by Wiley, John
“But the watermelon doesn’t even look like a watermelon.”
“The perspective is a little off, yes,” Joey agrees, “but that’s the nice thing about painting; if at first it isn’t right, you can just go over it again!”
The boy sighs in frustration and Joey smiles at him.
“You’re really good. Look at the basket of blueberries you painted; they look real enough to eat.”
“Thanks,” the boy says with a weak smile.
“I mean it.” Joey glances at the clock. “But the class is almost over for today, so go ahead and start cleaning up and get ready for your sculpting class.”
The boy does as told as Joey tells the rest of the group to start cleaning up.
“Hey,” Liam says to Joey as he’s turning off the internet radio.
“Oh, hey,” Joey says with a wave. “What’s up?”
“I was just going to lunch and I thought I’d see if you wanted to get a burrito. I didn’t realize you were teaching the summer camp.”
“Yeah, but I’m just finishing, so I can go with you; I don’t have another class for an hour and a half.”
After clocking out, Joey and Liam walk out through the employee entrance that leads them to a flower garden full of roses and replicas of old statues. Following the winding stone path, they exit the garden through a brick arch that takes them out to a sidewalk that will either go to the employee parking lot or to stairs that let off on the street with all of the fast food restaurants.
They take the stairs to the burrito shop, just two doors down from where the steps meet the sidewalk.
“So how’s camp going?” Liam asks once they sit at their table.
“It’s fine. I really like inspiring the kids to follow their natural talent; it inspires me to try harder on my own pieces – I can’t be shown up by a bunch of kids!”
“What are you working on now?”
Joey shrugs. “Nothing really; I was pretty burnt out after school so I haven’t really picked up a brush other than to show the kids the proper technique.
“What’s your favorite medium?”
“Well,” Joey says with his mouth full, “painting is what I’m best at, but glasswork is my favorite. What about you? Do you do art?”
“Some, but your kids are probably better than me,” Liam says with a laugh. “I’m pretty good at drawing, but I can’t draw super realistic. I took some art classes my freshman year and the teacher told me that I wasn’t very good.”
“That sucks. They shouldn’t be able to do that.” Joey takes a sip of his soda. “Do you have any pictures of your work on your phone or anything?”
“Yeah, I posted a few pictures online of the stuff I was really proud of.” He pulls out his phone and brings up a website with some drawings on it. He hands his phone to Joey.
“These are really good,” Joey says without pause. He scrolls through several images of anime-influenced people and animals. “Seriously, I’m impressed.” He hands Liam his phone.
“Thanks,” he says, sliding it in his pocket. “But I was told to be an artist I needed to be better at realistic art, in addition to this stylized stuff.”
“That’s not true at all,” Joey says, his temper rising. “I hate when people do things like that and talk people out of their dreams!”
Liam shrugs. “If it’s really your dream, I don’t think you can be talked out of it. It wasn’t ever my dream. I just thought I was good at it and it’d be an easy A while I got used to college.” He pauses before continuing. “I didn’t want to have a bunch of hard classes my first semester, to add to the feelings of being so far from home.”
“Where are you from?”
“Niagara Falls. New York, not Ontario.”
“That’s cool. I’ve never been there.”
“It’s a nice place, but I wanted to be on my own.”
“Why’d you pick a place so far away?”
“I got a soccer scholarship here, so…”
“So you said art wasn’t your dream. What is?” Joey asks once they leave the restaurant. “Acting?”
“Why would you think that?” Liam asks, surprise in his voice.
“I just thought that you and Rhys had a lot of classes together, and he was an acting major…or theatre, I forget what the proper name is.”
“Oh, no, actually most of the classes we had together were art history. I did take one theatre studies class a year, but he was in a lot of art history classes with me. That’s what I want to do – art history.”
“What can you do with that?” Joey asks as they make their way up the stairs back to the art institute. “Or what do you want to do with it, I guess?”
Liam shrugs. “I honestly don’t know. I just know it’s my favorite thing. The museum pays decent, so for now, it’ll do. But I guess my hope of hopes is to travel the world and get to see all of this stuff first hand and write about it, and also write a book series that involves art history. But until then, I’m more than happy to lead art tours. What about you? What do you want to do?” Liam asks once they walk through the brick archway.
“Own my own gallery,” Joey says without pause. “And make art. I’d love to be famous for it before I die. Why be famous for something if you can’t appreciate it?”
“Who’s your favorite living artist?”
“I really like Doug Hyde.”
Joey pulls out his phone to show Liam some pictures of his work. “Damn, my phone is dead. I must not have charged it last night. Anyway, you should Google him sometime; he’s my favorite.”
“I will.” Liam punches in from lunch in the computer, followed by Joey. “So my roommates and I are having people over tonight for a barbeque and beer if you want to come.”
“That sounds awesome, thanks.”
“Find me before you leave and I’ll give you my address.”
***
“Thanks for breakfast,” Rhys says to Janie as he stands in her doorway.
“Any time you need anything, you can come here.”
“Thanks.” He turns to leave but stops. “After our first meeting, I didn’t think you had any interest in me or Erick. I’m glad I was wrong.”
“I know I can be kind of crazy – Lawrence reminds me all of the time,” she says with a laugh. “But what kind of Christian would I be if I wasn’t there when someone needs me?” She smiles at him before continuing. “I may not agree with your lifestyle completely; but I’m working on it. I know it’s not a choice, but you need to understand that I’ve been told it’s a sin since I was born. Why’d we move to LA if I’m not comfortable around the gays is beyond me!”
Despite being genuinely grateful for her, a weak half smile is all Rhys can muster.
“Come here,” she says as she walks to him. She pulls him tight and hugs him.
“Thanks for everything,” he whispers. “I need to get a shower and get to work though,” he says as he steps away.
“Have a good day,” she says, stepping back into her apartment and gently shutting the door behind her.
Rhys goes home and finds that Erick and Gene have both left while he was next door. He takes a quick shower and gets dressed for work, unconcerned with the fact he’s already an hour late.
“What’d you sneak out for?” Jared asks when Rhys finally gets to work. Jared is sitting at the break room table, across from Cindy who is reading a tabloid magazine.
Rhys shrugs and offers up a weak smile. He puts his bag in his locker and walks to the door to go clock in.
“Well, don’t think you can keep being late just because we hooked up,” Jared says with a cheeky grin. “But we’ll definitely have to do that again.” He grabs Rhys’ hand and gives it a squeeze.
“Um…Jared?”
“Yeah?”
“I can’t believe I’m doing this, but I think I’m still kind of left over drunk or something, so I’m doing it.”
“OK,” says Jared, laughing.
“I think you raped me.”
Cin
dy perks her head up from the magazine. Jared glares from Rhys to Cindy; she drops her eyes back to the magazine.
“In my office.” Jared grabs Rhys’ wrist and pulls him into his office across the hall, where he directs him to a chair. “What the fuck are you talking about? And how dare you accuse me of that in front of an employee?”
“Well, you did force yourself on me last night, and I talked to my friend and my neighbor about it and we all agree that –”
“You told someone else that I raped you?” Jared yells.
Rhys shrugs. “Well, you did. Right? I mean, seriously, I’m confused about the whole thing.”
“Why do you think I raped you?” Jared asks, calming down a little.
“Because I said no, and you still…did things to me.”
“Right, well, we’re done here. OK?”
“I don’t know,” says Rhys. “I still feel really uncomfortable about last night.”
“Don’t worry about it,” says Jared, standing up.
“What do you mean?” asks Rhys. “Of course I’m worried about it. You forced me to do things that I didn’t want to and I think I need to get tested now.”
“I’m afraid Coffee Cafe and you have gone as far together as we can.”
“What? Are you just going to ignore me?”
“You’re fired, Rhys.”
“You can’t rape me and then fire me! I definitely have a case against you.” Rhys stands up, anger filling his body.
“You signed a contract when you started that said that for the first three months you were on probation and you could be relieved from your post at any time, if management, i.e. me, feels that you aren’t a good fit for this store. And if that isn’t enough reason for you, then how about the fact that you are going around telling co-workers that I’ve raped you, when, considering you’re bigger than me, clearly isn’t true.”
“What? No…you can’t –”
“We’re done here, Rhys. Leave your apron and name tag with Brad when you leave.”
Gob smacked, Rhys throws the wadded-up apron at Jared and throws his nametag on the floor. With tears filling his eyes he runs out of the office, past the break room where Cindy gets up and runs after Rhys.
“Wait!” she yells once outside.
Rhys is at the crosswalk, leaning against the light pole, sobbing. He looks up before turning away. “Go away,” he says, barely audible.
“Do you need to talk?” she asks, taking a cautious step forward to give Rhys his bag.
The crosswalk dings to let Rhys know it’s safe to cross; he does so, ignoring Cindy’s offer. She sighs and walks back inside the shop.
Rhys runs up the stairs and directly into his apartment and collapses onto the sofa. With a shaky hand he pulls out his phone to text Erick.
Rhys: Hey…I need to talk to you. call me?
Erick: Busy now. Going out after work, talk to you 2morrow?
Rhys: I guess…
Rhys dials a number in his phone, breathing heavily as it rings in his ear. “You have reached the voice mail box of –”
Rhys wipes a tear from his eye as the recording finishes. “Hey mom,” he says after the beep, trying to keep his voice from wobbling. “I need to talk to you and dad. Can you guys call me when you get a chance tonight? Everything’s OK,” his voice cracks and he wipes his eye. “It’s just…I got fired and…I don’t know what to do. Love you.”
After hanging up he dials Joey, but his phone goes straight to voicemail. He scrolls though his phone; desperate for someone to talk to, when he comes across Fannie Pack. He pushes ‘send’ and crosses his fingers.
“Hello?”
“Hey,” he says when Annie answers.
“What’s going on?”
“I got fired,” he says, setting him off on another crying spree.
“What? Rhys? What happened?”
“I’m sorry to bother you. I know we’ve hardly talked since moving out here –”
“We both have our own lives. Don’t think I don’t know that you are still obsessed with me.”
“You are pretty fabulous,” he says with a smile.
“So what happened?”
“I got fired after accusing my boss of raping me.”
“Did he?”
“I really have no idea. I think so.”
“Then you need to talk to the police. But I hate to do this; you’re going to think I’m a huge bitch, but I was just going to class –”
“No, no, it’s fine,” Rhys insists.
“If you want to come over and meet me for lunch we can talk…”
“Erick has the truck…”
“Oh. And you lost your car when –“
“Not talking about it!” he interrupts her with a laugh. “And you don’t have a car yet either, do you?”
“No…” she sighs. “Well, I really do need to go though. I can call you after class if you want.”
“If you have time. I’ll be fine, really. I’m just a little upset.”
“It sounds like you have reason to be.”
Rhys smiles. “Have a good class.”
“Thanks. We’ll talk soon.”
Rhys ends the call and walks to his room where he collapses onto his bed and immediately falls asleep.
***
At the end of his work day, Joey puts all of the art supplies into the cupboard and locks it with a padlock. He walks down the hall to the computer to clock out. He glances around for Liam but sees no sign of him, so he decides to go home. He lights a cigarette while he walks to his car, next to which Liam is standing, taking off his tour guide shirt and putting a tank top on instead.
“Hey!” Joey waves at him, walking down the small hill to the employee parking lot.
“Hey,” Liam says, pulling the tank top over his stomach and wadding the work shirt into his bag. “So you still up for the barbeque tonight?”
“Yeah, I think so. I’ll have to talk to Cheryl when I get home, but I should definitely be there with my brother.”
“Cool, here’s my address,” Liam says as he sends a text to Joey. “Come over anytime after eight.”
“Alright, see you then.” Joey gets in his car and plugs his phone into the car charger. When it powers on if shows a missed call from Rhys. He immediately returns the call.
“Hello?” says Rhys, sleepily.
“Hey, did I wake you up?”
“Yeah. Obviously didn’t get much sleep last night.”
“Sorry about that. Want me to let you go so you can get back to sleep?”
“No, that’s fine. I’ve been asleep for…damn, four hours.”
“I thought you had to work. You call off?”
“I got fired,” Rhys says with a sigh.
“What? What happened?”
“I told Jared that I thought he raped me and that moany lesbian two doors down heard and he accused me of spreading rumors about him so he fired me. But since I was still on probation, the official reason is I just wasn’t a good fit for that store. It’s bullshit.”
“God…that sucks.”
Rhys gets out of bed and checks the apartment for signs of life. Hearing nothing, he goes back in his room, shuts the door, and sits on the floor, leaning on the door. “I don’t know what to do. Of course I’ll look for a job, but rent isn’t cheap and I don’t have enough saved up to be able to afford being unemployed.”
“I don’t know what to say. I mean this is a really shitty situation. What did Erick say?”
“He’s too busy to talk to me apparently.” He sighs in frustration at the gap growing between him and his friend. “He’s really frustrating me. The three of us were so close when we lived together, I never expected us to grow apart like this. I mean, the last week has been pretty good; we’ve been hanging out more, but it’s just the way he said he’s too busy to talk to me that makes me think he’s pushing me away again. I told him that I needed to talk and he said he’s going out tonight, maybe tomorrow.”
“Well, for what it�
��s worth, I think I’ve heard from him maybe once since you guys left.”
“That doesn’t help,” Rhys chuckles. He sighs before continuing. “God, I hope I can find something soon.”
“Me too. And not trying to be negative about it, but if you can’t find anything you can always come back here.”
“Thanks, but that’s not how it’s supposed to be. You were going to come out here once Cheryl graduated.”
“Just remember that you always have options.”
“Yeah, you’re right. But I guess I should get out there and look for a job then, and not spend the day wallowing in pity?”
“Exactly! You can do that later. Or, better yet, instead of wallowing, you can celebrate the new job you’re going to get today!”
Rhys forces a smile. “So what’s been going on with you? Every time I’ve called lately I feel like I’m just complaining. God, I’m as bad as that lesbian.”
“Don’t say that Rhys. You’ll never be as bad as a lesbian.”
Rhys lets out a loud laugh. “Thanks! But I thought you were into lesbians.”
“Well yeah, I’m totally pro lesbian, but you’ve had a rough enough morning without me telling you the joys of lesbians.”
“Thanks,” he laughs.
“Nothing been going on with me, though, apart from the fact that the love of your life invited me to a barbeque tonight.”
“Are you fricking serious? Liam invited you to his house?”
“Yep. He said he would have done it sooner, but he didn’t feel comfortable while I still had that creepy roommate,” Joey says, enjoying the opportunity to wind his friend up again.
“That’s not funny,” Rhys laughs. “I’ve had a rough enough 24 hours; you should be nice to me!”
“Yeah, yeah. Good luck with the job hunt.”
“Thanks, talk to you later.” Rhys ends the call and stands up from the floor and walks to his window. He leans against the windowsill, deep in thought for several seconds before moving away to his dresser where he digs through a pile of papers thrown on top. He finds Alistair’s phone number and pulls out his phone.