Chapter 6
Since when does your sister fly a plane? Sean wrote in the notebook we were using in the back seat of the twin-engine turboprop. Sean sat in the middle of the back seat, and Mom was asleep on his left side. My sister was in the right-side co-pilot’s seat, and had actually done most of the flying since we’d left Los Angeles airspace.
She got interested in planes after visiting the Smithsonian during the President’s inauguration in 1981. I wrote back and he snorted, earning a look from my father in the small rear-view mirror.
It makes me nervous. He wrote next and I smiled at the thought. Yeah, I was a little nervous too but the truth was that my sister was a decent pilot already. I knew the tradition between her and Dad, and I was going to enjoy Sean’s expression when he realized my sister would be landing the plane in less than ten minutes. We were already in the pattern for Modesto.
So my parents are still religious freaks. Sean wrote next and I just nodded at him as he let out a long sigh. Well, some things are too much to hope for being changed.
I nodded at him and he went white as my sister began talking with the Modesto tower and lining the plane up for our landing. He grabbed my hand in a death grip while the landing gear were lowered, and he never relaxed his grip until we’d touched down and were taxiing to the General Aviation section of the airport. The gentle bump as my sister performed a perfect landing woke my mom and she stretched her limbs to increase circulation.
I was fairly certain she always took a muscle relaxer to put her out for the flight.
A Secret Service car pulled up near the aircraft once Jenny had parked the plane, and we all got out. My Mom took pleasure in directing Sean and I in unloading the plane, and I noticed there were several bags in the car already. The Secret Service plane had landed a half-hour before us, and obviously unloaded all the stuff Mom had stashed in our room. By the time we were done, Sean’s father pulled up in his Buick and I said farewell to my friend, wishing him good luck in adjusting to his new life.
“What’s up with Sean?” My father’s voice behind me startled me so I jumped a bit. He was smirking as I turned to face him. He’d been helping my sister with the post-flight checks, but had apparently left her to finish them by herself.
“What do you mean?” I asked my father and knew it was the wrong response from his frown.
“He was… different all day today.” Dad said softly. “He’s even walking differently. Did the two of you have a fight last night?”
“No, we just talked about some things that were bugging him.” I said just as softly. “His Dad is getting really weird about not finding a job, and Sean’s worried they might have to move soon because they can’t afford the house.”
“I wish I’d known that.” Dad replied and I looked at him with a questioning look. “Bob Rule will find out tomorrow that the County’s hiring him to be their Assistant Planning Director.”
“Oh.” I said softly, giving my father an appraising look. “I thought you and he weren’t talking anymore.”
“We’re not.” Dad said with a heavy sigh. “Bob Rule and that damn pastor at First Baptist are still trying their best to poison anything I do after I nixed the funding on those idiot so-called psychologists.”
“I’m sorry about that, Dad.” I said honestly and he shook his head.
“Don’t be, son.” Dad said, putting a hand on my shoulder. “If there’d been any doubt in my mind after I made that call you goaded me into, their response to my concerns only furthered my resolve to make sure they don’t mess up the lives of any more people. Real Christians don’t force their beliefs on anyone, much less helpless children. Are you sure Bob still has no clue about Sean and Brandon?”
“None whatsoever.” I told my father. Sean’s infamous incident where his parents walked in on him jacking off never happened in this timeline, and just as importantly, there was nothing in his house that could be found to lead them to think Sean was gay. He’d even gone on a few dates here and there to keep them happy about that.
Brandon had taken great pleasure in choosing the girls that Sean would go out on a date with, and then watching him dump them. Every girl he picked had been mean to someone on one of the sports team. Brian and I hadn’t bothered dating any girls, although we had taken Jeanette and Ronna to the eighth-grade prom. Neither of them were really interested in us as more than friends, but they did appreciate the social points they got for having us as dates.
“Well, that’s still going good at least.” Dad said. “I’d hate to see you lose your best friend, and Sean’s a good kid.”
“You got that job for Mr. Rule!” I exclaimed and my father nodded.
“I did it for Sean, not for him.” Dad said. “It was a small favor anyway, and the folks at the county still owe me a few. Besides, he’ll find out eventually and I’m going to enjoy the thought of him squirming when he realizes he got the job because of my influence despite all that he’s done to bad-mouth me.”
“You can be a cruel man.” I told my father, who just smirked at me before turning away to go help Jenny with something she was having a problem with.
“Have you made any plans for this afternoon?” My mom asked as she came over to stand near me.
“Nope.” I answered, meeting her brown eyes easily.
“Good, then you can help me with some things.” She said and I had to suppress a groan. I’d walked right into that one. My mother smiled at me, and reached up to pat my face. She couldn’t ruffle my hair, both because I was too tall now, and because I’d shaved it off a year ago. Now I kept it fairly short in a near-buzz cut. “Poor Davey, still keeps on volunteering for things without realizing it.”
“Gee, Mom, you’re so sweet.” I taunted her and she actually laughed.
“You could invite your boyfriend over.” Mom said and I had to resist the urge to shuffle my feet. It still made me nervous as hell that she knew. When she’d found out last year, from Mrs. Breckenridge of all people, I’d expected her to explode in a fit. Instead, she’d just warned me that Nanny and Papa wouldn’t deal with it too well and to keep it quiet like I’d been doing. Like Dad, she seemed to take immense pleasure in teasing me about it.
“Why?” I asked, trying to sound innocent and anything but uncomfortable.
“That way, I’d have two strong backs working in the yard.” Mom answered with a broad smile and I rolled my eyes.
“I’m going to tell him that’s all you see him as, a strong back.” I told her and she laughed lightly.
“Davey Jones, you go right on ahead.” Mom told me amidst her laughter. “I’ll just tell him that Annette has the cutest gay son who’s just a year older. If he ever gets tired of you, I’ll introduce them.”
“Over my dead body.” I growled, and realized I’d just gotten an answer as to why she was so okay with this. Annette was her primary assistant in Sacramento. Those two women spent a lot of time together, planning fundraisers and parties, and Annette was one of the most liberal people my parents knew. The fact that most of their clients were conservative was something Annette took a great ironic pleasure in noting, especially since she gave a good portion of her generous salary to Democratic candidates.
“I thought you might feel that way.” Mom said with a smile as Dad and Jenny rejoined us.
“You ready to go, honey?” Dad asked as he came up and put his arm around my mother. Jenny just rolled her eyes as we got into the black government sedan. It was one of the larger models, with a rear-facing seat that my sister and I took.
“That was a good landing.” I complimented my sister, who honored me with another roll of her eyes. She didn’t understand my total lack of interest in learning to fly.
“What’s up with Sean?” She retorted and I gave an inward groan. If my family was picking up on the difference already, we should be a little worried.
“He’s just having some troubles at home.” I told her and she nodded, taking that as a good explanation.
“You now, Mrs. Klopf says I’m a better English student than you were.” My sister said, getting into her competition with me again. I was hoping it was just the onset of puberty making her this way, instead of something else.
“Well, good for you.” I told her with only a hint of sarcasm in my voice. My dad openly smiled at that response while my mother frowned at my sister, who started sulking while looking out the window. Luckily, it was only a ten-minute drive home from the airport or she’d have probably found some way to start an argument.
“I’m going to Paula’s.” My sister said as soon as we pulled into the driveway. She was out of the car and walking down the street before anyone had a chance to say anything. Her newest friend lived four houses down, just two past Sean’s and on the other side of Jeanette’s. One of her new agents followed her at a discreet distance.
“I swear I’m glad you weren’t nearly as bad as her at that age.” Mom said with a frown as Dad and I began unloading the bags from the trunk. He was already frowning at the number of bags in the trunk, and my Mom hurried inside, where Maria was waiting for her.
“Son, where did all these bags come from?” Dad asked me and I just rolled my eyes. He shook his head, realizing they’d come from Mom and just chuckled as we made the several trips it took to get everything inside. Dad disappeared towards his office at the sound of the phone on his desk ringing, and I was left alone to carry all the bags upstairs, at Mom’s direction, and to put them all away into the appropriate rooms.
“When you’re done with that, come see me downstairs.” Mom said as I trudged up the stairs on the fourth trip. I just nodded, not wanting to upset her with any groans I might be wanting to make right now. It didn’t take long for me to finish, and Maria was already unpacking my sister’s luggage, putting her clothes in a hamper for washing.
“How was the trip?” Maria asked me as I passed my sister’s room.
“It was a lot of fun.” I answered her question with a smile. After all the time she’d worked for us, she was all but family now. “How did things go with Ricky?”
“He had a wonderful party.” Maria answered with a big smile. “He said to thank you for the gift although I’m not too sure his pappy was happy with it.”
“Let me guess, he plays the music way too loud.” I said with a smile as Maria chuckled. I’d gotten him a very nice, very big, and very loud boom box for his sixteenth birthday. We didn’t see them a lot, but Maria’s children were on the gift list, and I’d picked this one out myself. He went to Downey High, although he was a junior where I was a freshman, and he wasn’t too much of a sports fan, but we still got along fairly well whenever we crossed paths.
“I think Jaime objects to his carrying it around on his shoulder more than the loudness.” Maria laughed as she picked up the hamper and came out into the hallway. “You better go see your mother; I hear she wants to use your big muscles for something.”
“Please tell me she didn’t buy another damn fountain.” I groaned and realized I’d cussed from the way she lightly slapped my face as she passed me on the way to my room.
“Watch your language, David Jones.” She scolded me and I hung my head before heading downstairs. She may not be my mother, but Maria had no problem setting me in my place at times, and I was more likely to be ashamed when it came from her than my own mother.
“There you are.” Mom said with a huff as I found her downstairs in the room she claimed as an office. It was much smaller than Dad’s and much messier with more papers and files strewn around, and not one, but two Apple computers on the desk. One was for the political fundraisers, I knew, and the other was what she used for her charity and non-profit fundraisers. Somehow she’d already changed into a pair of jeans and an old blue blouse that she used when she expected to get dusty.
“What’s up?” I asked her and she just smiled, and I knew I was in trouble.
“I need my strong young man to help me with moving some stuff.” She said with a sweet smile that meant she knew she was expecting the groan that escaped my lips.
“Aw, Mom!” I protested. “We just got back!”
“I know, and we have someone coming over in a little bit and I want this done before they get here.” Mom said sternly and I looked at her with a question in my eyes.
“Don’t ask, because I’m not going to tell you.” She warned me with an upraised finger. “Your father will want you to be ready when our visitor gets here, anyway.”
“Okay.” I said with a long drawl of the word.
“Let’s get down to business.” My mother said with a clap of her hands. She hurried off, heading back upstairs and I wondered briefly why she couldn’t have just met me up here instead of making me walk down to her office and then back up. However, when she stood under the attic access and just looked at me expectantly, she had my curiosity going full-blast. Without saying a word, I reached up and pulled the hatch down, unfolding the ladder for her. She just nodded and climbed up, hitting the light switch as soon as she was in the smallish attic.
“What are we doing?” I asked her as she rummaged through a few boxes silently.
“I want you to take these two down to the guest bedroom.” She said, having pulled aside two boxes full of bedding and some other decorative items. That had me confused, because most were the old stuff from my room that she’d changed out last year. Then she pointed out another box of Christmas decorations that she’d used last year, but hadn’t used this year when she decorated the house for the holidays right after Thanksgiving.
“Anything else?” I asked and she stood there, one arm around her chest, the elbow of the other resting on it, and her finger tapping her lips in thought.
“Nope, that’s it for now.” She said with a smile. “After you put those in the guest room, I want you to help me move some of the downstairs furniture around as well.”
“Okay.” I said, lifting the first box and negotiating the small access ladder. It wasn’t too hard, and far less than I’d worried about. Still, when I’d left the boxes in the room, Maria was right behind me pulling out the contents and putting them into another hamper she’d brought with her. That was downright odd, because if whoever was coming was going to stay the night, Maria would be putting the guest bedding on the king-sized guest bed, not my old stuff.
“Go downstairs.” Maria told me sternly, not letting me ask her what was up. “Your mother needs you in the day room.”
“Okay.” I said with a heavy sigh and headed downstairs. The doorbell rang just as I reached the bottom of the steps and I yelled out that I’d get it. When I opened the door, a broad smile lit my face as I found myself facing Brian. Brandon and Trevor were behind him, but I pretty much ignored my two friends while I crushed Brian in a hug. It had only been a couple of days, but I’d missed him.
“Dude, like I’m not really mad anymore.” Brian said with a laugh in his voice and I broke the hug, looking at him closely to make sure he really wasn’t mad. He was smiling and I relaxed even more.
“Davey?” Mom’s voice yelled out from further back in your house. “Was that your friends?”
“Yes!” I yelled back, getting a wince from Brian as Trevor shook his ear out with a finger.
“Good, bring them in here!” Mom shouted and I nodded for my friends to follow me.
“Dude, your Mom called all of us and told us to get over here.” Trevor said with a laugh and I just shook my head. Trust my mom to make sure she had plenty of strong young men around when she wanted furniture moved.
“She’s redecorating again, isn’t she?” Brandon asked, somewhat rhetorically as we moved into what my mother called the ‘Day Room’. It was a medium-sized room on the first floor, with windows that didn’t look over the back patio, but rather over the river canyon and so had more light coming in from its windows. It had a couch, three sitting chairs, and a small round table in it, along with some very nice art on the walls.
“Yes, I’m redecorating again.” Mom said with a smile on her face. “Glad you boys could make it over here on a Sunday. Mrs. Rule said she’d just gotten Sean back and wasn’t going to let him go again so soon, and that they were going to church tonight anyway. I swear, that woman! She actually made it sound like an insult that we didn’t go to their church anymore.”
“So what are we doing, Mrs. J?” Trevor asked with a smile, mostly to change the subject from our friend’s parents. I’d felt a pang when she’d said Sean’s name. It was odd, because part of me was glad to have the older Sean back in my life, but a big part of me still grieved, and I had to grieve alone, because no one else knew except for Sean himself.
“All this stuff needs to go out front.” Mom said with her hands on her hips. “A delivery truck will be coming in about an hour. I want you boys to stack this stuff under that awning we have just at the edge of the driveway exit. Goodwill will be coming to pick it up in the morning and if it rains I don’t want it getting wet.”
“We can get that plastic lining stuff out of the back, too.” Brian offered. “It’s still there, right?”
“Yes.” I answered when Mom looked at me. She smiled as she clapped her hands together again.
“Good, I’ll let you boys get to it.” She said and walked out of the house.
“Dude, how was Disney?” Brandon asked as we began to take the cushions off of the couch. It was heavy as it was, and none of us wanted to lift it with extra weight on it. Besides, we knew better than to risk scuffing the walls in this house. Mom was a fanatic about keeping her walls perfect, and that was one reason why, when she wanted stuff moved, she had us do it instead of calling movers. When the delivery got here, we’d be the ones taking it from the driveway into the house. The delivery men wouldn’t be allowed anywhere near the inside walls.
“It was fun.” I said with a slight shrug as Brian moved a hand across my butt as he passed by me to get on the side of the couch. While we moved all the furniture out of the house, I told them about most of the trip, and they got a kick out of hearing about our tour guide, Jerry. After we’d covered the furniture with the plastic and weighted them down with some rocks, Brandon asked a few questions about how Sean was doing. He was worried about his boyfriend, and hadn’t seen him in a few days. Thanks to Sean’s parents, he wouldn’t see Sean until Monday, and I felt a pang of guilt that in reality, he wouldn’t see the Sean he’d known before ever again.
When the furniture truck arrived, I wasn’t surprised that it was Ethan Allen. My mom had spent more at that store she used to work at than anywhere else, and her good relationship with the owner meant she could get delivery on a Sunday without a problem. I even knew both delivery guys. What did surprise me was the furniture they offloaded and put in the walkway leading up to the house.
Why would my mother be buying a sleeper sofa and more comfortable armchairs when she had really liked the room the way it was and we already had a guest bedroom with a regular bed?
I didn’t ask her why she was having this stuff put in the room, though, as we moved it all in under her direction. The pattern of the sofa and the armchairs gave the room a slightly different feel, but as with anything my mother bought, it looked elegant and fit with the décor of the room. When she was done, she surprised me again by telling us that my father wanted to see all of us in his office. My father had a very serious expression on his face when we came into his office, and he greeted my friends with what looked like a sad smile.
“You boys all have a seat.” Dad told us after he’d said hello to my friends. Brian and I sat on the leather sofa against the far wall while Brandon and Trevor took the seats in front of his desk. Brian’s leg against mine, felt nice, and I wanted to kiss him badly, but there would be time enough later for that.
“What’s going on, Dad?” I asked after we’d all sat down, with him behind his desk, and he’d not said a word. He’d just stared at us as if he was studying us.
“It’s amazing really.” Dad started off strangely, in a very soft voice that had me lean forward slightly so I could hear him better. His tone, his stiff body language, and the look of soft wonder on his face had all four of us enraptured as he continued speaking. “It seemed like just yesterday that you boys were little kids, and now I’m looking at you and you look like young adults. Heck, all of you are already taller than me except for Trevor and he’s the same height. I just got done calling all of your parents to tell them what I want to talk to you about, and I mentioned how proud I am that my son is friends with you, and how I can’t think of any better group of friends I’d want for my son. Sure, there’ve been a few things that have concerned me over the years, and I’m not going to pretend that Brandon and Trevor don’t know about you, Davey, and Brian. After two years, I can’t say that I approve any more than I did two years ago, but I also have to admit that you’ve proven what’s going on between you is something I can at least respect and tolerate. The fact that you, Brandon and Trevor, and Sean of course, have been so supportive of them only makes me shake my head in wonder.”
“They’re our friends.” Trevor said firmly, as if there was no other answer that could be better, and my heart swelled slightly. They truly were good friends, and unusual in this time. Of course, my father knew about Brandon and Sean, but not that Trevor occasionally played on our side of the fence. That we were all as open about things with each other as we were was unusual no matter what year it was.
“That’s why I’m going to need all of you to help me with a problem.” Dad said with a soft exhalation, not quite a sigh. He relaxed slightly as he met my eyes. “You all know what my former position was with the Administration.”
“You were the director of the AIDS Response Team.” Brandon said aloud and Dad nodded.
“We’ve made a good start on dealing with the disease.” Dad explained further, but I was growing antsy to see where this was going. Brian quietly moved his hand between our legs, and his fingers tapped my leg reassuringly. Even with Dad’s… tolerance, it was still not wise to be overt in displays of affection in front of him. “There’s still a good section of the general public that think of it as a ‘gay’ disease, or a ‘drug user’ disease, or a ‘prostitute’ disease, but most people are seeing the world-wide infection rate being higher among women. They rightly worry when it will spread more among the general population, so they’re more willing to listen to the sex education classes that teach condom use, and to understand how the disease is really transmitted instead of assuming it can’t touch them because they aren’t gay, a drug user, or a prostitute.”
“That’s why they’re turning the program over to be headed by a doctor.” I stated, hoping to rush him towards the point he was heading towards. “Now what’s needed most is research, and a continuation of the programs you established.”
“Well, yes and the fact that I didn’t want to be pigeon-holed for the rest of my career.” Dad said with a nervous bark of laughter. Trevor smiled, as did Brandon and Brian. I just gave him a look that said ‘get on with it’. I was actually more interested in sneaking off under the back porch and having a make-out session with Brian. “I think I better get to the point before Davey murders me. Four months ago, we had something we’ve feared for the last two years finally happen. We found a case of AIDS being transmitted through blood transfusion.”
“Oh no.” Brian whispered, leaning back against the couch. It had been only a matter of time, really, and while the government had started doing spot checks on blood supplies, testing took too long and was still too expensive to test every pint of blood donated across the country.
“The young woman was a hemophiliac and passed away fairly quickly.” Dad explained further, and I grew curious. If she as dead already, why were we having this meeting now? None of our families had surgery or blood transfusions in the last two years. “We traced the contaminated blood and found that three more pints had been used for surgeries in the bay area from the same donor.”
“That’s so sad.” Trevor said with a shake of his head.
“All three of the patients have been located and undergone testing.” Dad said softly. “The first two are already symptomatic and are hospitalized. The third has tested positive, but is not yet symptomatic. He’s also why I called you here.”
“Why?” I asked, nervously on edge now that we were approaching the crux of what he’d called us here to talk about.
“He’s a fourteen year-old boy.” Dad said softly, and there were tears in his eyes. “His family emigrated from Poland twenty years ago. He’s got two older sisters, and a younger brother, and very religious catholic parents.”
“They haven’t taken this well, have they?” Brian asked softly and I looked at my boyfriend’s face. He had tears in his eyes as well, and I smiled comfortingly at him. His hand moved to take mine for a gentle squeeze before returning to his lap. When I looked back to my father, he was actually smiling at us instead of frowning like I’d expected.
That was nice.
“That’s an understatement.” Dad said with regret. “I’ve been following his case since he tested positive two weeks ago. His case was a little odd, because he wasn’t a hemophiliac like the other cases. A car hit him when he was sneaking out of his house to go play with some of his friends. In the accident, he suffered some severe injuries and was given a pint of blood during surgery. That was five months ago, and he’s mostly healed since then.”
“His parents blame him because he was doing something wrong, don’t they?” Brandon asked my father who just smiled.
“That’s the thing about you boys, excuse me, you young men.” Dad said with a smile. “Not only are you good athletes, but all of you are damn smart as well. They have said that if he hadn’t been ‘sinning’ by doing what he was told not to do, he’d be okay. Their priest has even declared it to be ‘God’s judgment’. You know, I use to think those Catholic priests were just all a bunch of loony liberals, but now I’m starting to realize they can be as bad as any fundamentalist preacher when it comes to thinking they know the mind of God. Anyhow, that’s neither here nor there. Jeremy’s parents have all but disowned him. Yesterday, they showed up at the hospital with all of his things in boxes and dropped them off at the reception desk. There’s no reason for the boy to be in a hospital, but they refused to take him home. The county social workers don’t want to put him in a group home, and they’re worried about having to disclose to any foster parents that he is HIV positive.”
“You’re going to bring him here to stay.” I said with certainty and my father nodded.
“Your mother and I got the call last night at the hotel.” Dad said. “We brought Jenny into the room while we discussed it with Dr. Grayson. We were going to include you, but you and Sean had gone to dinner already and I was pretty sure of your response already.”
“That’s fine, Dad.” I said firmly. “You know I’d be supportive of him having a real home. There’s no better place than here with us.”
“Why are you telling all of us about this?” Trevor asked. “I’d think this guy would be upset if he knew we’d all been told he was pos without his permission. I know I’d be pretty upset.”
“I’m telling you because I’m hoping all of you will adopt him into your group of friends.” My dad said softly. “In fact, I have no doubt that you will whether you knew it or not. The thing is, all of you are a pretty active group of young men, and that means there’s always a chance of a cut or other injury.”
“We know how to handle those without risking getting infected.” Brian said firmly and Dad actually broke in a very wide grin.
“I know you do, which is also why I wanted to make sure you knew.” Dad said and then his grin faded slightly. “Do you also understand that he’s going to die? Not tomorrow, not even next week, but he could become symptomatic anytime in the next few years, and while there’s a drug in testing, but because he’s a teenager, he’s not likely to receive it for at least a year. He might live that long, but the likelihood is that he’ll become symptomatic before then.”
“We’re not going to hold back just because he’s going to die.” I said with a firm conviction and grim determination.
“I know.” Dad responded softly. “But you also need to be prepared for it to happen. Plus, well part of the reason he’s going to be fostered with us is that we’re far enough from his home in the bay area that word shouldn’t spread about his infected status. I want him to be able to attend school like any other teenager his age. Davey, you and Brian are turning fifteen in a month. Six months later you two already have plans about getting your driver’s permit. I’m sure you’re going to be expecting to see cars in the driveway for your sixteenth birthday, and as long as you don’t mess up too much between now and then, you’ll end up with those cars. Jeremy turns fifteen in May. If he’s lucky, he’ll get to see his fifteenth birthday party. If he’s really lucky, he might get to see your sixteenth birthday party. He’d have to be one of the luckiest men on earth to see his own sixteenth birthday party.”
“Stop, please, Mr. J.” Brandon said in a choked voice. We all had tears in our eyes now, and most of us had tears slipping down our cheeks. None of us bothered to hide them, or be ashamed, and when Brian’s arm slipped over my shoulder, hugging me against him, I didn’t care if my father didn’t like seeing that. When I looked at him, though, he had a soft smile on his face and a twinkle in his moist eyes.
“You get my point.” Dad said. “If we are lucky, no one will know he is positive until he becomes symptomatic and has to be hospitalized. Until that last possible moment, for as long as possible, I want you boys to make sure he has a normal, happy life with good friends, and a good family to care about him. Right now, he’s very bitter, very angry, and has all but pulled back into himself. It’s not going to be easy to pull him out of the shell he’s creating around his heart, but I want you to do that. Will you do that?”
“We won’t let you down, Mr. J.” Brandon spoke for all of us, and a sob escaped my throat for a moment. These were my friends, and once again they’d proven to me just how good they could be. More, they’d proven it to my father, and my father…my father…
“I love you, Dad.” I said softly, drawing my father’s attention. Brian’s arm was around mine, but that didn’t faze my father at all. There may have been tears in my father’s eyes, but his lips were smiling in a gentle, loving smile, even as he took in the sight Brian hugging me. Without saying a word, he stood up and moved towards the couch. Brian and I stood together as Brandon and Trevor moved towards us. Dad took me into a bear hug for a long moment, and then moved to include Brian in the hug. Trevor and Brandon turned it into a true group hug, and we stood like that, in a circle, hugging as tears silently drifted down our faces.
“Lord.” My father spoke in a strong, steady voice, beginning a prayer. A few years ago, I might have rolled my eyes as he had a tendency to pray at the drop of a hat. He didn’t do that as much anymore, and this prayer, I knew was coming from the depths of his heart. “Thank you for bringing these good, young men into the life of my son, for making the special place in my son’s heart that is Brian’s, and the good friends you’ve given him, and us as a family, in Brandon, Trevor, and Sean who couldn’t be here right now. Thank you, Lord, for showing me just how strong in character these young men are, and for making them the young men they are. We are truly blessed to have them amongst us, and I treasure looking forward to the good works they might do in the future. Give them the courage, the determination, the compassion, and the wisdom they will need in the coming days. Guide them in making the right decisions, and in their truly righteous endeavors. Thank you, Lord. Amen.”
“Amen.” We all said in unison as Trevor crossed himself in the Orthodox manner.
“Why don’t you boys go freshen up before they get here?” Dad suggested. “After Sandy and I have had a chance to talk with Jeremy, we’ll introduce you to him.”
“Okay, Dad.” I said, trying not to sniffle as my friends and I shuffled out of his office and headed to the two bathrooms on the first floor. Brian and I were silent as we washed our hands, but his eyes were twinkling at me as we stood, shoulder to shoulder, over the sink. When we left the bathroom, Brandon and Trevor joined us to head to the back patio where we all stood at the back railing, looking out over the canyon and the river at the bottom of the steep bank below us. The sky was gray and overcast again as clouds moved in. There was a light breeze, slightly chilly and smelling of the promise of rain.
“This like fucking sucks and it’s fucking awesome at the same time.” Trevor said on the other side of Brandon while Brian was leaning steadily against me. The wood railing we leaned against was still steady and firm, although it now looked well-weathered after all these years.
“You can say that again.” Brandon said with a slight snort. “It sucks anyone our age has to deal with this disease, but at the same time, we’re getting to do something good here and that’s…”
“It’s the right thing.” Brian said softly, and we all nodded before lapsing into a long silence. The silence wasn’t exactly comfortable, but neither was it uncomfortable.
“I have something I need to talk to you guys about.” I said at last, taking the first shaking step down the road I’d actually been fearing to tread. “Sean too.”
“If you’re going to tell us you two decided you were really in love with each other at Disneyland, none of us are going to believe you.” Trevor joked, earning himself dirty looks from Brandon and Brian while I chortled.
“Nothing like that.” I said softly as a fresh round of tears welled in my eyes. They didn’t know it yet, but they had lost a friend already. “It’s… I’m not going to lie. It’s something big, and I don’t know if you’re going to like it or not.”
“You’re really going to have to tell us now.” Brian said with a hint of an edge in his voice and I tried to smile at him reassuringly.
“We will, but it needs to be a time when all of us can be alone.” I told them. “It… it’s not something you can ever let anyone else know about.”
“Okay, now I really want to know.” Trevor said with a wicked smile. “Is there any way we can get Sean out of having to go to church?”
“No, but we can all meet after school.” I said softly. “None of us have any practices or anything, and well, Jeremy won’t be starting school until January since we’re doing finals.”
“That’s right.” Trevor said with a nod of his head. “Let’s meet in the baseball dugout after school. Brandon, you can let Sean know since you have first period with him.”
“Sounds good.” Brandon said and I let out a sigh as Brian’s hand rested on mine on top of the railing. He pulled it back a moment later though as the sound of the heavy, bullet-proof glass sliding door opening came from behind us. We all turned around as a group, and I knew without looking that my friends had genuine smiles on their faces as we watched a small group of people head towards us.
I knew Doctor Grayson on the left edge of the group, both from a few meetings in this lifetime, and meetings in those other lives. I also knew the woman next to him, a social worker by the name of Mary Lou Hacker who’d played a small role in my first life, as well as a bigger role in the second. On the other side of the group was another woman who had ‘social worker’ stamped in the features of her face while my Mom stood next to her and a young guy was walking next to my mother, between her and my father. He was a short kid, barely my mother’s height, and he had pale features as well as pitch black hair and dark eyes. He had one arm in a cast and walked with a noticeable limp as we met the group in the middle of the deck.
“Jeremy, this is my son Davey, and his friends Brian, Trevor, and Brandon.” My father said in a kind voice as the boy looked at us with a stony expression. His eyes crinkled with distaste as we each nodded at him while we were introduced, and he actually shrank back as I stepped forward.
“Hi, I’m Davey.” I said in as friendly a tone as I could muster, holding out my hand. He shrank back even further between my parents and looked at my hand with horror.
“You don’t want to shake my hand.” He said in a weak voice as I continued holding my hand out.
“Why not?” I asked softly, noticing several of the adults about to speak up, but they all kept silent at my words, and I noticed the two social workers were looking at me carefully, watching my every word and my every nuance of motion. Before Jeremy could react, I noticed the adults all take a few steps back, essentially making room around him.
“I’m diseased.” Jeremy said softly after a long pause, hanging his head for a moment, but then his head came up sharply and he glared at us while speaking in an angry tone. “I know they told you I was diseased so you don’t have to pretend. You don’t want to touch me because if you do, I might contaminate you.”
“Bullshit.” I said softly, but sternly, not caring if my parents punished me later for cussing in front of them. Jeremy jumped slightly at the word, and at my tone, and he shrank back as I moved towards him with two determined steps. He flinched again as my arms rose up, but as they grabbed his shoulders and pulled him into a tight hug, a sound escaped his lips, something in between a gasp of surprise and a sob. In the next moment, my friends and my boyfriend joined me in the silent hug as we made a circle around him, and each of us put our arms around him, letting him know without words that we weren’t afraid of touching him, and telling him we had no fear of being ‘contaminated’ by him.
“I think he’s going to be just fine here.” Mary Lou Hacker said softly, and I looked over at her to see a soft smile on her face as Jeremy now began sobbing openly against my chest. My friends were all whispering encouragement to him. The adults all turned and went back inside, leaving us to the task at hand.
I had so much to be proud of, but that wasn’t something I was focused on at that moment. There was work to do, a heart to heal, a friend to make, no, a brother to make.
“Dude, welcome home.” I said softly, earning myself a slight smile as Jeremy tilted his head up to look at me. It wasn’t going to be easy, but this was a good start.
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!
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| 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 |
