Another box lay inside the shipping box, so I pulled it out and looked at it. Richard and Carolyn had sent me a little laptop.
“Nice!” Leo said as he read the box over my shoulder. “It’s a netbook, ultra-portable so you can carry it around with you to coffee shops and such.”
With both Richard and Carolyn retired, I tried not to think what it had cost them. I felt guilty about the generous gift because I had no way of reciprocating. My Christmas present to them, which was sitting upstairs on my dresser, included a cheap Christmas card and half a dozen candid pictures of me with the guys. It was all I could afford because, while I had a job landscaping, it didn’t quite cover my monthly expenses. Between the rent, bus pass, laundry, and trying to eat, I still had to rely, at least in part, on my savings. When Kenny had hired me, he’d brought me on at minimum wage with a promise that he would bump it up after a few months if everything worked out. I hoped he wouldn’t take too long. After talking to Leo for a few more minutes about the computer, I took it upstairs and locked it in my room before going to take a shower. For the most part, I trusted the guys who lived in the house, but they always brought friends up to the common room and to their own rooms. The friends of friends I had no reason to trust.
With the help of the tutorials from the center website and some other sites I’d found online, I’d become much more comfortable working with computers. I had a Facebook profile that I used to keep up with Sarah and Kyle. Occasionally, I also talked to Adam, but not often. I used instant messaging to keep in touch with my parents.
When I got out of the shower, I opened up the laptop and went through the setup wizard. Getting it connected to the house’s Wi-Fi turned out to be the hardest part, but Leo had written down the network name and WEP key for me so it was just a matter of figuring out where to put it. I spent about an hour playing with the different features, changing my wallpaper, setting up Internet favorites, and installing the free tools like an instant-messaging client. When I logged in, I saw that Carolyn was on as well.
[Brian]: Hi mom.
As I waited for her to respond, I checked my Facebook page and saw that Sarah and her parents were going to be in San Diego the next weekend to see Sarah’s boyfriend, Ryan. Maybe her parents had changed their position on Sarah and Ryan’s relationship. I sent her a quick message and asked if we could get together while she was visiting.
[Carolyn]: Hi, honey!
The response from Carolyn popped onto my screen and nearly gave me heart failure. The volume on the netbook had been set to its highest level and was deafening in my small room.
[Brian]: I don’t want to sound ungrateful, so I’ll start with thank you very much for the computer. But you shouldn’t have spent so much money on me. I feel bad enough already that you’re still paying for my cell phone.
I grabbed the book for the computer and found the index for volume control and turned it down before her next message came.
[Carolyn]: It was free. The only thing I had to pay for was shipping it to San Diego.
Curiosity blazed in me as I tried to figure out where my parents would get a free laptop.
[Brian]: Okay, I’ll bite. How did you get it for free?
[Carolyn]: Your father is consulting for the hospital, and as part of his contract, he purchased a new computer at the hospital’s expense. When he bought it, he got a deal, which included a free netbook. He doesn’t need two computers, and I don’t need one. When it arrived and we saw that it had that little camera in it, we decided to send it to you. Richard’s new computer has a webcam too.
[Brian]: Thank you so much, Mom. Really.
[Carolyn]: Okay, Adam said that we can either talk right through this program or we can install another program that’s just for talking on the webcam.
[Brian]: When did you talk to Adam?
[Carolyn]: Oh, he’s home for Christmas break and he stopped by to say hello. Since he’s a computer major, I asked him about it.
[Brian]: Adam changed majors?
[Carolyn]: Yes. When he was here, he mentioned that you guys don’t talk much anymore.
[Brian]: I know. He’s usually on during the day between classes, and I’m usually on at night after work. We’ve just been drifting.
[Carolyn]: It happens, even in the best of friendships. Okay, so if I press this button, it should video call you. Can we try it out?
It took a few tries to get things working, but after about ten minutes, I could see Carolyn on my screen.
“There you are!” she cried happily. “You need a haircut.”
“Thanks, Mom,” I said, laughing at her expression. “Right now I’m concentrating more on eating than worrying about my hair. My hat keeps it out of my face while I’m working, anyway.”
“Wow, and you got tan,” she observed and turned her head back and forth as if trying to get a better view of me. “You’ve lost weight too.”
“No, I haven’t,” I lied. My clothes were loose on me, especially my favorite jeans. Of course, I told myself it had more to do with the physical job I did every day and not my stress over money or Jamie. Her expression told me she didn’t believe me, but she didn’t say anything else about it.
We talked for another hour, and she told me more about Richard’s new consulting contract with the hospital and how Kyle had found a “special friend.” I knew Kyle had been going to their house for dinner to keep them company since I had left. He hadn’t brought his boyfriend because they had to be very discreet in that hateful little town, but Carolyn said he seemed happy, and that made me smile.
Apparently, she had also run into Sensei’s wife in the grocery store the week before, and the woman had asked about me. The dojo had expanded to another full-time instructor and seemed to be doing very well. She saved the most disturbing news for last.
“I’m not sure if you’re going to want to hear this, but Brad Mosely has been released from prison,” she said quietly. It took me a minute to process what she’d said. The judge had sentenced him to five years; even with parole, the lawyer had said he would have to stay in for at least two.
“How is that possible?” I asked angrily. I lived on the other side of the country, and I was practically a brown belt in karate so I knew he couldn’t hurt me. It just made me angry that they had released him early. Her sigh made me stop and listen.
“I don’t know the entire story, but he was attacked by a couple of other inmates. They said it had something to do with contraband that he wouldn’t share. Anyway, they stabbed him in the back and the blade severed his spine. Richard could explain it better, I guess, but he’s paralyzed, from the waist down.”
I felt sickened and horrified, and she must have mistaken that for anger in my expression.
“I know he was supposed to serve his time for what he did to you,” she started, but I interrupted her.
“If he is paralyzed, I think… I think he paid for what he did,” I told her softly, and she nodded.
“That’s why we didn’t oppose his release. His family moved out of town once he came home. We haven’t seen or heard from them at all.”
“Good,” I replied, still thinking about how my relationship with Jamie had affected so many lives. Emma Mosely’s family had been nearly devastated, Jamie’s family had been uprooted, and my family had been split up—all in the name of love.
We talked for a few more minutes, mostly about how happy Carolyn was to be able to see me, and then we said good-bye. I spent the rest of the evening in my room, the laptop all but forgotten as I lost myself inside my head.
IT WAS just past three when we knocked off for the day. “Hey, Bri, the rest of us are gonna go get a beer. Want to come?” Mike asked as he threw his T-shirt back on. I couldn’t help but notice the way it clung to the lines of muscle as he pulled it down.
“You’re funny,” I told him as I pulled my own shirt from the small cooler where my lunch had been. The guys had taught me early on to put it in there so it was cool when I put it back on. I knew h
e must have been joking; I was too young to go to a bar. Since everyone else was over twenty-one, they usually went off for a beer after a shift. It was the first time they’d asked me to join them.
“No, really,” he said, jumping down from the tailgate. “We’re going over to Karma, where they’re having a special on that import crap that Kenny drinks. I know the guy at the door. If you want to go, we’ll get you in.” I watched him for a long moment, trying to decide if he was messing with me. He wasn’t. So I pushed aside a chance to look for Jamie and decided to do something fun instead. That single decision changed the whole course of my life.
Mike and I rode home together in his Jeep like we always did, and he was shocked when I told him I’d never been to a bar or a club before. He spent most of the ride home telling me about the layout of the club and the people. It sounded like the crew visited often when they worked that side of town, but I felt nervous about sneaking into a bar. Slapping my ass as we walked in through the front door, Mike told me not to worry, guys did it all the time.
After showering quickly, I walked back to my room in a towel and stood in front of my closet, trying to decide what to wear. I didn’t have the kind of trendy clothes , the other guys wore, and I didn’t want to feel out of place. Grabbing the white shirt from my only suit, I threw it on the bed and pulled my nicest jeans from the dresser. Tossing out a pair of clean socks, I noticed the empty space where my underwear usually sat. Sighing, I decided I’d just have to go without.
I was just about to drop the towel when Mike walked in.
“Dude!” I said, exasperated, pulling the towel closed tightly. “Don’t you ever knock?”
“Yes,” he replied, not elaborating but dropping a white tank top on my bed. “Here, you can wear this. It’ll show off the arms and the tan you’ve been developing.” I looked at the scant shirt and decided I would wear it. I’d learned that with Mike it was best to pick my battles, as Carolyn used to say. A shirt wasn’t worth battling over.
“Okay, I’ll wear it. Now go so I can get dressed. I don’t want the other guys to have to wait for us.” He shrugged, blowing me a kiss and palming himself through his jeans as he walked out of the room. I locked the door behind him and finally dropped the towel. I’d gotten used to the confines of the room being home, but standing there naked felt naughty or forbidden. It always gave me a bit of a sexual rush, and I felt a little adventurous pulling my jeans up over my naked ass, wondering if Mike would notice.
I finished dressing quickly with a wicked smile on my face.
When we arrived at the club, the rest of the guys from the crew were already waiting in the parking lot. Kenny stood next to his truck with another guy I’d never seen. As I got out of the Jeep, I saw Emilio and Tony standing by Kenny’s tailgate, talking. They weren’t related, but they looked so much alike with their dark Latin complexions and wavy black hair that they could have been. I hadn’t gotten close enough to tell, but I think Emilio’s eyes were a little lighter. Tony was about an inch taller and had a somewhat stronger build, but to see them from a distance, they looked a lot alike. Roger and Carter were standing near the truck as well, but I had a feeling they’d come in the classic red Mustang parked next to the truck. Joey was the only member of the crew who was absent. Mike told me that Kenny had actually knocked off early because Joey was taking his high-school equivalency exam at the night school he attended. I knew he was a runaway, but I didn’t really know anything else about his background, so the fact that he hadn’t finished high school was a surprise to me. Even after working with the crew for a few months, I was still a bit of an outsider.
“Nice of you to join us, kids,” Kenny said, grabbing his companion’s ass and pulling him over to where we were walking up to join the group.
“You didn’t tell me you hired a hot little twink,” Kenny’s friend said disapprovingly, and I know my eyebrows shot up into my hairline. I looked at Mike, who was laughing along with the other guys.
“Enrique knows that his boy has a thing for sweet, sexy twinks, and like I’ve been telling you since you got here, babe, that’s you,” Mike said between peals of laughter as Kenny gave him an indulgent look. Emilio and Tony came up on either side of me, and they each put an arm around me.
“Yeah, but my baby knows he’s the only ass I wanna tap,” Kenny said with a smirk, squeezing Enrique.
“Well, that and I’d break his neck,” Enrique replied. The statement was actually kind of laughable because Enrique was about six inches shorter with about fifty pounds less muscle than his laborer boyfriend. Kenny winked at me as he wrapped both arms around his lover and kissed his hair.
“Isn’t Brian pretty, though? I bet he’s practically a virgin, too, right off the farm. He’s got the sexiest little Southern accent,” Emilio said with a sad attempt at a drawl. My face started to get hot as all their attention focused on me.
“Are we going inside, or are we just going to stand out here and gossip?” Carter asked, his ebony face turning down into a frown. “I want a beer.” Mike pulled me in front of him while Emilio and Tony stayed on either side. Tony and Carter walked in front of me while Kenny and Enrique brought up the rear. I wasn’t sure why they were cocooning me inside their little group, but we stayed together like that as we walked up to the door.
The two-story building looked like it might have once been a bank. The outside was old but painted bright blue, a nice contrast to the normal brick buildings. The windows, which had ironwork bars over them, were painted with murals of happy people, men and women dancing and smiling. They had painted the bars in different colors, like a rainbow, and a huge neon sign with the name “Karma” stretched across the front just above the windows. The place had a cheery, welcoming feel to it.
As we walked up to the door, the music from inside got louder. I grabbed Mike’s hand, wrapping his arm around my shoulder. It had been a long time since I’d been that happy. Even though I was still looking for Jamie, I had a good job, a great place to live, and amazing friends. The feeling that I had made the right decision by coming to California was stronger than ever.
“Hey, guys, haven’t seen you in a while. How ya doin’?” a big guy next to the door asked as we approached. The guy’s hair had been shaved so short he was nearly bald. His sleeveless T-shirt barely contained the thick muscles in his arms and chest, and a long tattoo stretched up his arm. Presumably, it continued across the skin of his shoulder, which hid beneath the fabric.
“Hey, Julio, what’s shakin’?” Tony asked, grabbing the big man in a hug. The name sounded familiar, but I couldn’t quite place it. “You dancing tonight?”
“Yeah, I’ll be on in a while. They got me watchin’ the door while T went to take a leak. So, who’s the kid?” he asked, and I shrank back against Mike. I knew it was a bad idea; he knew I wasn’t twenty-one, and they were going to call the cops or something. Looking around, I tried to figure out what to do. “Hey, babe, calm down. I ain’t gonna bite you,” Julio said with a laugh, and then he looked over my shoulder at Kenny. “Dude, you replaced me with a preschooler?”
“Hey, he works twice as hard as you ever did,” Kenny chided, and Julio laughed.
“Go on in. I think Rudy is on the bar tonight, so just bring the kid his drinks,” he said, waving us in.
“Thanks for the heads-up, man, and come have a drink with us after your show,” Tony told him, giving him another hug.
“I just might do that,” Julio said, letting his hand linger on Tony’s ass before stepping away, and we walked into the club.
There were about twenty people already inside. A few were dancing halfheartedly while the rest stood near the bars or sat on small couches scattered against the walls. A few plush chairs cluttered the floor around small round tables. Laser-like colored lights punctuated the beat in the music as they flashed like strobe lights over the heads of dancing people.
We made our way over to a corner where a few empty couches sat with a table between them. Tony and Emilio dragged ove
r a couple of chairs from a nearby table and stood waiting while everyone else sat down. I looked around and saw there were six places to sit. Mike patted his legs, telling me to sit on his lap. Rolling my eyes, I sat on the arm of the couch instead. We’d probably be up dancing before long, so I didn’t think it was worth the effort of pulling over another chair.
“We’re all doing a couple of shots. What do you want me to bring you, Brian?” Tony asked, standing casually with his hands on the back of Emilio’s chair, playing with the collar of his friend’s shirt.
“I’ll drink whatever you guys are drinking,” I said with a shrug. Mike had given me the only alcohol I’d ever had, the beer we drank with dinner one night. I didn’t know one type of booze from another. I didn’t know the names of the drinks.
“You sure, babe?” Mike asked quietly. “I don’t want you puking in my Jeep.”
“Yeah, I’ll just have a shot or two with you guys and then I’ll switch to beer or something,” I assured him, because I knew I was safe with Mike if I wanted to get drunk for the first time.
Tony grabbed Emilio and they headed up to the bar.
“Julio used to work the crew with you guys?” I asked Mike, looking down as he rested his hand on my thigh just above the knee. Rather than feeling uncomfortable, as I thought I would, it felt reassuring. With Adam, his attention had made me feel strange because he had focused completely on me, but Mike flirted with everybody; that was just his personality.
“Yeah, he got another job,” Mike said vaguely.
The guys up at the bar talked with the bartender and flirted with a few people who waited for drinks. I watched and wondered what it would be like to feel comfortable and flirt like that. Jamie used to comment on my shyness and how, if I’d just let go, I would find that people would accept me. I thought bias tainted his opinion, but the guys at the house had accepted me.
The backlighting on the bar, a mix of blue and green neon, made it difficult to make out any detail on the bartender or any of the guys at the bar. There were lights attached to the top of the glass shelving behind the bar, which reflected in the mirrors behind those shelves. It reminded me of cool places I’d seen on TV growing up, but as I watched those shows with the trendy places, I had never thought I’d end up in an atmosphere like that.
Destiny (Waiting for Forever) Page 11