Broken Rules

by Jade Buchanan

  "Anyway, they let me in."

  "What kind of club was it?" he asked gently.

  David blushed beneath his bruises, ducking his head. "Uh… it caters to people in a certain lifestyle."

  "Was it a gay club?" There was nothing to be embarrassed about.

  "Not quite. I mean, there might have been gay men there, but it was more… more, you know?"

  Ah, he was starting to get the picture. "David, sexual tastes are nothing to be embarrassed or ashamed about. We are all attracted to different things; it's what makes us unique and wonderful."

  "Yeah, well, tell that to the guy who beat the crap out of me."

  "It was one man? Do you know who he was? Are you going to try and press charges?"

  "I can't!" David stood up, pacing across the room. "Don't you get it? I practically asked for it, then when it got a little too rough I panicked. When I tried to tell him no, he just… went a little crazy. Some other guy pulled him off and I hightailed it out of there." David sank back onto the couch. "I can't tell anyone. Mom will kill me, especially since I lied about where I was. I couldn't go home. What was I supposed to do? I just… I had Neil's card saved on my laptop from where he used it when he was back home. I knew he'd spent the weekend here. Mom kept going on about how you two were spending time together and it was a good thing. Anyway, I bought a plane ticket from North Bay. I didn't know where else to go. Please don't make me go home."  

  Neil inhaled deeply, opening up his truck door and sliding out. Another day, another dollar.

  "Neil! Man, I haven't seen you in weeks. What's up?"

  Neil reached in for his Timmies coffee before turning to greet his coworker Charlie. The other man was tall and thin with a shock of black hair and chiseled cheeks you could nearly cut yourself on. Charlie was Algonquin, born and bred in the Temiskaming First Nation close to where Neil grew up, so they got along pretty well. A few years separated them in age, but Charlie had played hockey against Tom back in the day so it was great to work with him. The Northern boys had to stick together when they were surrounded by Southern Ontarians, after all.

  "Hey bud. Long time no see. How was the holiday?" Charlie and his wife had spent the last three weeks in Europe bouncing around a number of countries on some big tour.

  Charlie jogged toward him, slapping him on the back as they started to walk toward the police station. "Great. Fantastic. The wife wants to go back already."

  "You want to go back, too?"

  "I'd rather see something new. I'm crossing countries off on my list of places I'd like to be."

  "Makes sense." Heck, his parents had pretty much said the same thing when they fnally came back from their big anniversary holiday in Holland. His mom was still talking the ear off anyone who she could catch.

  "So, you never told me you broke up with the harpy."

  Neil sighed. He really didn't want to get into that again. It was over and done with as far as he was concerned, but he'd cut the guy some slack considering this was the frst time in awhile that their schedules had coincided between days off and both of

  them taking vacation.

  Working a week on and a week off meant he only got to see everyone on their regular Tuesdays when the Unit Commander worked out their schedules and everyone had to come in.

  "You can say that," Neil muttered. "Nearly two months ago, now."

  Charlie stepped in front of him, crossing his arms in front of his chest. "Come on, bud. Fill me in. What happened? Did you dump her?"

  "How'd you know we broke up?" As soon as the words left his mouth he realized how stupid they were. Cops gossiped worse than little old ladies.

  "Randy mentioned it."

  Jesus. Neil paused, checking to see who else was in here this morning. He didn't want anyone overhearing this. "Seriously, what's up with him?"

  Charlie grinned. "He's had the hots for her forever, didn't you know? Do you care?"

  "Hell, no. He can have her."

  "So, why'd you break up? You cheat on her? She cheat on you?"

  Neil paused, considering the question. "It was nothing like that. I just got tired of the bullshit."

  Charlie nodded. "I hear ya." He reached the station frst, opening the door and stepping inside.

  Neil followed, taking a quick look around the station to see who else was here already. He liked to get in early on Tuesdays because there was so much they had to cover. He was hoping it'd be quiet today, though. And man, he shouldn't have even thought that. With their luck they'd get a dozen calls in the space of a half hour.

  "Anybody new since the harpy?" Charlie asked as they reached the break room. He quickly poured himself a cup from the pot

  already on.

  Neil grimaced, taking another bracing sip of his coffee gold. He couldn't stand the crap they brewed here. He wasn't about to give up his Timmies in the mornings to drink that sludge. At least not frst off. He'd be able to stomach it once he woke up a bit more.

  "Come on. I know you too well. Do you have someone else? Spill." Charlie sat down, scraping his chair along the foor.

  "Nothing to talk about. Just got back in touch with a friend from years ago. We kind of hit it off."

  "Serious?"

  "He lives in Calgary."

  "Ah." Charlie frowned. "Do I know him?"

  Neil had known Charlie would understand. He didn't plan on talking to the other guy about his romance, but Charlie was a good guy.

  "Maybe. Jonah Chevalier. He's my age. His older cousin is Rita-Anne, she's married to Henry Bradford."

  "Yeah, I know Henry. Played against the bastard all through high school. He damned near broke my leg in a football game. How's he doing?"

  "Good. I saw them when I went up North."

  Charlie nodded. He leaned back in his chair, balancing it neatly. Nearly black eyes caught and held Neil's gaze. "You didn't really answer my question. Do you want it to be serious?"

  "Yeah." He did. He wasn't sure what to do about it, but he wanted things to be more serious.

  "Calgary PD doesn't have a dive team."

  Neil tilted his cup up and got the last dregs out before tossing it toward the garbage can in the corner. "Nope. That would be the domain of the fre department."

  "Well, shit."

  "Yep." Not that Jonah had said anything about Neil coming to Calgary for good. He'd just thought about it a few times in the month after the funeral before he'd gone to visit on the weekend. They'd talked on the phone every week, bitched about the jobs, firted non-stop. It was as if the years that had separated them had melted away. He'd had more fun talking to Jonah on the phone than he had in any relationship over the past ten years. It was why he hadn't hesitated to go out there for a visit. Of course, that hadn't quite ended the way he wanted it to.

  They were back on track, though. At least, he thought they might be. Things had been a little off during their phone calls since he'd gotten back. Not that he'd been back all that long anyway. Just a week, really. Okay, eight days. But who was counting? He was already trying to fgure out when he'd be able to go back to Calgary.

  Neil felt a buzz at his hip. Pulling out his phone, he smiled widely. "Speak of the devil. I'll go outside to take this." Thank God for looking out for the simple folk. Apparently he just had to think about Jonah and his prayers were answered.

  Charlie started to laugh. "Just don't be doing any sexy talk. You're still at work, buddy."

  Giving Charlie the bird, Neil answered the phone. "Hey, Jonah. What're you wearing?" He didn't want to think about how goofy his grin probably was, but he couldn't care less. Jonah had called!

  "Neil, we need to talk."

  Uh oh. That wasn't a good voice to hear. Jonah was obviously upset about something. He started to trace his steps back through the station. Finally pushing open the door outside, he stepped out of the way to let in John and Jeff.

  "Meeting in ten, Neil." John called out.

  Neil waved him off. "What's up, Jonah?"

  Silence gree
ted him. Neil pulled back his hand, checking to make sure he still had Jonah on the phone. "J? What's going on? You still there?"

  "Yeah, I just…"

  "Okay, you're starting to freak me out."

  "David's here."

  "David who?"

  "Your brother."

  Neil snorted. Nice one. "Come on, Jonah. I'm not getting the joke here."

  "No joke."

  Seriously? What the fuck was the pest doing in Calgary? "Mom didn't say anything about him going. Hell, they don't tell me anything I swear. Do you know how annoying it is to be in a family and be the last one to hear—"

  "Neil, no one knows he's here."

  "What's going on? Hold on a minute. What the fuck?"

  "He asked me not to tell you—"

  "Don't fuck with me, Jonah. That's my baby bro."

  "I know, calm down. I can't not tell you." Jonah exhaled noisily. "I don't know the whole story, but David's in pretty bad shape. He's got bruises all over the place and he's moving like he's hurt."

  Neil staggered, putting out a hand to rest against the side of the building.

  "Neil? You still there?"

  "Yeah." He couldn't say anything more. He rubbed his chest, an ache building inside.

  "Look, I've got him laying down. I'll get to the bottom of this but I didn't want to push him. He's looking a little fragile. Plus, I really think he needs to tell you what happened himself."

  Neil didn't even hesitate. "I'll be there tomorrow."

  "Okay. Look, are you okay?"

  Neil breathed out a laugh. Jonah was probably thinking he was either taking this really well or he was about to freak out like nothing else. He wasn't sure which one he was, either. "Yeah."

  "Do you want to call me when you fgure out your fights? Can you take the time off ?"

  "Family emergency." He didn't care that he'd just taken one last month. Hell, he'd quit before he got into trouble for this. This was about David. Christ, David. What the hell happened?

  "Do you want me to call your mom?"

  Shaking his head, Neil closed his eyes. "Did David tell them anything?"

  "He says he left them a note that he was going camping with a few of the guys."

  The little bugger. "Let me talk to him tomorrow and I'll fgure out whether the parental unit needs to know now or later. They're going to be pretty pissed about the note in the frst place, but right now I don't want to freak mom out."

  "Okay. Man, I wasn't looking forward to talking to your folks."

  "I'll take responsibility for anything. How bad is he?"

  "I don't know. I still need to check him out, but it couldn't have been too bad for him to get on a plane. I just… I had to talk to you right away."

  Despite the ache flling his chest, Neil managed to chuckle for real this time. "You hiding in the bathroom with the water running?"

  "No, I'm doing laundry in the basement."

  Neil smiled. "Thank you."

  "You're welcome."

  "He's okay? You're being straight with me?"

  "He is right now. I'll take care of him."

  "I know you will. I'm glad it's you."

  Jonah cleared his throat, sounding suspiciously choked up.

  "You getting emotional on me, Jonah?" For some reason the thought of Jonah taking this so strongly actually helped to calm Neil down.

  "'Course not."

  "So… you never did tell me what you're wearing."

  Jonah started to laugh loudly. The tension fnally drained completely out of Neil. Things were going to be okay. Jonah was there for him. He'd be able to make it until tomorrow now.

  chAPteR eighteen

  "I'm going to Hell, aren't I?"

  Jonah glanced up from the newspaper he was reading. "What?"

  "I'm going to hell for having sex, aren't I?" David fdgeted in the seat across the table from Jonah. His breakfast had barely been touched. Although, it wasn't like Jonah did more than put out the cereal. He wasn't the world's greatest cook so there was no need to pretend just because he had a houseguest.

  "Okay, back up. What? Why?"

  "I'm Catholic."

  Lovely. It was way too early to have this discussion. Although, Jonah might just be the best person to have this particular talk.

  "You're not going to Hell."

  "It's not okay for me to have sex."

  "That's bullshit."

  "No, that's what it says! It's okay to be gay as long as you don't have sex. Christ, I can't tell my mom. What's my mom going to do? What's wrong with me?"

  "You listen to me David Brogan. There is absolutely nothing wrong with you. No, you look me in the eyes right now. You have done nothing wrong. Do you really think God stops loving you because you have sex? Being gay doesn't automatically make you evil or sinful."

  "Bu—"

  He wasn't going to let David continue on like this. Pointing his fnger and staring the boy in the eyes, he hoped he got his view across. "No, listen for a minute. You made a mistake. You trusted the wrong person. You're human. You're also eighteen. It's okay. You're probably going to keep making mistakes. It's all part of life."

  "Yeah, but it isn't okay." David had a mulish look on his face. He crossed his arms and leaned back in the chair.

  "David, there's nothing wrong with you and there is nothing wrong with being gay."

  "Yeah? Then, why don't you go to church? If you really believed there's nothing wrong with being gay, then why aren't you a Knight like your Dad? Like my Dad?"

  Geez, Jonah remembered being eighteen and he also remembered feeling the same way David was right now. He wasn't sure this was going to help, since he was pretty sure there hadn't been anything anyone could have said to him back then to make him think he was loved and normal. Of course, David also hadn't been kicked out of his house. Shit. Yet. Until he talked to his parents Jonah wouldn't know how they'd treat their youngest son.

  Getting back on topic, Jonah shook his head. "That has nothing to do with it. There're other reasons why I'm not in the Knights of Columbus."

  "You're just like Neil. He stopped going to church around the same time that he brought his frst boyfriend to meet the family, so don't tell me you're okay with being gay and being Catholic. I know you aren't. Don't lie to me."

  "Wait, you know Neil isn't…" He didn't know why that surprised him but he fgured they must all think he was straight since he had a girlfriend not too long ago.

  "Isn't straight? Yeah. I mean I know he's bisexual. He probably always has been but he came out to the family during university. Wasn't fun, let me tell you, but my parents love him and so do the other jerks."

  Jonah shook his head, confused. "David, I don't understand. If your parents and brothers are accepting of Neil, then why'd you run away?"

  "They'd be okay with the whole gay thing, but they would not be okay with the rough sex stuff. Or the sex at all stuff. Trust me, Neil would probably kick the guy's ass for touching me and the rest would be trying to take me to the doctor to be looked at because I like being abused."

  "BDSM is not about abuse. I have friends in the scene, if you want—"

  "I don't want to talk about it."

  Jonah nodded slowly. "Okay. We don't have to talk about it now."

  "Ever."

  "David—"

  "I mean it! Or I'll walk out that door and just keep on going."

  "Where would you go?"

  David slumped. "I don't know."

  Jonah tried to search for something to say. "You're wrong about one thing."

  "Yeah?"

  "I didn't leave the church. I still go every week. Here, I mean. I didn't want to back home because of a whole lot of other reasons, but I go. Just because I'm gay doesn't mean I can't be Catholic. It isn't a choice to be gay, but religion is a choice for me. I live my life the way I want to. And I refuse to answer to anyone or make excuses for my beliefs. Don't let anyone else tell you different. Got that? If you want to practice your faith, then do it. Just… try to ign
ore some of the bullshit that comes from up top occasionally. Humans aren't God. We're not perfect, so I try not to let it bother me whenever you hear offcials talk about the evils of homosexuality."

  Jonah only wished he believed that himself all the time. He wasn't perfect, and he felt like a tiny hypocrite, but life was complicated and there wasn't an easy answer in this situation. He didn't know what words he should say to ease David's mind.

  David looked down at the table and scuffed his feet along the foor.