The Truth of Yesterday

by Josh Aterovis

  Chapter 23

  I sat at my desk tapping my pen against my notepad, it went everywhere I went and was full of notes on my cases. I was making a to-do list and I was a stuck on what to do about Jake's case. I had a list finished for Paul. There were only three items but they were important. I flipped back a page and read over that list, hoping for inspiration. Number one, I either had to get back into the apartment to look for an address book or something along those lines, or talk to the detective in charge of the investigation and see if he had found anything like that. It could give me the lead I needed for the next two items on my list, which were, find out who Paul was dating, and get in touch with his estranged family.

  I flipped back to Jake's list and stared at the blank page. I found myself completely stumped as to where to go next. My best idea so far was to just show up at the Ball Friday night and hope for the best. Not exactly an aggressive attack, but maybe simple observation would serve me well in this case.

  Thinking about the AIDS Ball reminded me of Haven's Halloween dance scheduled for tomorrow night and my promise to Kane to work on our costumes together. I made a mental note to be at the house when Kane got home from school today so I could live up to my promise.

  I picked up the phone and dialed Chris' cell phone number. I got her voice mail and left a message asking her to see if she could make an appointment for me to talk to the officer in charge of Paul's murder investigation.

  That done, I forced myself to contemplate Jake's empty page once again. Why was this so hard for me? Was it because I was afraid of what I'd find out? Despite the distance that had grown between us, I still cared about him. I'd had strong feelings for him once upon a time, or at least I thought I had. I'd even risked my life to save his. There was some part of me that wanted that experience to be worth something. I didn't want to think that I had only saved him to become some sort of criminal. But of course, that was unbelievably selfish of me. It was Jake's life and it was his to do with as he pleased.

  And who said being an escort was all that bad to begin with? After all, Micah had been an escort. So had Paul, and by all accounts, he was a stand-up guy, loved by all, a model friend and lover.

  Lover. Micah's lover. Former lover, I reminded myself. I couldn't let that begin to cloud my judgment now. So far, I thought I'd been doing a pretty good job at keeping things on a purely professional level. Besides, that was a long time ago. They had both moved on. Paul had apparently found a new lover and Micah was with me now. And let's face it; Paul wasn't exactly a threat at this point.

  I realized how my thoughts on one case kept leading naturally back to the other case. They had so many similarities that they almost seemed intertwined. I kept finding myself wondering if there was more of a connection that just the fact that Jake had a picture of Neal in his bedroom. I suspected Jake of being an escort, and I knew Paul had been one. Paul worked for Neal, who did Jake work for, if anyone? Did he work for Neal too? And if so, that seemed a little far away from the base of operation for the Top to Bottom Agency. Maybe it was a satellite business. Did they have those for escort agencies? Maybe Neal was going franchise. I giggled at the thought. He could have branches all over the country, over one million served.

  I finally had something to write on Jake's to-do list. Number one; find out who Jake is working for. The money has to be coming from somewhere; I just had to find out where.

  Of course, if I found that out, I still had to find some way to tell Judy. I was not looking forward to breaking that news. “Well, Judy, it seems your little boy is selling his body to buy electronics and clothes.” Then again, knowing Judy she'd probably say something like, “Oh, thank God, I was afraid he was doing something awful like selling used cars.” She was pretty free-spirited when it came to things like drugs and sex. Some people would probably call her a leftover hippie, but she really wasn't. She was just very open-minded.

  Just having one item on Jake's to-do list gave me a feeling of accomplishment, so I flipped the notebook closed and slid it into my pocket. My work was done here for today. I stood up and took a quick look around the office. It had been very quiet around here since Novak disappeared. I had no idea when he would be back, but my curiosity about his mystery case was killing me. I decided to slip into his office and see if he'd left anything on top of his desk. After all, I reasoned, if he left it in plain sight, it can't be confidential, right?

  I pushed open his door and slithered inside. I eyed the hump-backed couch warily. I was convinced that one of these days it was going to pounce on me and gobble me up. How a piece of inanimate furniture, however truly hideous it was, was going to accomplish that, I didn't know and didn't care, but I was quite certain it was true.

  I approached the desk while keeping an eye on the couch. I knew it was extremely unlikely that Novak had left anything on his desk. It would have been very much out of character for him. He was meticulously neat with his desk, and just as scrupulous about the facts of his case. I wasn't surprised to find the top completely clear except for his computer; he'd even put the phone away in the top drawer.

  Well, since I'm here, it wouldn't hurt to look in the drawers, I thought. After all, he wouldn't leave something confidential in a drawer that was unlocked, would he?

  It's just amazing what you can convince yourself of. The middle drawer contained the usually assortment of pens, paper clips, rubber bands, and other assorted office paraphernalia. Perhaps Novak's was a little more organized than most desks, but it was all here. The top right-hand drawer held the phone and a ream of paper. To my disappointment, the rest were securely locked.

  I know where the key is… I stopped myself at that thought. Even I knew that would be going too far. Whatever he was working on would have to stay a secret until he chose to tell me.

  In the meantime, though, I really missed our chats. I could have used one today. I sat down in Novak's chair and propped my feet up on the desk.

  “So kid,” I said to the empty room, “what are you going to do about this case with Jake? Are you going to tell Judy what you find out?”

  I swung my feet down with a sigh and sat up. “What choice do I have? She deserves to know the truth.”

  I rubbed off the scuffmark my shoes had left on the desk and let myself out of the office, shutting the door behind me.

  * * *

  I was waiting at home when Kane got home from school that afternoon. His face lit up when he saw me.

  “What are you doing here?” he asked.

  “Did you forget about the costume party tomorrow night?”

  “No, but I figured you would.”

  “Well, I didn't. Do you have any ideas for costumes? We'd better get working on them if we want them to be any good.”

  “Well, Micah's going, right?”

  “As far as I know, although with all this stuff going on with the paper, I should probably check with him just to be sure.”

  “Well, if he is, I was thinking that maybe we could go as some famous trio, like the Three Musketeers or...well, I can't think of any others.”

  “What about the Three Stooges, or the three little pigs, or Huey, Dewey, and Louie?” I suggested. He made a face. “You don't like my ideas?” I asked.

  “If you think it's a good idea just say so,” he pouted.

  “No, I think it's great. I was just kidding around. I'd rather not wear tights though, I did that once before and I didn't care for it.”

  “Well, so much for the Three Musketeers. I have to admit, I wasn't really looking forward to tights either.”

  “Well, before we decide, let me call Micah and make sure he's still going.”

  I went to the phone and dialed Micah's number. He answered on the third ring.

  “Yeah? What do you want?” he snapped into the phone.

  “Micah?” I asked uncertainly.

  “Killian?” His voice softened. “Sorry about that. It's been a bad day.”

  “What's going on?”

  “It's just th
is story. Things are getting messy, the paper's getting scared, they want me to back off.” He growled. “I'll tell you about it later, this isn't a good time. Were you calling for anything in particular or just checking to make sure I was still alive?”

  “Well, actually, I was calling about the dance tomorrow night at Haven...”

  “Oh, damn! I'd forgotten all about it. Kill, I don't think I'm going to be able to make it. I'm sorry.”

  “It's ok,” I said, trying to hide my disappointment. “What about the AIDS Ball?”

  “I think I can still make that. It's just that I have an appointment tomorrow night. I'm really sorry, Killian.”

  “Really, it's ok.”

  “Are you sure?”

  “Yeah, Kane is going with me. We'll be fine. Work comes first.”

  He sighed. “No, work shouldn't come first. You should come first; it's just that right now...”

  “Work has to come first,” I finished. “Micah, I understand. It's just for now, it won't be like this forever, and this story is important to you.”

  “I don't know what I did to deserve you,” he said.

  “That goes both ways, mister,” I shot back.

  “I love you.”

  “I love you, too.” I hung up and turned to find Kane leaning against the wall.

  “So it's just the two of us then?” he said.

  “Looks that way,” I shrugged.

  “So, instead of famous trios we should be thinking famous duos?”

  “Sure,” I said cheerily, trying to shake off the heavy feeling that had settled over me as soon as Micah had said he couldn't go. We walked upstairs to the bedroom we share, talking as we went. “What are we going for? Funny? Sexy? Clever?”

  “Well, I want it to be creative. No pirates or vampires. I think we should go with sexy, don't you? Let's make Micah wish he had been there when he sees the pictures. And besides, I might actually meet somebody there, assuming there are any straight chicks.”

  I laughed. “I'm sure you won't be the only straight person, and besides, you'd settle for a bi chick, right?”

  “Settle? That just might be even better,” he said with a wicked gleam in his eye. “How about Batman and Robin?”

  I shuddered as I sat on my bed and Kane flopped down across his. “No thanks. I haven't felt the same about Batman since Jake's Halloween dance that first year you moved here.”

  “Oh yeah. Sorry, I forgot. Well, um...what other superhero duos are there?”

  “Do you really want to be a superhero? That's still tights, and besides, who would be the hero and who would be the sidekick?”

  “I don't mind being the sidekick. I'm younger so it's only fair. And I know I have the body to pull off spandex. Are you a little worried there, big bro?”

  “Not exactly worried, it's just that I don't especially like showing off all my goods for free. Ya know?”

  “Wimp.”

  “Exhibitionist.”

  We laughed.

  “Ok, so no superheroes?” Kane asked.

  “If you're really set on it, I guess I can live with it.”

  “Well, there are other choices. We could be characters from Lord of the Rings.”

  “Are you trying to say I'm short?”

  “No comment. But you would look cute in those pointy ears.”

  I threw a pillow at him, which he easily dodged.

  “We could be hippies.”

  “That's not very creative.”

  “Hey, you be creative. I'm the one coming up with all the ideas while you just shoot them down. Are you trying to say you don't want to go?”

  “No,” I said quickly. “I do want to go. Let's see...well, I could go as a mental patient. I wouldn't even have to wear a costume.” Kane shot me a dirty look. “No? Ok, how about gangsters? Or X-Men?”

  “This is a lot harder than I thought it would be.”

  “Tell me about it.”

  “Oh, wait! I have it!”

  “What?”

  “This is so perfect! Why didn't I think of it sooner?”

  “What is it?”

  “Sherlock Holmes and Watson! How perfect is that? You're a detective and everything!”

  I blinked. “That's actually a good idea. At least for me. It won't be that great for you. I mean, what did Watson wear? A gray suit? Not exactly sexy.”

  “Then I'll go as a super hero.”

  “I thought you wanted to go as a duo.”

  “I did, but this is getting to be more work that it's worth.”

  “Well, what about Rage and Zephyr?”

  “Who and who?”

  “Rage and Zephyr. They're the gay superheroes on Queer As Folk.”

  “They have gay superheroes on Queer As Folk?”

  “Well, Justin and Michael wrote a comic book and the characters are Rage and Zephyr.”

  “And they're gay superheroes?”

  “Yeah.”

  “With good costumes?”

  “I guess. Here, I'll show you.” I booted up the computer and signed onto the internet. I went to the QAF website and clicked on the Rage link. “There, what do you think?”

  “I like it,” he said slowly. “The costumes are sexy, but would you be Rage?”

  “Well, you're a little bigger than me, and you're definitely more built, so you should probably be Rage. I don't mind being Zephyr. I kinda like his costume more anyway. It's a lot less...revealing.”

  Kane grinned. “Sounds like a deal. Now, how do we make these costumes?”

  “I was hoping you'd know.”

  “You don't know how to sew?”

  “Not really.”

  “Boys?” Adam called from downstairs.

  “Dad can sew,” Kane said. He jumped up and was out of the room before I could even respond. He returned a few minutes later with Adam in tow.

  Kane explained to him what we wanted and after studying the pictures for a minute, he nodded. “Yeah, I can do that. But, Kane, are you sure you want to be a gay superhero?”

  “Why not?” Kane said with a careless shrug. “As long as the girls know I'm not gay, who cares?”

  “You can get them done by tomorrow night?” I asked in surprise.

  “No problem. In fact, I can get them done tonight if you just get me the material.”

  “Can you make a list of what you need?”

  “Sure. I'll also have to measure you guys, but it should be a snap, especially if you guys give me a hand.”

  “Wow, you mean we'd actually be doing something together as a family?” Kane said dryly.

  I saw a hurt look flash across Adam's face, but it was gone quickly. “Not quite a family,” he said. “Steve won't be here, but yeah, the rest of us will be. I'll cook dinner while you two go get the material.”

  He quickly measured us and made a list of everything he thought he'd need, then sent us out while he started dinner. That night we worked together to make the costumes, which I thought turned out really well...until I went to put it on the next night. I was having second thoughts as I stood in front of the full-length mirror in our bedroom.

  “I don't know,” I said doubtfully.

  “Oh come one, Killian,” Kane moaned. “We have to leave in less than half an hour. What do you mean you don't know?”

  “It's awfully…tight.”

  “It's supposed to be tight,” Adam said.

  “I know. It's just tighter than I expected it to be.”

  “You look great,” Kane said.

  I stared at my reflection. At 18, I still looked pretty much the same as I did two years ago, short and slender. The red Zephyr costume was form fitting to say the least, and I wasn't feeling nearly as brave now as I had when Adam was fitting me for it the night before. I turned to look at Kane in his dark blue rage costume, complete with jagged tear across the chest.

  “That's easy for you to say, you look fantastic.”

  “You both look great,” Adam said, sounding very fatherly, “and after all the work I put
into those costumes, you're damn well going to wear them.” He softened his proclamation with a warm smile. “You'll be the two most handsome boys there.”