“You what? You left her?” asked Charlie, incredulous. “You left Aunt Beverly? For a whole year?”
Having been left as a boy by his own father, Charlie had developed rules and laws about what you did and didn’t do with your family. First and foremost was that you never left them. To do so was one of the most reprehensible things a person could do.
“I did. I never contacted Beverly. I never asked about her. I never …”
“But why? Why did you leave? Why didn’t you come back?” Charlie interrupted. He knew the answer, knew that his uncle had been terrified. But he was angry at Randall for abandoning Beverly, angry for thinking that the best thing to do was to pack up and leave. Even more so, he was furious at his own mother for having done the same thing, for slipping away without telling him why. How could she?
But he didn’t know how to express any of this, so for now all he could do was to ask the obvious.
Randall stared at the boy then turned his head away, as if he couldn’t bear to look in Charlie’s eyes.
“I’m not saying that what I did was a good thing. But you of all people should understand. I literally could not believe what Beverly had done. I felt like I was going crazy, like everything I knew about the world, about reality, about how things worked, was slipping away from me. It felt like I couldn’t hold on to anything real, like I was losing my mind.
“I didn’t think, ‘Randall, you should get up and drive away and abandon your wife for a year.’ I wasn’t thinking at all. I was scared out of my gourd. All I wanted to do was to get far away from her, from what she had done, from what she was …”
The sharp burst of a car horn somewhere off to the right caused both of them to jump.
“I’ll see you back at home!” they heard a young woman shout from the parking lot. “Don’t forget to buy the folding chairs!”
Randall continued. “I drove for about two and a half hours that day, until I couldn’t go any farther. I pulled into a motel outside Portland and holed up for a few days. I didn’t sleep much. I kept seeing all those crazy things in my mind, and I was afraid she was going to come and get me.”
“What do you mean? That Beverly would hurt you or something?”
“I know it sounds crazy now. But I couldn’t connect what I had seen with the wonderful woman I’d married. Maybe she was someone different. Or maybe she’d changed somehow, and that the good normal Beverly wasn’t around anymore. All I knew was that I was afraid and I wanted to be away from her.
“Initially I assumed it would be for a couple of days, or maybe a week. I always thought that I’d just pick up the phone from the motel and call her—this was before email and cell phones, remember—but I kept putting it off.
“The airlines put me on probation because I called in sick too many times, but eventually they took me back. I got an apartment in Portland, then signed up for as many flights as possible, working like a madman. Maybe it wasn’t the best way to deal with it, but the work helped me to forget what I’d seen. And somehow I thought Portland was far enough away for Beverly not to find me. Ha! She told me later that she used a spell to make sure I was okay and then just waited for me. It was really hard on her. But she was afraid that if she showed up in Portland, she’d only drive me further away. She knew she had to wait, to let me find my way back to her. And she also knew that I might not come back.
“Charlie, you gotta understand. This was pure survival on my part. I’m not saying what I did was good, except that I think it kept me sane. Remember when you first saw the talking dog? How it just didn’t make sense?”
He nodded, still able to recall the sensation that the ground underneath him had flipped upside down, that his mind was going to split in two, that the reality he knew was running away from him like a herd of frightened gazelles dashing off into the thick protection of the jungle.
“On the one hand, I think what I did was a mistake. It was really hard on Beverly, and on our marriage. Also on me. But what Beverly did was a mistake too. She’d be the first to admit it. She lost her cool and showed me too much. So on the other hand, what I did might not have been a mistake. My brain cracked open, and it took me some time to put it back together again. It’s not like there was an advice column I could write to for help. ‘Dear Abby, my wife’s a witch. What should I do?’” His laugh sounded hollow.
“I think if I had stayed and tried to understand it all right away, I might not have been able to handle it and would have eventually left. I don’t know.
“Believe me, Charlie, she and I have been over and over this. We’ve apologized more times to each other than I care to count. We’ve wondered if things didn’t work out the way they should have. It’s easy to be a Monday-morning quarterback now, but at the time, neither of us knew what to do.
“I’ve read a lot since then about how our brains work. When something so unbelievable happens, our mind just can’t accept it, so it tells us to do what it needs to survive: ‘Run! Get away! Or at least make up some logical explanation for what you’re seeing!’ Because if it can’t, or if you can’t get away, then you really can go crazy.
“That the law of gravity exists, that if you put something on a table, it’ll stay there unless someone else removes it, that bones and body tissue keep their shape unless there’s a tear or a break … having to accept witchcraft meant having to let my mind be blown, and that, my friend, is one of the hardest things to go through in this life.
“It’s why the witches try to educate their kids when they’re young, before they’ve formed strong views of the world. It’s why they let echoes just be echoes instead of trying to pop them as adults. Adult brains become rigid, hard-set in their belief systems. Cracking them open can have serious mental, and even physical, results.
“So your mind has been blown, Charlie. True, you’re much younger than I was when it happened, and you’re a lot smarter than me. But still, your mind has been blown wide open. You gotta go easy on yourself, kid. This is not just a simple thing to accept, like scientists discovering a new island in the Pacific Ocean. This is having to swallow a whole new way of seeing how the world really works. And no matter how understanding Beverly and the other witches try to be, they’ll never get what it’s like for us outsiders to accept it all.
“Now, Beverly would kill me if she knew how much I was talking and lecturing at you. She would say I should stop and ask you if you have any questions. So, do you have any questions?” Randall asked, a shy, but friendly smile on his face.
Charlie looked out the window, feeling calmer now than when he had first learned about his uncle leaving Beverly. Even if he didn’t like the fact that Randall hadn’t contacted Beverly during all that time, he could understand, all too well, what it felt like to go crazy.
“Um, how did you two get back together?”
“I called her one day, out of the blue. I didn’t have a plan. I just missed her too much. She answered the phone, and hearing her voice was incredible. It was her, the Beverly that I knew, not the scary one from the beach. She started crying, I started crying, and the rest, as they say, is history.”
“Was it easy to come back home and understand it all?”
“No. It wasn’t. We had to make a deal with each other. She wouldn’t show me anything or tell me anything unless I asked, and I wouldn’t flee in the middle of the night without at least telling her that I wanted to. It was hard for the both of us in the beginning, but we figured it was what we needed to make things work out.
“We took it very slowly. Over time, we became a couple again. Stronger than we had been before. When her mother died, we moved into the family home in West Seattle. I even became friends with some of the other witches. But I didn’t ask many questions. And believe me, the witches weren’t that fond of showing me things. It worked out for the better.
“Look, Charlie, I think we’ve had enough talking for tonight. Or at least I think I’ve talked at you enough. Let me text Beverly to tell her that we got to chatting, and t
hen let’s go inside before Costco closes.”
He fished in his jeans pocket for his phone. “Got gabby, will be later than expected,” he said as he typed, then hit send. “There! Now let’s go get us some hot dogs!”
The two of them stretched their legs in the parking lot. Randall looked up at the darkening sky.
“All that warm dry weather we’ve been having? It looks like it could be on its way out any day now. This,” he spread his arms and looked up at the sky, “means that the season of wet will soon be upon us. And,” he said, looking out at the dark gray clouds piled low on the horizon, one on top of the other, “my guess is that a storm is coming.”
CHAPTER 31
The President
THE BELL RANG AND THE STUDENTS began putting away their books and papers.
“Hao le,” Chen Laoshi said. “Mingtian de gongke jiushi di ershi dao di ershiwuye, dongbudong?”
“Dong,” said the students. Charlie knew enough Chinese now to understand that the homework was to do pages twenty through twenty-five.
As he walked out into the hallway he was surprised to see Diego standing to the side of the door with a big smile on his face.
“Hey,” Charlie said, embarrassed.
“I’m your stalker for the day!” Diego said, looking down at him and laughing. “The office told me you had Chinese this morning.”
“Oh.” Charlie didn’t know what else to say. Diego seemed so big and bright standing there with students walking around him, some of them greeting him.
Diego’s smile faded. “You busy with something? Or just creeped out that I found you?”
“No, no,” Charlie said, trying to find words. He was happy to see Diego. But nervous too. Why was he nervous? It didn’t make any sense. “I still feel like everything’s so new, is all,” he said, fingers playing with the bracelet that Beverly had given him.
“That’s a cool bracelet! Where’d you get it?”
“My aunt gave it to me.”
“I want one. Can she get me one too?” he asked, encircling his hand around Charlie’s wrist and pulling it closer to inspect the silver band.
Diego’s skin felt warm. Warm and safe. Charlie shivered, then pulled his hand away.
“She, uh, she said she picked it up somewhere, kind of, um, far away. Maybe on a trip in Europe?” he said feeling stupid, sure that Diego could see through his lie.
Diego looked like he was about to say something about the bracelet, then shrugged and smiled.
“What’s your next class?”
“Biology.”
They started walking down the hallway.
“I have a meeting with the school advisor for the GSA in ten minutes, so I have time to walk you to class. Do you know what the GSA is?” Diego asked, his voice rising slightly in pitch.
“Oh yeah, sure,” he said, having no idea what it was.
“Well, I’m the president of it. Two years running.”
“Oh wow, that’s great,” he said, hoping Diego wouldn’t ask him a question about it and reveal his ignorance.
As they walked, several students and a few of the teachers said hi to Diego. Clearly he was popular. So why did he want to have anything to do with Charlie?
“We still on for the party tonight?”
“Yeah, yeah. Thanks for letting my aunt call you.”
“Sure. What are you going to wear tonight?” asked Diego.
Charlie felt himself shrink. None of his friends back home ever asked him what he was going to wear when they went to do something. He hadn’t thought about it. Should he have? He felt so utterly stupid about everything. He didn’t know what the GSA was, no one said hi to him, and he didn’t even know what to wear to a party. And this popular guy was walking him to biology class.
“I hadn’t thought about it,” he said, shrugging his shoulders and trying to make his voice sound nonchalant.
Diego looked over at him, then stopped walking.
“Look, Charlie, if you don’t want to go, that’s okay.”
“No, no, it’s not that. It’s just …”
“What? Is something going on?”
Charlie looked down the hall at all the students in their uniforms, laughing, walking in groups, heading to class. Everyone seemed to know where to go. And what was expected of them. Charlie thought about what Randall had said in the car last night. “It felt like I couldn’t hold on to anything real, like I was losing my mind.” He doubted any of these kids had had talks the night before about witchcraft with their uncles while sitting in the parking lot at Costco. Or about having to accept things that seemed straight out of a fairy tale.
“Diego, it’s all just so new, you know? Being here, trying to, to fit in …”
“Hey, I didn’t mean to embarrass you about what you were going to wear. I mean, it’s no big deal, it’s just a stupid party,” he said, waving his hands in front of him as if to push something aside.
Charlie looked down at the floor. It wasn’t about the clothes, or any of that really. But it was kind of Diego to try to reassure him. Once again, he felt the desire to tell this boy everything that had been happening to him. He knew he couldn’t, knew he wouldn’t, but that didn’t mean he didn’t want to.
“It’s okay,” said Charlie. He smiled. “I do want to go to the party. It’ll be cool to meet some new people. And,” he said, surprising himself, “hanging out with you.”
Diego’s brown face grew darker as he blushed. “Really? Dude, that’s awesome,” he said, his smile growing so bright that Charlie wanted to shield his eyes.
“I’m sure it’s not easy being new and all. But stick with me. I’ll show you the ropes around here and introduce you to some cool people.”
They walked the rest of the way in silence, if heading down hallways between classes with lockers slamming, kids laughing, and teachers talking with each other could be considered silent. It was uncomfortable because Charlie didn’t know what to say and it felt like something had been decided between them, even if he didn’t know what it was. But it wasn’t awful. He was used to awkwardness between him and the rest of the world. Besides, it felt surprisingly good to tell Diego that he wanted to spend time with him. And even better that the boy seemed to appreciate it.
* * *
As embarrassed as he felt asking Beverly to help him choose clothes for the party, the idea of showing up looking like an idiot seemed even worse.
Beverly looked surprised when Charlie walked into the kitchen and said, “Um, this is kind of stupid but, could you maybe help me pick out something to wear tonight?”
“For the party?” Her voice was loud and excited. But she took a breath, and he could tell she did her best to tone it down. “Sure. Yeah. I’ll be up in just a minute, okay? I’m sure we can find something from what we bought the other day.”
Charlie could tell as she turned her back on him and pretended to look at the pile of mail on the kitchen counter that she was trying to hide her smile.
He walked upstairs feeling a little stupid, but also happy. He really liked his aunt and uncle and knew they were doing their best to make sure he felt welcome in their home.
Together he and his aunt pulled out some pants, a few shirts, and a sweater that they both liked.
“I don’t know if I’m supposed to wear jeans, or nice pants, or what. Everybody at school just wears a uniform.”
“This is what I do when I’m not sure. I try to figure out what kind of party it is, and then just dress a little nicer than what I think I’d be expected to wear. Not a lot, just a little. The way I look at it, I’d rather be a bit more overdressed than underdressed.”
“But don’t you just, I don’t know, do something when you want to find out? Like something, uh …”
“Witchy?” she asked, then laughed. “Charlie, if you think witchcraft helps people avoid embarrassing situations, you’re wrong. Even witches make social blunders.
“But I’m pretty sure that if you wear that shirt with these pants, and a s
weater in case it gets cold, you should be fine. Or just bring along that leather jacket we bought. You’d look nice without standing out too much.”
“Really?” he asked, relieved. “I feel like I stand out all the time. It would be nice to …”
“I think you’ll blend in just fine.”
* * *
After taking a shower, Charlie changed into his clothes and checked himself out in the full-length mirror. He decided he looked all right, or at least what he was wearing looked all right. His hair seemed to stick out everywhere. He wondered if he could learn a spell to get rid of his stupid curls. He sat down on the edge of his bed. The clock on the nightstand read ten after seven. Diego was over twenty minutes late. Maybe he had decided not to come? That would be a relief, he thought. But if so, then why did he feel more than a little disappointed?
He walked over to the window and looked out past the front yard to the street beyond it. He had been checking the last several nights to see if those two cats were still around, looking up at him in that weird cat way. But there was no sign of them.
It seemed like it was getting darker earlier and earlier, even in just the short amount of time that he had been in Seattle. Autumn seemed to come faster here than it did back home.
You are home, a voice said inside his head. The voice sounded remarkably like his own.
He heard the sound of a car and watched as a shiny silver BMW pulled up in front of the house. Diego got out and looked at the front door. Charlie stepped away from the window so he wouldn’t be caught waiting for the boy to show up even though that’s exactly what he had been doing.
The doorbell rang and he heard Randall greet Diego.
Charlie took a deep breath, then opened his bedroom door and walked downstairs.
* * *
“Sorry I’m late. I begged my mom to let me take her car tonight instead of my beater Honda. At first she wouldn’t let me, but finally agreed on one condition—that I only drive five miles an hour,” Diego laughed as his hands slid over the steering wheel. “Your aunt and uncle seem really cool. Way more laid back than my mom. I mean, she’s good to me and all, but she can get a little uptight.”
The Boy Who Couldn't Fly Straight: A Gay Teen Coming of Age Paranormal Adventure about Witches, Murder, and Gay Teen Love (Book 1, The Broom Closet Stories) Page 18