her with a smile. “He says you can take away the power of words by using them for your own means.”
“Well, just be careful.” She told me, and I realized she was avoiding my question. Oh well, I could always bring it up again. “How was your first day of school?”
“It was fine.” I said and lowered my eyes when she gave me the look. “English was pretty cool. Brandon and Trevor are both in the same class with me and so is Davey.”
“Do you have any other classes with him?” Mom asked and I nodded. “He’s in my P.E. class and so is Trevor and Brandon so we all took lockers next to each other.”
“Well he seems like a nice enough kid.” Mom remarked and I smiled while she was walking into the kitchen. “Would you like a snack?”
“Sure.” I said and decided to go ahead and bring up something else. “Mom, Davey wants to play on the school’s football team but he’s worried his mom might think it’s too dangerous. Do you think you might be able to…”
“Try and tell her it’s not dangerous?” Mom finished my sentence, interrupting me as she pulled down a box of trail mix and a box of raisins. She mixed the two while humming to herself and then gave me a small bowl.
“Um, so…” I pushed a little and she chuckled.
“You sure seem excited about this boy.” She said with a shake of her head.
“He’s really tall, like me, and we could use his help on the team.” I explained quickly. “Plus he’s like really smart. Brandon said he’s in his math class and that’s the most advanced math class in the seventh grade, plus he’s gotten really good grades at his last school and he works out all the time so he’s in great shape…”
“And he’d be a great addition to your little group of jocks you’re trying to form, wouldn’t he?” Mom said with a knowing smile and I blushed. She must have overhead us talking about it the last time Brandon and Trevor had come over. She smiled at my red cheeks and ruffled my hair. Why did parents always want to do that? “Okay, I’ll give his mother a call tomorrow, if you managed to get their home number.”
“Yeah, I got it in my binder with my homework.” I said and from her frown I knew I was going to regret saying the last part.
“You have homework already and it’s not done yet?” She asked me pointedly as I took the bowl of snacks.
“I was going to do it before dinner.” I said real fast and she just gave me a look that told me I’d better be done by dinner. Really, it wouldn’t be a problem. It was just a few math problems from Mr. Webb, and the rest of the report Davey and I were supposed to give in English the next morning. We had to turn in a written version, Davey had told me on the way home.
“You’ve got two hours before your father gets home.” Mom told me and I headed off to my room where I could sit down, eat my snacks and do my homework.
“Brian, the phone’s for you!” Mom said an hour later. I’d already finished my homework and was just doodling in my new notebook. I wasn’t much of an artist, but you could clearly see Davey’s face etched out in pencil. Before I got up to head to the phone, I put the notebook with the drawing away.
“Hello?” I said when I took the phone from my mom. The phone was on the wall in the breakfast nook area, and I could already smell the stuff my mother was cutting up for our dinner. She was making her wonderful spaghetti, and my stomach was already rumbling for food, even though I’d just had a snack.
“Heya Bri.” Trevor’s voice was unmistakable and I smiled at him while moving further away from the kitchen. Luckily this phone had a long connector cord so I could move around with some freedom.
“What’s up?” I asked my friend.
“Oh, nothin’ much really.” Trevor replied. “I just finished my chores for the day. Dad’s still in Livermore. He called Mom to say he’d be late. Some scientist there had an accident and died today. They’re like doing some investigation and Dad can’t leave yet.”
“Is he okay?” I asked worriedly. I didn’t really know what Trevor’s dad did, but if someone had died in an accident it sounded dangerous.
“Dad’s fine.” Trevor said with a sigh. “Mama told me that Dad barely knew the guy. Apparently, everyone thought he was a little wacko so nobody’s really tore up over it, but it’s just weird that’s all.”
“Yeah, it would be weird.” I said with a sigh.
“So, what’s that new kid like?” Trevor asked, changing the subject and I was all too happy to tell him everything I’d found out about the new guy. When I was done talking, Trevor let out a sigh over the phone. “I hope he does get to play football with us. He sounds pretty cool.”
“Yeah, and you should have seen it when his dad showed up!” I said excitedly, having saved the juiciest stuff for last. “His dad was being driven around in this big, black sedan by a real government agent!”
“No way!” Trevor’s voice sounded shocked and I smiled even though he couldn’t see the expression. Mom did though and she just shook her head.
“Yes way!” I replied to Trevor. “His dad is some big-wig in the government, works for the President and everything!”
“Here in Modesto?” Trevor was surprised and I knew I had to clarify it for him.
“No, they just live here, but his dad works in Washington.” I told my friend. “He use to be elected to the State government but now he works in Washington. Is that cool or what? Do you think he might be able to get us to see the President if we’re his friends?”
“That would be cool.” Trevor agreed with me, but I don’t think my mom did. She was frowning at me as she stirred the meat sauce for the spaghetti she was cooking.
“I still need to call Uncle Rich before dinner.” My mom warned me and I nodded at her.
“I gotta go, but we’ll talk tomorrow at school, okay?” I asked Trevor.
“Yeah, see you then.” Trevor said right before hanging up.
“You finish with your homework?” Mom asked me as I hung up the phone.
“Yeah.” I answered her question warily, concerned when she smiled wickedly.
“Good, then you need to get the garbage taken out, and you need to clean up the backyard.” She told me and I let my shoulders sag before heading off to do the chores. Twenty minutes later I was done, and cleaning up in the bathroom when my father got home a little early. It must have been a good day at the bank because he was all smiles as he hugged first my mother and then me before heading into their bedroom. He always liked to take a shower when he got home, change out of his business suit into jeans and a t-shirt, and then eat dinner. While he did all that, it was time for me to set the table. Fifteen minutes later, the three of us were sitting down to some of my mother’s wonderful spaghetti and garlic bread.
“How was work today?” My mother asked my Dad after we’d all filled our plates.
“Good.” Dad answered with a smile. “We got a new account, filled the teller position, and corporate is happy with our latest figures so things are running a lot more smoothly than they were last month.”
“That’s good to hear.” Mom said. “I had a boring day, really. I think Jim is going to retire within the next few months, but he hasn’t said anything to me yet.”
“You know how he hates giving people bad news.” My dad reminded her and she laughed with that wonderful crystal-clear laugh of hers.
“Yeah, but at least he drops enough clues along the way.” Mom agreed with Dad when she finished laughing. “Do you think I should go job hunting now?”
“I thought you wanted to look at taking a few interior decorating courses?” Dad told her and my ears perked up. Mom had long ago turned the guest bedroom into a sewing room for her hobby. At least she wasn’t making me clothes anymore. That had been embarrassing, even if Trevor was the only friend to have seen one of them.
“Can we afford that?” Mom asked and Dad smiled at her in a way that I tried not to think about too much.
“Yes, we can and you know that.” Dad said gently. “The only reason you need to work is because you want to work. You might as well be doing something you enjoy, after all.”
“Okay, if Jim ever makes up his mind about retiring, I’ll sign up for some courses.” Mom said brightly and then she looked over at me with a wicked smile on her face. “Brian made a new friend at school today.”
“Oh really?” Dad said in a tone that made it a question as he looked over at me.
“Yeah, he’s a pretty rad guy.” I said with a shrug and Dad just kept on looking with a raised eyebrow, waiting for me to go on.
“His name is Davey Jones.” Mom said and Dad scrunched up his eyebrows as he thought about the name.
“That sounds familiar.” Dad said aloud and tapped his finger on the table while he twirled some spaghetti around his fork. As he was lifting it to his mouth, his face brightened. “Is he the son of that Assemblyman?”
“That’s the one.” Mom said with a wide smile as Dad chewed the spaghetti and nodded his head.
“He’s the one that went into a coma right before the election back in ’76.” Dad stated and Mom nodded. My eyes widened at that. I hadn’t known that!
“His dad caught a lot of flack for staying in the race, but he kept on going to that hospital every day, and then that nurse found the letter Davey’d left to his father.” Mom said and I knew I was a little confused, but I couldn’t wait to tell all this to Brandon and Trevor!
“If I recall we voted for him that year, even if he was a Republican.” Dad said slowly and Mom nodded again as she chewed on some garlic bread.
“Yes.” She said after swallowing her food. “He wasn’t a bad Republican overall, just a little too religious for us.”
“That’s right.” Dad agreed.
“Well, he came by the house to pick up his son, today.” Mom said and I smiled to myself, wondering just how she was going to say this, and how close it would be to how I described it to Trevor. “He had a chauffeured black government car and everything.”
“Didn’t we see him on television recently?” Dad asked thoughtfully. “Isn’t he working on that AIDS stuff with Reagan?”
“Yep.” Mom said with a pleased smile, getting ready to drop the rest of the bomb on my father. “In fact, Rich just had a meeting with him today.”
“You’re kidding!” Dad exclaimed with a snort as he took a sip of his wine. They both had wine while my glass was filled with lemonade.
“Nope, Rich landed a government contract to do some outreach advertising to the gay and lesbian community.” Mom said with a pleased smile. “He told me that it’s a big account, too. Rich was surprised though because Mr. Jones was a lot nicer than he expected and didn’t seem in the least bit anti-gay. Given his religious background, that’s really surprising.”
“I’ll say.” Dad agreed with her. “By the way, how is Rich doing with the break-up now?”
“He’s getting better and started dating again.” Mom said with a smile. My uncle had broken up with his partner of the last couple years back in April after the first news of this scary AIDS thing came out. My parents had tried to keep me from knowing why they’d broken up, but Uncle Rich was more open about some things. Rich had dumped his partner because he wouldn’t stop sleeping around with other guys. My uncle had been okay with that until the news about the disease began to spread. He was worried about catching it and wanted to minimize the dangers by being faithful. His partner didn’t want to do that, so Uncle Rich had dumped him.
“Well that’s good to hear.” Dad said with a smile. He really did like my mother’s brother, which was a good thing because Uncle Rich was my favorite uncle. When Dad looked over at me, I felt like I was under a microscope for a minute, but then he smiled. “Well, Brian, it looks like you’ve found yourself an interesting friend. I’d like to meet him someday.”
“Okay, Dad.” I said with a smile, and a sigh of relief. I just hoped my friendship with Davey lasted a long, long time.
As with all my stories, E provides immeasurable input, grammar checking, and all those other lovely editing thingies that make the story so much better!
Feedback,
an Author's Lifeblood
| Chapter 1 | Chapter 2 | Chapter 3 | Chapter 4 | Chapter 5 | Chapter 6 |
| Chapter 7 | Chapter 8 | Chapter 9 | Chapter 10 | Chapter 11 | Chapter 12 |
| Chapter 13 | Chapter 14 | Chapter 15 | Chapter 16 | Chapter 17 |
