Eddie: Grime Doesn’t Pay: The Brothers Grime, book 2

by Maxfield, Z. A.

  “I will,” Eddie promised. “We’ll stick with the plan. Recyclables and trash. I’ll ask for guidance if we’re uncertain about anything.”

  “All right.” Reese put his chin in the air, but he and Andrew followed the doctor. “I’ll be with Pam then.”

  * * *

  Once Andrew and Pam had Reese calm and talking things over, Andrew sought out Eddie. He expected to find Eddie right where he’d left him, in the stacks of containers under the orange tree. When Andrew discovered Eddie wasn’t there, he went looking for him out front.

  “Where’s Eddie?” he asked Gabe, without realizing the man was on the phone.

  Gabe held his hand up to stop Andrew from saying any more. “No, we only need to know how late you’ll accept donations today… Six? Okay, thank you.” Gabe disconnected the call and turned to him. “What’s up?”

  “Have you see Eddie?”

  “Yeah. He just took off with the first load of recyclables. He’ll be back in about a half hour, why?”

  “Did he seem odd to you?”

  “Odd compared to what?” Gabe teased. “Eddie’s a big, strange man.”

  “He never told me he was dyslexic, and then he just—”

  Gabe stopped smiling. “Yeah. Well. He goes to great pains to hide that.”

  Andrew didn’t understand. It wasn’t as if Eddie’s dyslexia was his fault. “But why?”’

  “I don’t know. He had to have assistance in school. He was pulled from class for remedial reading, and they had to bring in people to read tests aloud for him. He hated that shit.”

  “But—”

  “It didn’t escape your notice Eddie likes to look good, right?”

  “I know that.” Andrew digested that fact. “But how could he think something like that would matter to me?”

  “I don’t know. Maybe because you’re a teacher? Maybe because your family owned a bookstore? Maybe because I can see a metric fuck ton of books from where I’m standing, and I haven’t even looked inside the house yet?”

  Andrew sagged against the truck. “Maybe because I never let a conversation go by without referencing some book or other. Shit.”

  “You know how people trip and then look around to see who noticed them do it? How they get all embarrassed and run away?”

  “Yes.”

  “Well, Eddie does that more than most. He’s one cat who likes to land on all fours every time. He hates his dyslexia. He won’t reveal it if he isn’t forced to. It took him ages to pass his written driver’s license test cause he was too fucking stubborn to tell them he couldn’t read it. Now he has this cool pen that reads for him, and his phone has text-to-speech so he can listen to text messages and surf the Web through his earbuds.”

  “Ah. Yeah. He does that?”

  “He does.”

  Andrew thought back. “He doesn’t even open a menu.”

  “He doesn’t use the pen in public.” Gabe shook his head. “I’ve known Eddie since middle school. I don’t know what it was like for him in elementary, but from what I could tell, he got the short end of the stick a lot. Kids made fun of him, called him stupid. That kind of stuck even after he was diagnosed. They called him ‘short bus’ for years. Even in high school.”

  “Oh God.” Just the thought made Andrew sick. He knew some kids at Taft got bullied like that regularly. Even though there was a zero-tolerance policy in place, there were only so many instances he and his colleagues could catch.

  “Eddie responded by being absolutely fearless. He came out in middle school while the rest of us were just watching our dicks get hard like it was a miracle.”

  “I would have died first.” Andrew shuddered. Middle school was feeding time at the zoo.

  “Eddie had a couple things going for him. He was the best dancer on the hip-hop team, and he’s been bigger than most of his detractors since the eighth grade. And then there are his brothers, Ben and Joey.”

  “What about them?”

  “They let it be known that anyone who fucks with Eddie fucks with them. You may have noticed the family trend toward big men.”

  Andrew nearly choked on his embarrassed laughter. “I might have.”

  “Look at you, losing your shit over your man. That’s so cute.”

  “Shut the fuck up.”

  “Look,” Gabe said kindly. “That had to be hard for him just now, to admit his disability in front of all those people, but I know him. He saw your dad struggling and gave up his deepest, darkest secret to let him know he’s not alone. That’s Eddie. That’s who he is in a nutshell. I love him. Don’t get upset just ’cause he didn’t tell you the truth up front.”

  “I would never. I was looking for him to thank him. I want to tell him how much I appreciate what he did, but he’s run off.”

  “Yeah. Maybe,” admitted Gabe. “You matter to him, so maybe he lost it.”

  “He matters to me.” Andrew’s heart tightened around the words. “So much.”

  “That’s kind of nice though.”

  “If I don’t fuck it up.”

  “You won’t. Your heart’s in the right place.” Gabe glanced over to the donations pile. “We should be hauling trash next, so tell everyone to find as much as they can and put it on the driveway. Donations should be last because they close later than the city’s garbage collection center.”

  “All right, I’ll let my dad and Pam know. In the meantime, I have something I need to look for.”

  “All right.” Gabe started to walk away.

  “Hey,” Andrew called, and Gabe turned back. “Thank you.”

  Gabe gave him a jaunty salute and said, “Thank me with beer and pizza later, and we’re good.”

  Andrew sighed. His chest actually ached. Now he had a half hour to think and worry, and he didn’t doubt Eddie was doing the same.

  “What a dickwad,” Andrew muttered as he headed into the pathway they’d started in the garage. “Just run off, why don’t you?”

  “’Scuse me?” Skippy materialized from the shadows on the side of the garage.

  “Eddie ran off. I was hoping to have a word with him, and he just took off without telling me.”

  “Yeah.” Skippy dusted his dirty, gloved hands off. “I thought he was going to wait for his brothers to get here.”

  “So did I. I think maybe he was avoiding me.”

  “On account of that reading thing?”

  “I guess he said that to make me feel better.”

  Skippy seemed to give that some thought. “I’ve got a fake ball.”

  Andrew couldn’t keep his gaze from traveling to Skippy’s package. “You do?”

  “Yeah. I um…I kind of had a scrotal mishap. It took a while for me to get unstuck and head for the hospital. Do you suppose Eddie would feel better if I told him about that?”

  “Gee.” Andrew blinked, trying to unsee the image that came to his mind at that. “I don’t know.”

  “Everybody’s got something. He knows that. He probably just needs to take a breather. Maybe he’s afraid you’re going to tell him how sorry you feel for him and shit, and he doesn’t want to hear it.”

  “But I don’t feel sorry for him.”

  “Why’s that?”

  “Because he obviously doesn’t need to read in order find out everything he needs to know. He’s successful. He’s…amazing.”

  “Aw. That’s nice you think that.” Skippy grinned. “He’s my friend.”

  “Look, do you think you can help me? I want to get my hands on something my dad has stored in the living room, but there’s a ton of crap in the way. Do you think you could help me get to it? Hold my feet or something, and then pull me out when I’ve got hold of it?”

  “Sure. I guess. You’re the boss today, Boss.”

  “All right. Thanks. Come with me.”

  They made their way through the front door with some difficulty. Andrew found the path he and Reese had made earlier that week. Skippy said nothing while Andrew hunted through piles of old electroni
cs, camera equipment, and boxes of CDs.

  Despite working on the room for several days, he and Reese had made little headway. Andrew only had a basic idea where things were located. He finally found his father’s old stereo system behind a mountain of boxes of vinyl records and handed it out piece by piece to Skippy. Together they carried it outside to set up on the patio along with a box of records.

  The speakers, which weren’t very big, appeared to be in good condition. Andrew switched on the different components, and the turntable began to spin.

  “It works,” Andrew said, finding an old plastic insert to use with a vinyl single to try it out. “Let’s see if it’s still any good.”

  He set the needle carefully, and the Shirelles’ song, “Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow” filled the air.

  “I love that song.” Pam clapped happily.

  “Good music, maestro.” Gabe thumped Andrew sharply on his back.

  “Got it. Now all I need is—” Andrew turned and saw Eddie come around the corner of the garage and into the yard. Andrew hesitated before offering his hand. “All I need is someone to dance with me.”

  Eddie eyed him warily. “What is this?”

  “What does it look like?” Andrew teased. “It’s a break. We’ve earned it.”

  Eddie shook his head and backed away, turning to leave by the side yard. Andrew hurried to catch up before Eddie could disappear around the corner.

  “Wait.” Andrew stopped him at the gate. “Why are you running away?”

  “I don’t need a pity party.”

  “What are you talking about?”

  “I don’t know,” Eddie admitted. “Why the music?”

  “I just thought we could take a break. Maybe you show me some more dance steps.”

  “Is this supposed to make me feel better?”

  “Maybe.”

  Eddie glared at him. “Because someone—probably Gabe—told you I compensate by dancing, right?”

  “Nobody said that.”

  “It’s true though.” Eddie leaned against the garage wall. “I used to show off my dance moves as a ‘fuck you’ to all the kids who called me names. I may not be right in the head, but I can dance like Michael Jackson.”

  “So take this opportunity to get me on the dance floor. Back in the day, Michael’s moves got me really hot.”

  “Yeah?”

  “Yeah. So come on,” Andrew urged. “Show me.”

  “All right. But just so you know…” Eddie took his hand. “I’m thirty-three years old, and I don’t have to compensate for anything.”

  Andrew smiled at that. “I’m damn glad to hear it.”

  Eddie led Andrew back around the corner just in time for Dave to restart the song.

  “Tonight you’re mine, completely…”

  Eddie held his hand out, and Andrew tried not to feel nervous as he stepped into Eddie’s arms.

  “It’s just like the other night, Andrew. I move, and you just go with me.”

  “All right.” Andrew started off on the wrong foot. “Oh, fuck.”

  “No worries. Don’t look at your feet. My eyes are up here. You just look into my eyes. I’ve got you. I won’t let you stumble.”

  “I…uh…” Andrew lifted his gaze. “Hope that’s true.”

  “I lean; you lean. I step; you step. Easy peasy. Feel where my body’s going?”

  “Yeah.” Oh God. “Yeah…”

  “That’s it.” Eddie pulled Andrew’s arm one way and his body went the other, out, twirl, back in. “You’ve got this.”

  “If you say so.” Andrew trembled with anxiety. He knew every eye was on him. He was getting it. He could do this.

  “Look at you.” Eddie murmured his approval. “You’re doing it. Just relax.”

  It was hard to keep from being distracted by Eddie’s nearness. His scent. It was more difficult still to keep from getting hard when their bodies brushed together.

  Eddie’s lips twitched as if he knew what Andrew was thinking just then.

  “It’s sexy, right? I’m going to make a dancer out of you yet.”

  “You probably will at that,” Andrew whispered. “If you’re going to hold me like this while we dance.”

  The song ended, and Eddie dipped him as a final flourish. Gabe and Skippy started clapping, and Pam and Reese joined in, shouting and cheering.

  His father called out, “Hey, it’s lunch and a floor show. Give us another one.”

  Someone found another record, and soon Frank Sinatra was crooning about black magic. Eddie led Andrew into the steps of a different kind of dance, and he was sure enough on his feet to allow a turn or two, a brief separation, and then Eddie reeled him in. He lost his shyness, his usual awkward physical ineptitude—the expectation that he was going to be clumsy—and simply enjoyed the sweet press of Eddie’s body against his. He loved the faith Eddie had in him.

  In an ironic twist, he loved the loss of control dancing with Eddie brought nearly as much as he loved having control in bed.

  Andrew didn’t look at his dad too closely. He’d never brought a date home, much less a man who danced with him like a lover.

  Eddie looked reluctant to let him go. “You’re getting it.”

  “I’m getting something,” Andrew teased.

  “I’m getting that too.” Eddie let him go with a breathless laugh. “Sometime we have to go dancing.”

  “Sure.” Andrew pulled him down to whisper in his ear, “In your living room, so I can drag you into the bedroom anytime I feel this hot for you.”

  “Don’t think you’re going to start leading once you learn to dance.”

  Andrew raised an eyebrow. “Don’t think you’re going to lead anywhere but on the dance floor.”

  “Fair enough.” Eddie colored faintly. “That’s absolutely fine by me.”

  “Okay, show’s over, you two,” Gabe called out. “Everyone back to work. We need that hauler filled so we can get that trash off the driveway today.”

  Chapter 20

  “Oh my God.” They’d only pulled two bags of garbage from the garage when Andrew exploded. “Fuck. Me.”

  “What?” Eddie rounded the corner, alarmed. “Are you hurt?”

  “Ingmar Bergman.” Andrew gave Eddie’s chest a sharp poke. “We sat through an entire movie with subtitles on our first date, and you never said a fucking word.”

  “As I recall, I tried, but you and your friends didn’t make it easy. After the movie, your dad called. I’ve been looking for a way to wedge dyslexia into a conversation organically since, and—”

  “Worst. First. Date. Ever. I’m so sorry. I talked about books nonstop. Christ. We’re like ‘The Gift of the Magi.’”

  “Which, I suppose, is a book. Right?” Eddie asked.

  “Short story,” Andrew supplied. “Guy and girl want to give each other presents, but they’re poor, so he sells his watch to buy her a comb for her pretty long hair, and she sells her hair to buy him a watch chain. The end.”

  “That’s awful.” Eddie grabbed another lawn-and-leaf bag from the box. “How is that like us again?”

  “I brought up books to get your attention, and you kept running away because I brought up books.”

  “And I was trying to get your attention every other way I knew how, but the book thing intimidated me.”

  “It’s like Rapunzel. You wanted up into the tower, and instead of letting down my hair, I kept lobbing you hair clippings.”

  Eddie lifted his eyebrow. “Again with the books?”

  “That’s a fairy tale.”

  “From a book.”

  “And a movie.”

  “Which I have never seen.”

  “Liar.”

  “What?” Eddie looked genuinely perplexed. “I haven’t.”

  “You have a niece in my first-grade class. Ergo, I know you’ve seen Tangled.”

  “Ah, yeah. The hair movie? Busted.” Eddie grinned. “I have seen that one. That’s freaky deaky with the witch and the kung-fu hair shi
t.”

  “Yeah.” Andrew glanced sideways at him as he picked up a particularly dusty bundle of ancient Pennysaver circulars. “Why the hell does he save these?”

  “I have no clue.” Eddie reached out to push Andrew’s mask in place more securely. “Keep the dust out, papi. Have you never seen a dust mite?”

  “Huh?”

  “Never mind. You don’t want to.”

  “There he is,” someone said from outside. “Cha-Cha. Cavalry’s here.”

  Eddie peered through a gap between boxes and gave a happy shout. “Joey!”

  Joe turned his head. “Where are you at?”

  “I’ll be right out.” Eddie took Andrew’s hand, and together they passed through the side yard and out the gate to the driveway, where Eddie’s brothers stood side by side, holding coolers.

  Back when Lucy had introduced her extended family, Andrew’s first impression had been, Oh my God. Giants. Since then, he’d gotten used to the fact that the Vasquez men had size on their side. Like Eddie, they all had super-easy charm too. They jostled and teased like a pack of wolves, white teeth flashing in handsome faces. Together like that, they made Andrew shiver in the very best possible way.

  “I heard someone needed muscle, so I brought Joe,” Ben said.

  “I heard Ben was bringing beer for later, so I came along.” Joe cracked the knuckles on his enormous hands. “Whatchu need moved?”

  “Right now we’re moving trash and recyclables.” Eddie pointed to the garage and outlined where the staging areas were. Neither man seemed daunted when they saw the enormity of the task.

  “My dad’s…he’s—he—” Andrew gave up trying to explain. “It’s really nice of you guys to help out.”

  “S’al’right, professor. Anytime.” Joe glanced at Eddie. “There will be food, right?”

  It’s going to be that easy?

  No judgments. No revulsion.

  Just a bunch of willing hands?

  “Yeah. There will be food.” Andrew nodded.

  “Great.” Ben grinned. “Let the games begin.”

  * * *

  By midafternoon the sun was hot and shade scarce. Reese managed to find some cases of water.