“Morning, sunshine,” Leo said, opening the door for me. “What’s wrong? Normally I’d tease you about coming out in public looking less than perfect, but something tells me this isn’t a joking matter.”
“They’re not letting him teach this semester,” I said glumly.
“What? Is this still about that report?” he asked. “The school district called me, and I told them it was bullshit, that he’d only ever been supportive. Nothing gross, not ever.”
“They believed you, Leo,” I said, trying to calm him. “But it can still be spun to look bad, and Mrs. Walker threatened to go to the bigger news markets and tell them that Seguin ISD doesn’t protect its kids if Walker gets reinstated.”
“Thatbitch,” he grunted, shaking his head.
“Leo…”
“I can’t believe they’re doing that to him. He was my favorite teacher. Who’s gonna teach woodshop?”
“They’re not going to have shop this semester.”
“What the fuck?” he said, the vein in his forehead bulging.
“I agree, and I know it’s upsetting, but we’ve got this project to get done. I don’t know about you, but I need to focus on something positive, and then this evening I’m going to try again to visit with Walker.”
“What do you mean,try?”
“He’s been holed up in his apartment for days, watching, as far as I can tell, every sad gay movie out there.”
“Oh, that’s no good.”
“No shit.”
“Are you worried about you two? This is a lot for a brand-new relationship,” Leo said, sounding way too fucking adult.
“Maybe? In the space of a couple of days, he lost his family, he lost his career, and he lost his privacy. Even without a big news story, pretty much everyone in town knows why he’s suddenly disappeared. He didn’t want to come out like that, obviously, so now he just wants to hide.”
“Honestly, that’s not an entirely unreasonable response.”
“He can’t even help with today’s installation, because they recommended that he stay away from kids.”
Leo stood to his full height, squaring his jaw. “That is suchbullshit. And the way he was basically outed all over the place?Double bullshit.”
“Not gonna get any pushback from me on that, dude.”
Leo curled his hands into fists. “Fine. I’ve got to go meet Major to pick up some supplies from the school. I’ll be right back,” he said, grabbing the keys to the Lupe van.
“Okay. I’ll be here.”
Five minutes later, Major walked in, alone. “Hey, Oz, you ready to get started?”
“Uh, sure. But… I thought Leo was meeting you at the school to pick up the supplies.”
Major shook his head. “No, he and I got everything from the school yesterday.”
“Why would he lie about—” I stopped, face-palming. “Holy shit. I know where he went.”
“Okay… you gonna enlighten me?”
“Pretty sure he went to confront the Walkers.”
He grimaced. “That’s not going to end well.”
“You’re telling me.”
