“I get it. Things happen for a reason. Back in high school, I spent most of my time scared to death. Word was out, and lots of guys decided that I was fair game. I just wasn’t about to let any of them know how I felt. So, I acted like I didn’t care, and for the most part, I didn’t. I had things I was good at, and I had a nice circle of friends. That was what got me through.” Though the idea of someone like Todd being gay back then would have been unthinkable. “In high school, you were popular and everyone watched you. You were on the football team and played basketball. You and I crossed paths in a few classes, but our social circles were far apart.” And neither of them had the knowledge of how to break down those barriers. They were teenagers, and things like peer pressure and expectations seemed insurmountable. “I mean, I never would have approached you outside of classes, and if you had said something to me socially, I probably would have thought it was a prank. Though I have to say that I used to dream about you. Remember how you and your friends would play basketballoutside the school once classes were over? I’d walk slowly to the bus just so I could watch you.” He had been dreamy back then, but it was nothing compared to what he looked like now. Not that it mattered. Jamie was supposed to be helping him, not trying to sex him up. He drank the last of his tea and did his very best to get his mind back on the work he had to do. Instead, every time he tried to read what was on the screen, he’d get a whiff of Todd, and his mind would race once more.
“What are you working on?” Todd asked, leaning closer, which only scrambled Jamie’s attention even more.
“I’ve been working on a number of things lately. Unfortunately, I wanted to look into the ebb and flow of horror as a genre. But there wasn’t enough interest for more research money, so I’m taking what I have and using it as a basis for this article. It will be published, and others will either agree or tear it apart, but it’ll be another publishing credit to my name.” He lowered his gaze and forced himself to get his attention back on the article but gave up after a while. It just wasn’t going to work. “I should go back to bed.” He saved the document and set the computer aside, then stretched and yawned.
“Me too. I don’t want Kenny to wake up alone.” He took the mug to the kitchen, and Jamie watched his beautiful backside until it disappeared. Then he took care of his own dishes, turned off the light, and went to bed himself. This time he managed to fall to sleep and had the most amazing dreams, waking Sunday morning to Cindy prancing on top of his chest in her “I need to go outside” dance.
“Okay.” He pulled on sweats and a T-shirt and took her out back so she could run a little and do her business. When he let her inside, Cindy checked out her dish while he made coffee and then settled on the sofa next to him. They quietly watched the Sunday morning news before he got himself moving to make ahearty breakfast as he heard Kenny and Todd moving in their room.
Kenny stuffedhimself with pancakes—Jamie could see his belly sticking out—and Todd ate a lot too. That was good. He suspected they had quite a nutritional deficit to make up for. Kenny leaned over the table and whispered to his father. “Can we go to the playground?”
Jamie was about to nod and answer that of course he could go, but Todd hesitated, and he stopped himself. These were Todd’s decisions, not his, though he didn’t see anything wrong with Kenny playing.
“I don’t think that’s such a good idea.” Fear had filled his eyes once more, and it got Jamie’s curiosity running.
“Why don’t you take Cindy out in the backyard? You can play with her there,” Jamie suggested, and Todd nodded. Kenny hurried down off the chair and raced out the back with Cindy right behind him. “Do you want to tell me what that’s about?”
“It’s nothing,” Todd said right away.
“No.” Jamie set down his fork. “No way in hell.” He put his hands on the table. “If you’re going to stay here, then there aren’t going to be secrets. I know shit happened to you, but you need to be honest about it.”
“And does that mean you get to know everything about my business?” Todd snapped.
Jamie glared at Todd until he sighed, and his shoulders slumped. “I need to know the good, the bad, and the ugly. You need to talk about it, and no one can help, or at the very least support you, if we’re flying blind.” He tried not to sound like he was Todd’s parent.
Todd sighed heavily. “There is a guy, he’s sort of the ruler of the camp, at least the one in the back of the park behind theGiant. He’s very heavy-handed and thinks he runs everyone’s lives. Anyway, he took a liking to Kenny and was kind to him at first. But I think he’s crazy, and now, whenever he sees Kenny, he calls him ‘his boy’ and acts like he’s his son. A few times, he tried to take him away. That’s when Kenny and I moved to the back of the other park. We had to get away from Charlie. But toward the end, he started making moves on the rest of us. We were getting ready to move again when the police chased everyone away. The thing is, I don’t want Charlie to see Kenny or get anywhere near him.” He lowered his head. “It’s all my fault that my son has been around people who are totally bonkers. And now I need to keep him out of sight and away from them.”
“Okay. We can do that. But it’s not fair to Kenny to be kept inside all the time. We can all go to the park, and if Charlie is there, he’ll stay away or else the police will get involved. It’s that simple. You’re Kenny’s father, so you get to decide who spends time with him.”
“I get that. But Charlie scares the hell out of me. Those people on the street corners with signs asking for money—he decides who gets to use which corner. He’s psychotic. I just don’t want Kenny anywhere near him.”
Jamie put up his hands. “Okay. That makes sense. There are other parks and play areas that we can take Kenny to. There’s Biddle Mission Park, as well as a few other small parks in town.” Todd was clearly scared half to death by this guy, and it made Jamie wonder what else Charlie might have done. But he would let Todd open up to him in his own time.
“Yeah… okay.” Todd helped clear the table, and then they did the dishes, watching Kenny out the window as he played with Cindy.
“You know, for all he’s been through, Kenny is pretty happy and content. He’s got you, and that seems to be what he needs.So all this guilt and fear that you’re carrying around is pretty much for nothing.”
“I tried to keep the worst of it from him. When I got some money, I made sure Kenny ate. I was the one who went without most of the time. I just wanted him to be okay.”
“Of course you did. That’s what a parent does.” Jamie bumped Todd’s shoulder. “And now, look—he’s happy, laughing even.” As he watched, Kenny hurried to the door with Cindy coming in right behind him. Kenny was crying and went right to Todd, hugging him around the legs.
“What happened?” Todd asked gently, lifting him in his arms.
Jamie hurried out the back door and around the side of the house. In the alley that ran alongside, a large man in a long, tattered coat ambled away from the house. Shit, that must be the infamous Charlie. He stared as he turned the corner and then hurried back inside. Kenny sat on his father’s lap at the table.
“Did he try to hurt you?” Todd asked.
“He’s bad,” Kenny said softly, and then let Todd comfort him. Cindy sat right at Kenny’s feet.
“He’s gone.”
“You saw him?” Todd asked.
Jamie nodded. “I did. But there isn’t anything I can do about him. I wish I could keep him out of the neighborhood, but he has a right to be on the sidewalk or the street the same as anyone else.” Though at the moment, Jamie wished he could just have him arrested. “He isn’t going to hurt you, and you did the right thing by coming inside to find your dad.”
Kenny lifted his head.
“Yes. You were very brave,” Todd whispered.
