He wiped his cheeks but secretly enjoyed that his mother still gave him sloppy kisses at the age of nineteen. “Frosted Flakes or Froot Loops?” he asked, taking the bag from Sarah and peeking inside.
“I thought it was HoneyComb.”
Mitch wrinkled his nose. “That was Josh’s favorite, not mine.”
Sarah’s gaze swept the apartment, her nose wrinkling too. “Is he still asleep? It’s almost noon.”
“Mom, it’s not, and it’s Sunday. Not that I’m not glad to see you, but don’t you have church or something?”
“That reminds me, Mrs. Hampton says ‘hello.’ She was at the sunrise service.” Sarah smiled, the wrinkle replaced with a look of abundant joy. “I love that service.” She breathed in and then sighed slowly. “It’s so peaceful.”
“I’m glad for you, Mom, but I’ll have to take your word for it because I doubt that I’ll ever make it to that service.”
“What do you have planned today, sweetie? Maybe some straightening up?” Sarah picked up a crumpled aluminum can on the coffee table. Then another. “Why don’t I help you?” She didn’t wait for Mitch’s answer. “Where’s your garbage can so I can throw these away, and get started on the rest?”
“We had a party last night,” Mitch explained.
“Thank God.”
“What?” he scoffed.
“I was beginning to think I’d raised a pig. It’s a relief that you were not the only one contributing to”—she waved her hands in front of her—“this.”
“I might be a pig but not this much of one. We still have a lot of unpacking to do so we thought that throwing a party was better now rather than later. I didn’t want our stuff to get trashed.”
“Did you have fun?”
“What do you think?”
“Judging by those dark circles under your eyes, you had a blast.” She walked and stood beside him. “Garbage?”
He took the cans and threw them away in the trash can tucked out of sight under the kitchen island. “I was going to make breakfast. Would you like some?”
Sarah looked at the eggs. “Where’s your frying pan? No offense, sweetie, but you make terrible eggs.” She visibly shuddered. “Runny and messy. In that regard, you take after your father.”
“I like them that way.”
“Well, I don’t, and I’m hungry so move over.”
He found the frying pan and anything else she might need to prepare breakfast. After a few minutes of cooking and the house filling with the scent of frying eggs, Sarah asked, “Has your father stopped by?”
“I just moved in a few days ago.”
“So, I can take that as a no?”
Mitch nodded, refusing to make eye contact with Sarah. She could always read the hurt that was there every time his father was discussed. “He’ll get around to it, eventually.”
“Has he called? Texted at least?”
Mitch imagined he could see steam coming out of his mother’s ears, and her mouth was set in a tight-lipped grimace. “That man,” she said, more for herself than for Mitch. “Never changes. Always about his needs and his time. Never thinks of us.”
“And that is why you divorced him.”
She visibly relaxed, shoulders loosening. “I’m sorry, Mitch. I shouldn’t say those things in front of you. It’s just…”
“That Dad’s an asshole?”
Sarah chuckled but refused to allow her grimace to fade. “I won’t say that exactly, but you can. He’s probably been traveling with work. You know how that company sends him everywhere. Honestly, I miss the frequent flyer miles. Too bad I couldn’t have asked for half of those in our settlement.”
“Get your own miles,” Mitch said. “It’s better you’re no longer together. He’s not much of a father, and I would venture to guess that he was even less of a husband.”
“Yes. You’re right. And he ceased being my husband, but he’ll always be your father. Have patience, and I will give him a gentle nudge.”
“Don’t step in, Mom, and try to make it all better. Let him do that.”
Sarah cooked breakfast as Mitch watched. When he was a boy, he loved Sunday mornings spent in the kitchen, his mother making his favorite chocolate chip pancakes. His father would be sitting at the small round kitchen table reading his paper and sipping coffee. It was before it all fell apart. Before Mitch’s accident, before Christopher fell in love with another woman on one of his many business trips, and before Sarah became bitter and resentful. They were happy times. And they were over.
Setting the plate of eggs and buttered toast in front of Mitch, Sarah pulled over two stools, and they began to eat, mother and son, side by side. It wasn’t as good as those Sunday mornings but pretty damn near.
Swallowing her last forkful, his mother asked, “Do you need money?”
“No,” Mitch answered, taking a bite of toast. He chewed. “Dad did send a check when I told him I was getting my own place.”
“He did?” Sarah had always been a bad liar.
“You put him up to it, didn’t you?”
She stood and collected the plates. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.” Her coy smile said it all.
“Thanks, Mom.”
“Next we can tackle this place and maybe we can take a walk in the neighborhood. Would that be okay?”
“We can skip the spring cleaning and just take that walk. The dishes can wait, and I’m sure Josh will only add to the mess when he gets up.”
“I don’t mind, honey,” his mom said.
He took the plates out of her hands and placed them in the sink. “But I do.”
A doorknob squeaked, and Josh’s bedroom door opened. “Did someone say my name?” He sniffed the air, his sandy-colored hair jutting in every direction. “And do I smell breakfast?”
Mitch grabbed a box of cereal and tossed it to his friend. “Have at it, bro. Me and my mom are going for a walk in the ’hood.”
Chapter Seven
Locking the door to his apartment, Austin spared a quick glance at Mitch’s door and then focused his attention over the railing at the pool below. No Mitch. It had been two days, and so far, Austin had managed to dodge both Mitch and Josh successfully. Tomorrow was going to prove harder since he was scheduled for massages all morning at IGNITE. Austin hated to call in sick, making up some feeble excuse, but he wasn’t ready to face Mitch yet.
Since he was outed by Josh, Austin kept reliving every minute detail of that horrible moment. When he closed his eyes at night, all he could see were the faces of Mitch and Josh, gaping at him, their eyes bugging out of their heads. Yes, he was that Austin Grey, and now Mitch would only see him as the guy he once was, not the man he had become.
Life wasn’t fair.
Austin had tried so hard to leave that guy in the past, every piece of clothing, every picture taken, every aspect of who he once was. But now he was that overweight high-schooler again, fighting the urge to eat his weight in Oreos. Was it unfair to want to leave a part of your life behind? Austin thought as he left the complex to find his Pathfinder parked on the street. He wasn’t sure where he was headed exactly, but the early start guaranteed that he wouldn’t bump into the inhabitants of apartment number four, Josh and Mitch normally favoring later hours.
Austin’s new morning routine reminded him of when he was in school, and he’d managed to learn the safest ways to class, saving himself from the hurtful slurs hurled at him when he walked by.
Pig.
Fat Ass.
Creep.
Weirdo.
Freak.
Faggot.
The list played over in Austin’s head like a tape recording caught on a never-ending loop. No matter how hard he tried, he was never able to silence those hateful voices. And what did he do to deserve this daily torture? So what if he outweighed most of the student body of Palmer Ranch High by at least fifty pounds? Just because he was fat didn’t make him unfeeling. Each derogatory remark he endured was like a punch to the gut and
a baseball bat to the skull, leaving permanent and irreparable damage. And now more than ever those voices were screaming at top volume.
Jumping in his vehicle and starting up the engine, Austin shifted onto the quiet street with hardly a glance in the rearview mirror. He lowered the window and inhaled the salt air blowing in from the south and decided to head in the direction of the beach. A morning spent gazing at the gentle Gulf waters, sunlight glinting from its glassy surface, would place him in the right frame of mind and silence the voices threatening to derail him. He just had to believe in himself and tap into that same willpower it took to reshape his body. But that had been the easy part; retraining his brain was proving to be a more difficult process. Following the signs to Siesta Key, he attempted to dispel from his mind all negative thinking, filling it instead with positivity.
Now if he could only stop thinking of Mitch chewing on his nipples, he might be able to lose the wood he’d been tripping over for the last two days.
* * * *
“Have you seen Austin?” Josh asked, stepping from the bathroom.
Mitch was on his second cup of coffee, and the normally energizing creamy nectar was not doing its usual thing this morning. “Nope,” he answered Josh, who was still dripping from the shower.
“I still feel so bad about—”
“Me too,” Mitch finished.
“You haven’t spoken to him?”
“He hasn’t been at work, but I did check the schedule, and he should be there tomorrow morning.”
“Do you think he’s been avoiding us?”
“I knocked on the door yesterday afternoon but…” Mitch shrugged.
“Maybe I’ll go over after I get dressed. See if he’s around.”
“I’ve been watching out for any signs of life, but I think he’s already gone.” Mitch claimed a stool and placed his coffee cup on the counter in front of him. “I can’t believe—”
“Me either,” Josh paused almost in a daze. “But how?”
“I’ve never seen such a transformation in my life. The guy is stellar. Did you see his—”
“Ass?” Josh nodded. “That stuff is fine with a capital F.”
“I was going to say chest.” He shot Josh a warning glance.
“That’s nice too,” Josh replied through an insecure smile. “What are you planning to do?”
Mitch ran his hands through his hair. “I don’t know. I mean… I reacted so poorly the other night.”
“You were drunk. I was drunk.”
“He wasn’t.”
“That is unfortunate,” Josh said. “If he was, maybe we could’ve laughed it all off. Buried this entire thing.”
“Think we still can do that?” It was wishful thinking on Mitch’s part.
“What do you think?”
“Damn, why do things always have to be so complicated?”
“Speaking of complicated, how’s your mom?” Josh poured himself a cup of coffee and took the only remaining stool. He sat, sipping his coffee, his hazel eyes peering over the rim of the mug. “She looks good.” Sipped again.
“I think she’s doing okay, but I’m not so sure if she’d tell me the truth. You know how she is. Every day is full of sunshine.”
“It is,” Josh returned. “We live in Florida.”
Mitch feigned laughter, his sense of humor nowhere to be found at the moment.
“As always,” Mitch said, “she was making excuses for Dad.”
“Haven’t heard from him lately?”
“Sent me that check.”
Josh gave a thumbs-up. “That’s not all bad. Better to resent him on a full stomach and a roof over your head than starving your ass off below an overpass.”
Mitch’s humor returned. “It’s all about a different perspective, isn’t it?”
“Doesn’t hurt. And what’s a best friend for if not to point out, however small, the victories in your life.”
“Not much of a victory, taking guilt money from my father.”
“It goes back to that perspective thing.”
“I’m glad she stopped by, although I could’ve lived without her poking around at all the empty cans and bottles. She doesn’t drink much, so she doesn’t understand it when others do,” Mitch explained.
“I bet she had a few when she was our age and when your parents were dating.”
“Probably, but she’d never admit to it,” Mitch said.
“Parents.” Josh shrugged his tanned, muscular shoulders. “Very confusing creatures.”
“How are yours, by the way?”
“They are parents. They call, worried over something or other. They bicker. Parents.”
“Dad’s going to have a baby.”
The look on Josh’s face was palpable. It took him a moment to respond. “How do you know?”
“One of the reasons for the walk I went on with my mother.”
“And it took you this long to tell me?”
“It had to sink in,” he replied honestly. “I don’t think it really has yet.”
“You’re positive. How does Sarah know? Are they on speaking terms?”
Mitch nodded. “She wanted to tell me before I heard it elsewhere. You know how gossip spreads in this town.”
“How do you think my parents found out I was gay?” Josh said. “I still don’t know who outed me. I’d like to shake the shit out of that person, whoever it is.”
“It turned out for the best, I guess.”
“It didn’t feel that way at the time,” Josh returned. “It was my choice, my decision to tell them, not some asshole who wanted to fill their day with the details of another person’s life. It was unfair.”
“Well if you ever figure out who did it, I’ll help you tie his or her tongue in a knot and cure them of doing it to someone else.”
Josh winked and drank his coffee. Placing the empty mug onto the counter, he said, “I know I can always depend on you.” It was said jokingly, but Josh knew that he could. Mitch always had.
“What do you think I should do about Dad? I feel like I need to do something, acknowledge that I know about the baby. Or should I let him come to me and tell me in his own time? It’s a little like outing him.”
“In a roundabout way, yes,” Josh said. “I can see that.”
“Yes or no?”
“Can I think about it for a day or so and get back to you? I’ve never been asked this type of question before, and it’s not an easy one to answer.”
“Of course,” Mitch said. “No pressure.”
“Man, this has been a tough week for you, hasn’t it,” Josh said. “Your dad’s having a baby and the man of your dreams turns out to be someone who once looked like a nightmare.”
“Hey—” Mitch interrupted, feeling almost offended by Josh’s statement.
“What,” Josh scoffed. “I’m telling the truth, and you know it. That poor kid was a total mess.”
“He’s far from one now.”
“I didn’t say he was a mess anymore. He appears to have it together in every way possible.”
Mitch grunted, staring down at his coffee. “Do you have any advice for the guy dilemma I seem to be facing?”
“Do you like him, and don’t answer that too quickly because I’ve seen you mope over men before, but not like this. There’s something to this one.”
“I do… Austin makes me feel excited about stuff. About life,” Mitch clarified. “Maybe even a future together.”
Josh shuddered. “You are scaring me.”
“What do you mean?”
“Mitchell Montgomery using the word future in reference to a guy. I knew it would happen one day but—”
“Do you blame me? You’ve seen him.”
“Oh, I’ve seen him all right, and a lot of him since I walked in on your private party during our party.”
Mitch felt the flush of embarrassment in his cheeks. “You’re supposed to wait for someone to answer ‘come in’ before actually coming in. Didn’t your mother ever teac
h you any manners? I’m going to have a talk with her.”
“Leave my mother out of it,” Josh joked.
“Do you think I’m crazy? Or am I feeling this way because I’m feeling guilty for being a douche bag back in the day?”
“You were a douche but not to him, not really,” Josh said. “Some of the other guys mistreated him, but we didn’t.”
“But we allowed the others to, Josh. What’s the difference?”
“Give yourself a break. Austin wasn’t the only person who was different then, we were also. You were full of yourself because you were the big football star who couldn’t be stopped. You walked on air, dude. You were untouchable.”
Mitch made a derisive noise deep in his throat. “Now look at me. I’m working part-time at a crummy gym and taking random classes at the community college, trying to find some direction.”
“You didn’t ask for your leg to get mangled and to have to endure four separate horribly painful operations,” Josh reminded. “Like I said, give yourself a break.”
“I can’t help but think what my life would’ve been like if that never happened.”
“But it did happen. Deal with it. Accept it. You’ve had your wallowing time, but now you have to pull it together.”
“I’m trying. Honest.” Mitch was exhausted by the conversation.
“You are. I see that,” Josh said, softening his voice. “You could’ve curled into fetal and stayed hidden from the world, but you didn’t. Your job at IGNITE is a great job, and taking classes to figure out what you want to do with your life is never a bad thing.”
Mitch sat, silent, unsure what to say. He knew he was doing what he needed to do to secure a productive future, but he couldn’t stop dreaming over what could have but didn’t happen.
“Maybe Austin can help you with that,” Josh stated.
Mitch was confused over Josh’s statement. “I’m not following you.”
“I believe people come in and out of our lives for a reason, hopefully to better us in some way. Maybe that’s why you met Austin. I could also be talking a lot of shit right now”—Josh paused and shook his head—“but I don’t think so.”
The Boys of Banana Court: Box Set Page 5