Brody

by Kathi S. Barton

  “I have this job that takes me all over the world a great deal. I collect things—seeds, seedlings, and other species—that are having issues. Such as, they might be going extinct. I’m also being trained on animals that are having the same thing happen to them.” Aaron stopped circling the couch to look at Jake. “I have no idea why I just told you that. I’m to keep it a secret so that I’m not killed or taken captive by one of the groups that think we’re messing with nature. Perhaps we are, but there isn’t any reason to think that we can’t help some things along when they need it.”

  “I would never betray a confidence, Aaron. But do you think that Brody will be one of those people?” Aaron told him no, he didn’t for some reason. “I don’t either. I do think, however, that he’d be helpful in your job. Him being a doctor would lend you information that you might otherwise not have.”

  “I’ve thought of that too when my head wasn’t ready to pop off.” They both laughed and Aaron felt better for it. “I’m sounding like someone that is a homophobic. I’m not. I don’t want you to think that of me.”

  “I don’t. You’re confused.” He said he was very confused. “Believe me when I tell you that it gets better. And Forrest helped me to understand the same things that you’re thinking. I was a married man with a home and money. The feelings that came to me when I met Forrest were as alien to me as yours for Brody. Lucky for me, I guess, Forrest was comfortable with his life. And after a while, about ten minutes of being with him, I was as well. It’s actually liberating to know that it wasn’t all me when it came to satisfying women when it came to sex. Believe me, I tried to with my wife. But after a while, I simply didn’t care if either of us were happy. Which, we were not.”

  “I haven’t any idea where to go from here. Honestly, I feel something when I’m with Brody. Comfort, for one thing. I’m safe is another. And when I’m sitting with him, I feel as if everything that I’m thinking about doing at the time is meaningless with him by my side.” He looked at Jake. “I sound like I’m waxing poetic, don’t I? Or trying to justify this for some reason. No, not justify. I mean, I’m trying to come to terms with this. Yes, that’s it. Coming to...holy shit, Jake. I really want to be with Brody. Do you think he’ll want to be with me too?”

  “I would, yes.” Aaron turned to look toward the doorway, and saw not only Brody there, but also Forrest. When he and Jake left, Brody came to sit with him. It was just like he’d said—he was safe. His mind ordered itself and he was happy. “We should get to know each other. I mean, other than through sex, which I will admit, is all I’ve thought about for the last couple of hours.”

  “Me too.” Aaron relaxed by degrees. He felt like he could talk now. Perhaps not about sex—as Brody had said, they shouldn’t right now—but other things in his life. “I’d very much like to get to know you a bit better. And your family. I already love your son to pieces. And I know that Emmi and he have a special bond too.”

  “If you call her getting tackled at the airport with him a bond, then yes, I’d say they do.” He and Brody laughed. “I’m in the process of getting a divorce. You might have heard that. I came here with the intention of starting new and opening a clinic or offices here. But since being here, I’ve been asked to work at the hospital, as well as being the police physician. That, I have to tell you, has been my dream my entire life.”

  “Then go for it.” Brody shook his head. “Why not? I mean, when an opportunity falls in your lap that you’d like to do, then do it. If it turns out that it wasn’t the job you’d thought it would be, change again. It’s how I ended up working for the government on the wildlife preservation committee.”

  “I know what that is. That’s an amazing job. To preserve species and to help them along when they’re close to extinction—how fulfilling will that be someday when you’re looking at a species that might have been gone without your help? I love that. And thank you.” His excitement was perfect, and just what Aaron needed. “I bet you have to travel a bit.”

  Brody got up and moved to the door, and Aaron thought for sure that he was just going to leave him there. His heart felt like he’d taken a hard blow to it. His mind went back to feeling inadequate. He didn’t know where that feeling came from, but—

  “Aren’t you hungry?” Aaron nodded at Brody’s question. “Well, come on. Howie just yelled for us to come. You must not have heard him. I know he’s a bit unorthodox, but he’s my friend as well as—”

  Aaron stopped Brody from babbling with his mouth. The kiss was a little hard and awkward, but he just wanted to touch him in a different way, one that made him feel like he was his. Aaron stepped back and looked at Brody when the kiss ended.

  “I think we can do better than that, don’t you?” Aaron felt like a small boy getting a big treat for doing something. Again, the thought came out of left field, but when Brody pulled him in for a kiss, again it was awkward, but they figured it out and kissed like they needed.

  It wasn’t like kissing a woman, Aaron thought. It was more. It was better. This time when they pulled apart they were both breathing hard, and this time he did hear Howie yell for them from the kitchen.

  “That was...that was amazing.” He laughed. Aaron was so relieved that he didn’t know he’d been holding his breath all that time. “I would still like to get to know you, but taking this one step at a time, I think we can make it work out better for the both of us. Plus, I need to talk to my son.”

  They went into the kitchen separately. They both knew that Jordan was in there. So was the rest of the household. Aaron understood the reason for this, and he was all right with it. He and Brody were a couple, and that was perfect.

  “I’ve been thinking about you two.” Aaron felt his face heat up as Jake spoke, looking down at Jordan. Jake nodded as he continued. “With the divorce proceeding the way it is, I think that as you two get to know each other and your working schedules, your personal life should be on the downlow. At least until this thing is over. And you’ll be happy to know that the books that your father told you about, Brody, are just what we needed to end this reasonably.”

  “Do you believe that it’ll work that way?” Forrest told Brody that he didn’t, but it would end with him getting Jordan. Jordan was never one to miss an opportunity to whoop it up, Aaron had come to realize, and he did so at top decimals. “I take it you two have come to terms?”

  “I think so. We’re going slowly.”

  Paddy burst in the back door, as loud if not louder than Jordan had been. “It’s there. Look. My book has been out for four hours, and it’s already on the bestseller list. I mean, it’s ninety-four, but it’s on the fucking list.” Paddy looked at Jordan and said he was sorry.

  “Don’t worry about it, Uncle Paddy, I’ve heard it all before. My mom is a slut too.” Jordan left them then, and Brody looked at his mom. Aaron didn’t know if he was struggling with his anger or laughter. It could have been either.

  “I might have said that out loud.” Williemae flushed brightly. “All right, I said it a few times. That woman is going to be the death of us all, I tell you. But I will try and refrain from saying it so much in front of Jordan. I’ll try, Brody.”

  “I guess that’s all I can ask for.” Big subs were set in front of both of them. The others were already eating. “If you keep cooking like this, Howie, I might have to have a gym membership again.”

  “You’ll burn it off.” It just slipped out, and even Aaron was shocked at what he’d said. “I’m so sorry.” But when they laughed, all of them, he shook his head and began to eat.

  Aaron was happy, he realized. And for the first time in his life. Before today, he’d thought himself happy about a few things in his life. But this, with Brody and his family, his sister nearby and hopefully happy too, things couldn’t get any better. Now they just had to finish up a few things and they’d be on their way to more happiness.

  Then his cell rang at almost
the same time as Brody’s. Brody had an emergency at the hospital, and Aaron was being called out on an assignment. They had located an animal that they’d thought was gone. Excited for everything now, he drove himself to the airport and Brody drove to the hospital. Yes, Aaron thought, it was nice to finally feel good about life.

  Chapter 5

  Jordan was having a good time with Emmi. She was so funny sometimes that he forgot that they were shopping. Normally he didn’t care for shopping for anything, but he had outgrown all his clothes and needed some pants for the cooler months. He heard Emmi sigh for the second time.

  “You don’t have to do this. I can wait for my dad.” She looked at him with so much hope in her eyes that he was disappointed. “Really, it’s all right, Emmi, I can find some later.”

  “No. I really want to do this. But I know shit about buying clothing for a five-year-old. I mean, do you want to look cool? Is that something that we should be working on? And once you try them on what do I do?”

  “I’ll show you when I try these on.” He went to the little changing room and started to undress. He heard Emmi talking and realized that she was speaking to him.

  “Hey, Kid, you in there?” She was forever calling him kid. Jordan kind of liked it. He told her he was fine. “I have this shirt here that I like. I mean, if you don’t, then we can put it back. Will you try it on?”

  “Sure.” He knew that he’d pick it out to take home even if it was ugly. Emmi had found him something that she liked. As soon as she tossed it under the half door, Jordan knew that he was going to love it. “Emmi, this is so soft. And I love the color.”

  Jordan pulled it over his head and looked at himself in the mirror. It was nice, and he thought that the color was just like Emmi’s eyes—so green that it almost hurt to see it move on his body. Coming out of the little room, he asked her how it looked.

  “Christ, Kid. You look like a model or something. Now, show me how your dad figures out if your pants fit.” He laughed when she told him how she figured hers out. “If they don’t pinch me or fall off, I buy them.”

  “I don’t know why, but he jerks them around here.” He showed her on his hips with the pants. “Then he tugs on the legs. I never know if he’s trying to stretch the pants or he just likes to do that. But that’s what he does. And don’t ask me if it works. All I know is that sometimes he lets me get them, other times he tells me they don’t fit.”

  She jerked him around by his pants until he fell to the floor. They were both laughing when he looked over Emmi’s shoulder. His entire body froze up and he didn’t know what to do. Jordan was afraid that he was going to wet his pants. His mom was there.

  “What the hell are you doing with my son?” Emmi whispered in his ear to go into the dressing room and to lock the door. “I asked you a question, bitch. Give him to me now and I won’t make a scene. And if you have any money to buy his things, I’ll take that too. I’ll buy my own son his clothing, thank you very much.”

  Jordan was five and a kid. As much as he wanted to protect Emmi, he knew that his mom would hurt him, and then his new aunt. Hiding under the bench that was in the room with him, he pulled all the clothing towards him and touched the cell phone that Aaron had given him this morning.

  There were a bunch of numbers in it, he’d been told, and on the back someone had printed a list of who each number would dial. Speed dial was what he needed right now. Thinking about who to call, he touched his fingers to the one that was for Henry.

  “Whatcha need, Jordan?” He told him in a whisper what was going on. “I’ll be there in a moment. Just you sit tight. Emmi is much stronger than she looks. Just hold on, buddy. Paddy and I are in the mall now, and will be there soon.”

  Jordan screamed when the door opened. He felt stupid when it was just Emmi and she smiled at him, coming into where he was to sit on the floor. Coming out from under the bench and clothing, he hugged Emmi tightly when she told him his mom was gone.

  “I thought for sure we were both dead. I’m so glad that you didn’t get hurt. Did you kill her? I hope so. I know that’s not nice, but I don’t care about her anymore. I love you and the rest of the family that took us in. And I’ve had so much fun shopping with you, I’d like to do—”

  “Jordan.” He snapped his mouth closed hard enough to hurt his teeth when Emmi said his name. “I didn’t kill her. Though it was tempting. I called the police and they’ll be here soon, so you just wait for them, all right?”

  “Yes.” He hugged her again, telling her that he’d called Henry. “I didn’t know what she would do to you, and I love you too much for you to get hurt.”

  “I love you too, Kid. You’re sort of growing on me. Like a fungus.” She made him laugh and Jordan felt better for it. “Now, this is what we’re going to do before anyone comes. You redress in your clothing and we’ll pay for what you want. All right? I don’t want to even be in this store anymore. Do you?”

  “No. It’s tainted.” She looked at him with a cocked head. “I’m not a dummy just because I’m a kid, you know.”

  “I’m beginning to see that.” Emmi hugged him again and started out the door. Jordan asked her not to go too far. “I won’t, Kid. I’ll be right here. But we are going to get you a couple more of those shirts, in different styles and colors. Those are nice.”

  He ended up getting two pair of pants and four shirts, two of which were the soft ones. As they were paying up, the police arrived and mostly Emmi, who was working off and on as a police officer when they were short, spoke to them. Then Henry and Paddy showed up. Cattie, Cam’s sister, was one of the police officers with them, and she made sure he was unharmed too.

  The police didn’t stick around long. Jordan was glad. He wasn’t stressed out anymore, but now he was starving. When he asked if they could get something to eat, they all said they were hungry too. Jordan felt like the king of the world then. Emmi sat on one side of him, Cattie on the other. Jordan decided that he’d like to marry one of them someday, but he knew he was just a kid. But he’d grow up and they’d like him more, he thought.

  “Hey, Kid. I have a serious question for you.” He looked at Cattie when she called him kid too. He knew that she’d caught him a couple of times watching Paddy and Henry. They held hands a great deal and kissed a lot. Jordan wondered if he was in trouble for staring. Mom would have gone to them and told them off; Jordan had seen her do it. “What do you know about homosexual couples? Anything that’s not mean?”

  “No. My mom, she was really mean to them. Terrible mean, and she’d call them names too.” He looked at Paddy and Henry. “They are, I think. And they sure do love each other. And I think that Jake and Forrest are too. I wish my dad could find someone that loved him like that. He sure would be happy.”

  Jordan wasn’t sure that he meant for his dad to be a homosexual or not. Not that it mattered to him. All he wanted in the world was his mom gone and his dad to be happy. Like these people were.

  Letting the conversation flow around him, he thought of Aaron. He’d had a long conversation with him just before he’d left today. Jordan had never had anyone talk to him like that before. Man to man, Aaron called it, and told him that he’d be back soon.

  “You keep an eye on your dad for me. With your mom around, I don’t want anything to happen to either of you. And sometimes your dad forgets that he doesn’t have to be looking over his shoulder all the time and forgets to have fun. Understand?” Jordan asked if it was because of his mom. “Mostly, yes. But he worries for you too. And your grandma and Howie. I want you to make him have a little fun too. Watch a movie with him. Even toss popcorn at him. Just make him smile and forget that your loony mom is out to get him.”

  He had promised him he would, then Aaron had hugged him. It was a strange feeling, to be hugged so wonderfully by someone that he didn’t know all that well. But he had hugged him back.

  Jordan wondered if Aaron
and dad holding hands meant that his dad was a homosexual too. Thoughts of his dad and Aaron filtered through his head. He wondered if they’d love each other and forget about him. His mom had when she’d found that Ralph guy. And she’d hurt him, smacking him around just to make Ralph laugh with her.

  He was trying on a shirt in another store when Emmi said his name again, softly.

  “What gives, Kid? You thinking that you’ve had enough shopping for one day? If so, then I’m disappointed. I wanted to get this done so we could maybe have some homemade cookies at the store before we went home.”

  “Is my dad gay?” Emmi didn’t look around like she was embarrassed by the question, but asked him why he thought that. “I saw him holding hands with Aaron. And they hugged a lot today. Are they going to forget about me too?”

  He started crying and Emmi held him. No one stared at them. And no one made fun of him for being such a big baby. Jordan just held onto Emmi like she was his rope in the deep end of the pool. She was saving him.

  “All right. You done sobbing all over my new shirt, Kid?” He nodded and looked up at her. She handed him a tissue and he wiped his face. “First of all, would it bother you to know that he is? And that he and Aaron are going to be a couple like the others? Before you answer that, I want you to know that I talked to Aaron earlier, as well as your dad when he had a minute. They said if you were to ask questions, I could answer them for you, but you were to understand that they were both going to talk to you when they were home again. All right?”

  “Heck no, it wouldn’t bother me. Are you nuts? The rest of them are so happy, it makes me happy. And they sure do know how to have fun too. My dad forgot how to do that, I think.” Emmi nodded. “I saw them holding hands at home. I didn’t care. I still don’t, but I don’t want them to forget me.”