After one last look at them, I turn around and let the guard lead me to the door.
As I return to what’s become my painful reality, I can’t help but hope Andrea’s foolish optimism turns out to be right. Maybe I’ll be out soon.
But somehow, I doubt it.
“We drove four hours, waited an hour, and only got to see him for twenty minutes,” I vent as Kevin drives us out of the prison’s parking lot.
“We should have planned better. We’ll know next time.”
I nod, twisting around to look at the austere building one last time. I can’t believe my Lex is stuck in there formonthsat the very least.
“How did you find him?” I ask Kev.
“Well, closed off, but that’s his defense mechanism. To be honest, I didn’t expect him to be any different.”
I nod, replaying everything that happened with Lex. He didn’t say I love you back, which I can’t take too personally. Like Kevin said, building up walls is his way of protecting himself. When he comes out, I’ll slowly break them down, like I’ve done in the past.
“I hope he won’t say the wrong thing to the wrong person and get himself shivved,” I say with genuine worry.
“He’s gotten a lot better at not pissing people off. I’m sure he’ll be okay. And you heard what he said: they’re keeping a close eye on him.”
I pensively look out the window, watching the landscape as Kevin gets us on the highway toward Portland. Probably in an attempt to cheer me up, he asks, “Did he tell you about our last summer together as kids?”
That piques my interest, so I turn to look at his profile. “No, never. What happened?”
“Well, he was thirteen, heading toward senior year, and I was fifteen and on my way to being a sophomore. It was his last high school year before Harvard, so he had a lot of courses to get through during the summer. He’d negotiated with his parents that he’d do the work if he got to have three afternoons with me, since it would be our last summer. Richard and Miriam didn’t like that, but they didn’t really have a choice. So, we did a bunch of stuff that year. At least once a week, we’d go to the mall and spend hours at the arcade machines. We also stayed at my house a lot, playing video games, swimming in the pool, reading comic books… But then I had the brilliant idea of getting myself a girlfriend for the second half of the summer.”
“Oh… How did that go?”
“Like you can imagine it’d go for a fifteen-year-old trying to get laid for the first time,” he explains with a wince. “I saw more and more of Samantha, to the point where I was barely spending any time with Lex.He spent his days working on his courses instead of enjoying summer break, like he wanted.”
There’s remorse in his voice as he speaks, guilt that still lingers twenty-two years later. “I only realized that I’d abandoned him when the summer ended. I felt like shit, expecting to find Lex pissed at me, feeling betrayed and angry. But he wasn’t. He welcomed me back with the new comics he’d received, genuinely happy to see me. I think he was so used to being discarded and ignored, it just… made sense I’d do the same to him. From that day on, I promised myself I’d never abandon him again, no matter the circumstances.”
“You’re a good man, Kevin Langley. I don’t think many fifteen-year-old boys experiencing their first love would have that kind of insight.”
“I try to be. And there’s always been something about Lex that makes me want to protect him. To be there for him. As an only child, I think I was in need of a little brother, and he became that.”
“Did you get laid in the end?” I ask with a grin.
“I did. Several times. Sam was a very bold sixteen-year-old. We dated for about two years, and we ended things when she left for college. Then, a year after that, I joined Lex at Harvard. We’d kept in touch, but he was happy to have a friend again.”
“He doesn’t have many of those.”
“He doesn’t. But it means we get more of him for ourselves, doesn’t it?” he asks with an impish smile.
“I guess it does,” I agree with a chuckle.
Kev tells me more about Lex’s childhood, and I not only appreciate the distraction but also love to hear it all. If anything, Lex has an unwavering inner strength, which I know will serve him well for the months to come.
As we get closer to Portland, I suggest, “Do you—uh—would you be okay with a little detour?”
“Why do I get the feeling I’m about to meet the Walkers?”
I guess I really am an open book. “If you’re okay with it, of course. Plus, there are always some leftovers in the fridge, so we can have lunch there and resume our drive afterward.”
“Oh, I’m absolutely okay with it. Lex told me about your grandma, and I can’t wait to meet her.”
I chuckle at the thought of Lex gushing over Maria Carmen to him. “I think he has a crush on her.”
