By Any Other Name (16 page)

As soon as they were off the escalator, a man of small stature walked up to them, steaming with rage.

“What the hell do you think you’re doing?” the man screamed at Dru, looking at Skye and their joined hands like he was seeing something disgusting.

“Calm down, don’t yell—” Dru tried to say in an even and firm tone, but the man walked right into his bubble and began to poke his finger into Dru’s chest.

He could feel Skye tensing and panicking but couldn’t let go, not now. He needed to know where Skye was at all times.

“How could you do this! Thom is in court and you’re here with… with… your, what? Boyfriend? What the fuck?”

“Oscar, shut the fuck up, you’re scaring Skye!” Dru snarled, hoping to whatever deity was listening that his friend wouldn’t be scared of him.

“What do you mean scaring—” and then the man looked at Skye, who was trying to hide behind the much smaller Dru.

“Call Thom. Call him right now. He’ll pick up unless the court is in session.” Dru kept his tone calm and stepped away from Oscar. He turned to Skye and looked at his friend, trying to decipher the situation and emotions that were rolling off Skye in waves. Confusion, hurt, fear….

“Skye, honey, it’s okay. Everything’s fine,” he said in what he hoped was a calming tone.

Skye’s eyes darted from him to Oscar to the people around them and then back to him.

“That’s it, keep looking at me, honey, just like that. I’m here with you, nobody is going to hurt you. Okay? That idiot is Thom’s best friend, Oscar, he’s mostly okay but a bit of a drama queen, and he likes to jump into conclusions. He knows someone is staying with us but none of the details, so he overreacted. Are you calming down now, babe?”

Dru didn’t realize he was using both the pet name he used for Thom and the one Thom used for him. The words just seemed suitable.

“What? And there’s nothing…. And why is he…. Okay. Okay, fine. I’ll apologize. Yeah, see you.” Oscar’s voice penetrated their joined bubble, and Dru turned enough to look at the Latino, who looked apologetic and embarrassed.

“Dru…,” he said, and Dru rolled his eyes. When Oscar stepped closer, Skye flinched, and Oscar looked horrified for a moment. “Oh fuck, I’m so sorry,” he said but held himself back at the final moment before reaching for Skye.

“Could you please pick up our bags and follow us to the Chinese restaurant? We need to sit down,” Dru asked but didn’t stay to hear the answer. Instead, he made sure Skye was with him as they walked two shops over to the restaurant and found a booth in the back corner.

“Are you okay?” Dru asked, and Skye nodded hesitantly. “Sure?”

“I… I will be. Just… wasn’t expecting that,” Skye said in a shaky voice and didn’t resist when Dru wrapped an arm around him and pulled him close.

“So what did Thom say?” Dru asked without turning to look at Oscar, who placed their bags under the table but didn’t sit down. A wise move.

“That Skye is your friend and needs support and that’s why you were holding his hand,” Oscar said quietly.

“Anything else?” Dru’s voice was tight.

“That he would have done the same if he was there with Skye. That he’d do anything to make sure Skye was safe, just like he does for you,” Oscar said and swallowed.

“Was he pissed off at you?” Dru asked, his eyes still fixed on Skye, who was now looking from one man to the other.

“Very,” Oscar admitted.

“Good. Anything else you have to say?”

“I’m so sorry, Skye. Really. And you too, Dru. I’m just… I’ve seen too many friends double-crossed by their lovers. I’m sorry,” Oscar said in a tone that became a plea.

“It’s… it’s not okay. To be like that,” Skye said very quietly, and Oscar blushed. Then Skye turned his head away from Oscar.

“You scared the bejesus out of my best friend. You also insulted me in the worst possible way.” Dru’s tone was cold. “Now we’d like to have lunch, alone.”

“Okay… okay… I’m really sorry,” Oscar mumbled as he backed away from the table and then from the restaurant.

There was a long silence. Even the waitress didn’t seem to want to bother them as they sat there. Dru was waiting for the rage to leave him before he accidentally scared Skye himself. Skye’s heartbeat seemed to be getting back to normal. Frankly it scared Dru that it was taking this long.

“You better now? Ready to order?” Dru asked, and Skye raised his head from Dru’s shoulder and nodded. “Okay,” Dru said and waved to the waitress.

She was watching them cautiously but managed to smile when Dru ordered for both of them and smiled back at her like nothing was out of the ordinary. Nothing but the grown man latched to his side like a scared little boy.

Dru’s cell vibrated in his pocket, and he dug it out. A text from Thom.

“Is he okay?”

Dru handed the cell to Skye. “You better reply to that.”

Hesitantly, Skye took the phone and seemed to think for a moment before slowly and clumsily texting back. Before sending it, he showed it to Dru. “Will be. Don’t worry. Dru’s taking care of me. Means a lot that you care too.”

After hitting Send, he gave the phone back to Dru.

“It does, you know. That both of you are doing this. He was Thom’s best friend,” Skye said quietly and frowned a little at the end.

“Yes, Thom’s friend. This wasn’t the first time he’s overreacted, second time he’s done it with me personally. Once I was dancing at a gay club with some guy. Thom had twisted his ankle and couldn’t dance, but he told me to go ahead. Oscar stormed in and dragged me away from that guy and yeah….” Dru rolled his eyes and took a sip of his water.

“Will Thom be very angry at Oscar, then?” Skye asked in a small voice.

“Yes. But they’ll get over it. They always do when one of them fucks up.” Dru smiled a little.

He wasn’t thinking about that, though. He was thinking about how he could forgive Oscar for hurting Skye like this. He hoped that the attack, even if “just” verbal, wouldn’t set back Skye’s recovery. Now they could go to the grocery store together easily enough. It was the large spaces with a lot of people that scared Skye the most. Dru thought that on some level Skye was still waiting for that man to come and drag him away from what happiness he was beginning to feel.

“We need to get you a cell,” Dru said just as the waitress arrived with their food.

“That’s too much, Dru, really,” Skye said after the woman left.

“No. I need to know where you are, and that’s the easiest way. If I ever have to go away from the house or when you go to your appointments and all. I need to be able to get a hold of you if I get stuck in traffic or something.”

The argument seemed to sink in, and Skye nodded resignedly before digging into his food. They sat there, sitting right next to one another so that their knees were touching but far enough to have room to eat. They shared the silence and the stares of the lunch-hour crowd. Some of the people looking seemed to be okay with the evident intimacy between the two of them, and some were frowning.

“Does it bother you that some people disapprove of us sitting so close?” Dru asked Skye as he dug out some cash for the check.

“Not really. I already feel like an outsider, like I’m different. It’s not going to change anyway,” Skye said and shrugged like feeling such things was completely okay and normal.

Dru didn’t want to get into that conversation there, so he grabbed the bags from where Oscar had put them and got up.

They held hands again as they passed a table with a middle-aged couple.

“Fags,” the man muttered just loud enough for them to hear.

“Dru, don’t,” Skye said immediately when Dru stopped in his tracks.

“Excuse me,” Dru said, ignoring his friend and leaning toward the man, “I don’t know you, so I don’t know what kind of right you think you have to go calling people names. I do know one thing, though. I would never want to know what you do in your office with your mistress, because frankly straight people fucking turns me off. Now if you like to imagine gay guys doing it, be my guest, but don’t go calling me names. Who I choose to fuck should not be your business unless it’s you I’m fucking.” His tone was polite all the way to the end of his speech. Then he turned to the woman.

“There’s a long blonde hair on his shoulder and pink lipstick on his neck. Your lipstick is ruby-red.” Dru tugged Skye back into motion and left the couple sitting there. The man and his wife, who had short, auburn hair.

The trip to the bookstore to find something to read for both Thom and Skye was easier than the rest of the shopping trip had been. It was endearing how Skye and Thom could spend hours discussing books they had read or wanted to read next. Dru wasn’t much of a reader, so he was relieved Thom had someone else to share that part of himself with. When they got back to the car, they were actually smiling and Skye was relaxed, even more so when they finally headed home.

“So are you excited about tomorrow?” Dru asked as he steered the car to the right intersection toward their secluded neighborhood. Skye’s appointment with his shrink had been postponed a few times. First there hadn’t been any available time slots for him, and then the shrink had gotten ill. It was about time for Skye to get the therapy he still needed, despite his chats with Dr. King on the phone a few times every week. The calls had been a substitute but couldn’t really replace one-on-one sessions.

“Sort of. I think I really need the therapy, and Al said she seems nice. She has viewed my files and all that, but it’s just tricky to pour my heart out to someone I don’t know,” Skye said, watching the scenery fly by them.

“It’s strange to hear you referring to him as Al.” Dru grinned.

“Yeah, well, talking to him for two years about everything and anything really makes you feel like you can do that, drop the title, you know?” Skye smiled a little and turned the radio louder. “Hey, I haven’t heard this for ages!” He grinned.

“Me neither, wow… talk about a trip down memory lane.” Dru chuckled and hummed along with one of the big hit songs from the summer when they were fifteen, when everything was new and good.

“When did you know you were gay?” Skye asked suddenly.

The car swerved a little, and Dru swore under his breath. Hell… he was so not ready for that. Not at all.

“I mean… you don’t have to tell me if it’s too private,” Skye backpedaled immediately.

“No, no… I mean, I know you asked Thom and he told you,” Dru said, trying to buy some time to get his words right.

“Okay….” Skye didn’t sound convinced. At all.

“No, honestly, I’ll tell you,” Dru said quickly and then took in a much-needed breath before saying, “The summer we were fourteen.”

There was a silence, and Dru wouldn’t dare to look at his friend. He felt terrified.

“Why didn’t you ever tell me?” Skye asked quietly, and Dru could feel the eyes on him.

“Because….” He swallowed. His throat was parched, and his hands were shaking a little. “Because I knew because of you.”

Another silence, a longer one this time. Dru wanted to say something, but there was nothing to say that would’ve sounded right.

“What do you mean exactly?” Skye asked after what felt like five minutes but must have been less.

“We’re almost home, can we talk about this there?” Dru risked a glance at Skye, who nodded. There was that expression on his friend’s face he knew well by now; Skye would make him talk whether he wanted to or not. It had been like that ever since they’d first met. Skye was intuitive; he knew the things that really needed to be said, but Dru was hiding. He always found a way to get them out of him, and in the end, every single time, Dru felt better to have come clean to his best friend.