by C. Kennedy
“Gee, I don’t know. Because you’re oblivious?”
“Stop, man. This is serious. Why would Rich be hanging out with those guys?”
Jake rolled his eyes. “You remember the last thing Rich said to you?”
Michael had no trouble remembering his last exchange with Rich and Tony after Jason’s death.
“Fuckin’ queer!” Rich yelled after him.
Tony smacked Rich’s arm. “Shut up, man!”
“How can you stand it, Tony! He killed Jason!”
That stopped Michael in his tracks. He rounded on a heel and strode back to Rich. “What was that?”
“You fuckin’ drove him over the edge, Michael, and everybody knows it!”
Michael tucked his chin in surprise at the statement, and a crowd began to gather around them. “How’d I do that?”
“Fuck, Michael, everything was falling down around him! His mom turned into a lip-lickin’ lesbo, his brother was a fuckin’ butt pirate, his dad was a bastard, and you fucked him over!”
Michael shook his head in disgust, part over the epithets and part over the blame. “I’m not seeing the light, man.”
“Don’t you get it, Michael? You were the only one who gave him half a chance! You’re the only one who believed in him! You’re all he had, and you messed with his head!”
Coach O’Malley joined them. “What’s going on, guys?”
Michael eyed Rich evenly. “Nothin’, Coach. Rich is voicing an opinion, that’s all.” Michael felt a small hand fill his and knew that Christy had joined them on the track.
“It’s not just my friggin’ opinion! You might as well have put that bullet in his head yourself!” Rich turned his angry glare on Christy. “God! You are so friggin’ sick!” he shouted before abruptly turning and striding across the field to the gym.
“Yeah, I remember. He has a serious hate on for me.”
Jake nodded as he drove. “The guy has no life. That’s why he blames you for Jason’s death.”
“Man, that is so many kinds of wrong! Jason went nuts. He was dangerous, and the police went after him. It has nothing to do with me or Christy or you or my mom!”
“It does now.”
“Fuck” was all Michael could think to say.
“Don’t forget, the police still don’t know who shot Jason.”
“He was surrounded by police and wouldn’t back down. Who else could it have been?”
“No idea, but you know the police deny they shot him. You remember what you thought about Jason and Yosef? You thought Yosef might have been helping Jason.”
Michael stared at the side of Jake’s head. “You think Rich is trying to finish what Jason started?”
“I wouldn’t put it past him. He’s graduated, can’t afford college, and probably doesn’t have a job. He has lots of free time on his hands to obsess over it.”
“That’s freakin’ nuts, bro!”
“Nuts or not, we need to tell my dad. He’ll be pissed off if we don’t.”
“READY?” JAKE asked as they perched in the blocks at the starting line.
Michael grinned when he saw nothing but mischief in Jake’s eyes. “Call it.”
“Go!”
They ran like the wind, and Michael was ecstatic. He thanked every power in existence for their survival, their courage, and for just plain being alive. He looked over at Jake and saw challenge in his eyes. “Kick it!”
Jake laughed, and they sped up a notch. Michael looked at Jake again and saw the familiar happiness in Jake’s eyes when they ran together. “Again?”
“Kick it!” Jake shouted.
They sped again, and Michael spread his arms wide as he and Jake crossed the finish line. “Woo-hoo!” he shouted as he hugged Jake, lifted him off his feet, and carried him to the infield. He dumped him in the grass, dropped down beside him, and rolled onto his back. They lay in the damp grass, breathless and loving every minute of it.
Jake laughed. “Man, that felt good!”
“Hell yeah! You think we’ll be ready for the Trials?”
Jake looked over it him, a grin plastered on his face. “No doubt.” He dug in his pocket, withdrew a stopwatch, and tossed it to Michael.
Michael caught it against his chest and looked at it. They’d matched their best running times after not practicing for a week. “Holy crap!”
“Holiest crap ever, bro. Nothin’ can stop us!”
Hoots and hollers came from the stands, and they turned to find their BFFs from school exiting the bleachers and heading across the track toward them.
“Check it out, Jake! The whole gang’s here!”
Michael stood and held a hand out to Jake.
Jake grasped it and got to his feet. “Our own private cheerleaders.”
“You guys are on fire!” Stephen shouted as he high-fived Michael first and then Jake.
Stephen Engel had been the only other gay guy on Michael’s track team and was decent enough. There was a time when Michael was definitely not fond of him. He’d hit on Christy, and he and Michael had a few tense moments, but when Christy hooked Stephen up with Jerry, it went a long way to easing Michael’s concerns.
Everyone joined in the high fives.
“Hot, Mike!” Lisa shouted.
“Chariots of Fire!” Gav whooped. Gav and Lisa were cousins, and he was one of those steady, kind people with a giant heart. Quiet and unexpressive, you automatically thought of him as an old friend the minute you met him. Not to mention he was one of the best runners on the track team.
“Seriously!” George exclaimed. Her high-pitched voice was as grossly incongruous for her large frame as Christy’s deep voice was for his small body. She was one of the sweetest people Michael knew and was seriously laid-back. She hung in the background, second to Lisa’s out and proud, but she rocked it with the best of them.
“Good run,” Noah said as he half smacked and half shook their hands. Noah wasn’t sports-oriented or brilliant but soft-spoken and artistic. He was a little emo at times but also a genuinely good soul. He and Gav had been together for a while but kept it low-key.
Jorge shook Jake’s hand, then Michael’s. “You still got it.” Jorge Salinas was a football player and one insanely big dude with a precision goatee. He was seriously literate and had been in Michael’s AP British lit class. If it hadn’t been for him driving Michael around the night Christy had been kidnapped, Michael might never have found Christy.
Michael shook his hand and was surprised to see Malvolio standing next to him. They had started dating right before prom, and it had been seriously touch and go at first. He shook Malvolio’s hand too. “Thanks, man.”
“My bro, here, needs to put a little effort into it. I slayed him!” Jake teased.
Michael wrapped an arm around Jake’s neck and put him in a headlock. “Slew! The word is slew! And you’re dreaming again, bro!”
“Sick! You lit majors are sick! Get off me, gay boy!” Jake yelled through a laugh.
“You love it,” Michael shouted back as he released him.
“Hey, no dissing the lit majors,” Jorge teased. “Seriously, you’re looking good for the Trials.”
“Thanks, man. That means a lot to us,” Michael said as he handed the stopwatch to Jake.
“You guys up for something to eat at Eddie’s?” Gav asked as they walked to where Michael’s and Jake’s bags sat at the side of the track.
“Thanks, man, but we can’t. We need to get to Christy’s. Thimi is arriving tomorrow, and he’s stressing.”
“Wow. Did Sophia get over her shit about it?” Noah asked.
“Who’s Thimi?” Stephen asked.
Michael was suddenly tongue-tied, and Jake stepped in for a save.
“He’s one of the kids they rescued in Greece. Christy wasn’t the only one in Yosef’s clutches. And yeah, Sophia’s okay with it,” Jake said evenly.
Stephen winced. “That’s seriously sick, man.”
“Enough getting into Christy’s business,�
� Lisa said with a smack to Stephen’s arm.
“We called him. We’re all coming to the barbecue tomorrow,” Jorge said.
“Cool,” Michael said as he pulled a towel from his bag and wiped the sweat from his brow. “Hey, Lisa, did you talk to Smitty?”
Her face turned grave. “He’s seriously pissed just like I said he’d be.”
Jake dumped a bottle of water over his head to cool down. “There’s something else,” he said as he grabbed a towel from his bag and dried off.
“What?” George asked.
Jake gestured to Michael, who’d also upended a bottle of water over his own head.
Michael shook his head, and water droplets flew, sparkling in the midday sun. He wiped his face with the back of an arm. “Do you remember I said I recognized a jacket on one of the guys but couldn’t remember where I saw it?”
Lisa frowned. “Yeah. So?”
“Jason, Rich, and Tony got jackets like that last Fourth of July. If we remember right, they got them at Carrello’s arcade on the waterfront.”
Lisa’s eyes went wide, and her jaw dropped. “What? Like this makes you think Rich is picking up where Jason left off?”
“Maybe. I think Rich might be riding with them.”
“Shit, Mike, these are radical deets! Why didn’t you say something sooner?”
“I couldn’t remember where I saw it. Jake remembered it.”
Jorge shook his head in disgust. “Bad news.”
“Seriously,” Michael agreed.
Stephen kicked the track, and a pebble flew into the infield. “It’s kind of hard to believe Rich would be hanging out with a bunch of bikers.”
“Why?” Jake asked.
“Because it always took Jason to start something. Rich never did stuff on his own.”
Gav and Noah exchanged looks, and it didn’t escape Lisa’s notice. “Spit it.”
“Rich had no problem with Jason going after us on the waterfront that night,” Noah said softly.
Michael gaped at Noah. “Rich was part of that?”
Gav met Michael’s gaze. “He knew what was going to happen.”
“But Jason was with Rich, right? Rich didn’t do it on his own,” Stephen asked.
Noah nodded. “But Rich was into it like a Terminator gone bad.” He shivered at the memory, and Gav put an arm around him.
Michael still hated Jason for going after Gav and Noah believing they knew where he and Christy were that night. They’d beaten them with heavy chains and all but left them for dead. Thank God, they’d survived.
Stephen shook his head. “What are you going to do?”
“Don’t know,” Jake said as he finished drying off and stuffed the towel back into his bag. “I’ll talk to Dad and see if he has any ideas.”
“Let us know what Smitty thinks?” Michael asked Lisa as he zipped his bag closed and slung the strap over his shoulder.
“You know it, Mike. This is epic disturbing.”
Gav gestured with his chin. “Let’s ride.”
They walked across the field toward the parking lot in silence.
“Shit,” Jake said under his breath as he came to a stop.
Everyone stopped beside him, and Jorge’s brows shot up when he saw the media van parked at the curb. “Even at your practice?”
“They never let up,” Michael said in disgust. “Ignore them,” he added as he began walking again.
They reached the parking lot, and Jake hit the key fob to open the back hatch to the SUV. He and Michael tossed their bags in and gave everyone high fives.
“Thanks for coming,” Jake said.
“Just glad you’re back. I’ll call after I talk to Smitty,” Lisa promised.
“Please,” Michael said.
“You got it. See you tomorrow.” Lisa offered a brief wave as everyone dispersed.
MICHAEL KNOCKED on the door to Christy’s cabin, entered without waiting for a response, and Jake followed. It was empty.
“Christy?”
No answer.
“Sophia?” Jake called out.
No answer.
Michael turned, exited the cabin, and headed to the main house.
“Michael!”
They turned to find Christy and Sophia standing on the steps of the cabin next door to Christy’s.
“Hey, babe.”
“Come. We make the cabin for Thimi here.”
Jake trotted up the steps and kissed Sophia’s cheek. “You look great.”
She smiled. “As do you.”
“Come, come!” Christy enthused.
Michael took one look at the mishmash of furniture piled in one corner of the living area and whistled softly. “Where’s all that going to go?”
“Here, and some for the loft, but Rob has the trouble with the pulley,” Christy explained.
Rob glanced at them, clearly displeased with the mass of tangled nylon rope in his hands.
“Do you want help?” Michael asked.
Rob pursed his lips and shook his head. “I had no trouble with the pulley in Christy’s cabin, but this is a mess.”
Jake chuckled. “What happened to it?”
“I have no idea,” he said as he handed the wad to Michael.
Michael set the mess on the kitchen island, took a seat on the lone barstool, and began to untangle the rope.
Sophia went to Christy and kissed his cheek. “I’ll be back as soon as possible.” She turned to Jake. “We must go. We have a lot of shopping to do.”
“Got a list?”
“A very thorough list.” She winked at Christy.
“Did you check it twice?” Jake teased.
Christy turned serious. “Six times. I did not want to miss anything.”
“Okay, little buddy. We’re on it. Back soon.”
“Bye, Christy.”
Christy spoke in Greek, and Sophia smiled and nodded. “I won’t forget.”
Rob went to the front door, opened it wide, and slid the screen door from its pocket. “Don’t worry, Christy. We’ll get it all done.”
“It is a big job.”
“We’ll get it handled, babe.” Michael freed a six-foot length of rope. “What a mess.”
A light knock sounded on the frame of the screen door, and they turned to find the new kid standing there. Rob opened the screen, and they spoke in low tones before he turned to Christy. “Would you like to meet Zero?”
The look on Christy’s face told Michael he was definitely not into meeting Zero at the moment. “Just say no, babe. Now is not the time,” he whispered.
Christy shook his head briefly and motioned for Rob to let Zero in.
“Christy, this is Zero. Zero, this is Christy,” Rob introduced.
Zero said a curt “Hi” as he headed to where Michael dealt with the morass of rope, and Christy was left to watch Zero walk away.
“I’ll do it,” he said to Michael.
Michael glanced at Zero and decided he wasn’t racing through the mess, and he’d give the kid a chance. “Go for it, man.” He stood and offered Zero the stool.
Zero ignored it and went to work on the knotted rope with surprising dexterity.
“Midenikó,” Christy said softly.
Michael leaned down to him. “What, babe?”
Christy gestured to Zero. “It is the name in Greek.”
“I thought omega was zero,” Rob said.
Christy smiled briefly. “Omega is the twenty-fourth alphabet letter. The last.”
Zero glanced at Christy.
“Pardon, Zero? May I ask a question?”
Zero glanced at Christy again and shrugged.
“Why do you have the name Zero?”
“I’m a nobody, so they call me Zero.”
Christy’s one-brow frown went into action. “Pardon. May I ask another question?”
“Ask as many as you want.”
“You are not the nobody. You are the person. This does not bother you?”
“Whatever. It’s just a na
me. Here.”
In the short time they’d discussed Zero’s name, he’d untangled the rope.
Christy smiled. “You are good with this.”
Zero shrugged. “What’s next?”
“Let’s get the pulley system up,” Rob instructed.
“STEADY,” ROB said as Michael hoisted only the mattress portion of the bed up to the loft.
The heavy load swayed, and Zero reached over the railing to steady it. Rob trotted up the stairs to help Michael hoist it over the railing, and the end of the mattress slipped from his hands and landed with a soft thud on the floor. “Where do you want this, Christy?”
He pointed. “The corner with no window.”
Michael rested it against the wall. “Okay, let’s get the box spring up here.”
“Michael? I choose not to use it, remember? Also, like this we can add the other part when he is ready.”
Michael looked to Rob for confirmation.
“Works for me.”
Michael grabbed the handles on the side of the mattress, intending to drag it to the corner of the loft.
“Wait.”
Everyone looked to Zero, who turned and trotted down the stairs. Within seconds, he returned with a white sheet, shook it out, and spread it on the floor.
Christy smiled. “He is a good helper, no?”
“Good thinking, Zero.” Michael held a hand up for a high five.
Zero looked at his hand and then at him as if he were the lamest ever.
Michael looked at his hand. “What?”
Zero shook his head and trotted back down the stairs.
Christy snickered.
“What’s the matter with my hand?”
“It has the bandages, moro mou.”
Michael smiled at the endearment before leaning over the railing. “I can handle a high five, Zero!”
Zero continued to ignore him, and he rolled his eyes. “Whatever. What do you want brought up next?”
“We are finished until Sophia returns.”
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
“WHERE’D ZERO go?” Michael asked as Christy spoke on the phone.
“Back to the main house,” Rob answered.
“My hand looks that bad?”
Rob searched the cupboards in the kitchen area off the living room. “He has counseling at two.”