Chapter Eleven
When class ended that Friday, he had an idea, and instead of going to practice, which was now all tackling and throwing since no one wanted to run anymore, Adam sent Nate a text that he had something to do and headed home instead. No need to give the Jockstraps another opportunity to beat on him. His mom was making dinner when he arrived.
“You’re not running tonight, Adam?” she asked.
“I don’t know if I want to play football anymore.” His shoulder ached from being jarred by Hank last night and again today with the shove into the lockers. Why was Adam trying to be something he wasn’t? He hated football. Watching it, doing it, and a lot of the guys playing it.
Sure, he wasn’t going to go and join the drama club, but maybe he could focus on something else. He knew the school newspaper was always looking for people to join. He liked to write. Maybe he’d do that and just avoid reporting on sports. Not that he planned to give up running.
“Ru suggested I train for a marathon or something. Raise money for a cause. I saw the bookmark you left me for the Rainbow Dash.”
“That’s a good idea. I bet your dad would run with you.” She was making eggplant lasagna, Adam’s favorite. Instead of noodles, thin-sliced eggplant was layered between the cheese, sauce, and meat. “You’re not going out with Ru tonight?”
“He’s in San Diego until tomorrow night.” Adam tapped his fingers on the table, wondering what she would say. “I was wondering if maybe he could come stay with us. You know, like just for the weekend or something. He doesn’t really have anyone. His mom is off in Europe somewhere, and it sounds like his dad and him don’t get along...”
“Where does he stay when he’s here?”
“Some condo downtown.”
“I’ll talk to your father about it. You know he’ll have to stay in the spare room.”
“Contrary to what you and dad think, I’m not some overly hormonal boy.” He wondered briefly why that was. All the other guys talked about sex all the time. Adam thought about it maybe with Ru, but wasn’t sure he was ready for that yet. “We just kiss and hold hands, is all.”
His cheeks burned from admitting they touched at all. Maybe he was a little slower to mature than some of the other kids, but he couldn’t imagine that having sex would uncomplicate their relationship at all.
He heard about other guys jacking off to pictures and keeping a stash of nude magazines under their bed. Adam hadn’t ever found the need to touch himself that way, and his stash of magazines was on a shelf for all to see. But somehow he figured he got more out ofThe Running Lifethan the other guys did from their porn.
He frowned. “Is there something wrong with me?”
“Why would you think that?”
“‘Cause I’m not like the other guys?”
His mom leaned over and kissed his head. “You are exactly as you are meant to be.”
“That’s pretty cheesy.”
“But still true. I’ll talk about having Ru over with your dad. If you’re going to run at all tonight, you best go now. The forecast is predicting snow.”
The clouds did look heavy and gray. Adam went up to his room to change, put on a better pair of running shoes and the waterproof pants, and headed out to the trail that passed behind his suburban home.
Most of the trail was pretty empty this late in the year, bikers and skaters frightened away by the damp cold. Adam just got lost in the rhythm of his feet. His phone buzzed sometime later, and for a moment he thought it was Ru, but it was just his mom telling him dinner was almost ready. Adam had been moving for an hour and a half. The snow was really coming down. If he went to the streets and cut through some blocks, he could probably make it back home in thirty minutes or so.
He cut through a neighbor’s yard and headed for the road. He was almost hit by cars three times as they slid, swerved, and drove wildly in the snow. Finally he’d taken to the unplowed sidewalks, slogging through a half foot of snow, pants and shoes soaked. So much for waterproof. Adam couldn’t run anymore because the ground had started to freeze and was now one endless ice rink. If winter was starting bad this soon, it was going to be a hell of a long haul.
An SUV pulled up beside him, and he had to glance twice before he realized it was his dad. “Your mom was getting worried. It’s pretty awful out here.”
Adam hopped in, and his dad plopped a fleece blanket into his lap. “Let’s get you home and warmed up. Food should be ready.”
He drove, and they said nothing for a few minutes. Adam blinked through his soaked hair, which was hanging in his eyes, but the warmth blasting from the heaters had begun to thaw him out. It made him think more about Ru, and how he didn’t seem to have anyone that cared. Would anyone have picked Ru up in the storm, remembered to bring him a blanket, or even cared that he hadn’t made it home for dinner?
“Thanks, Dad.”
His dad glanced Adam’s way and threw him a sunny smile. The blond hair came from him, and everyone always remarked at how young he looked. Too young to be the dad of a teenager like Adam. And then they’d go on to ask why he’d only had one child. Truth was, Adam’s mom almost died having him. Something about her hips being too small to bear children easily. She’d been on bed rest for months. And ’cause his dad loved her, he wasn’t going to risk her again.
“For what?”
“For being okay with me being me.”
