Omorphi (17 page)

“I do, bro, I really do. His hair’s great. Who do you think Christy’s family is? Not too many people get to become models.”

“Can’t even begin to guess. It’ll come out in time.”

“You aren’t curious?”

“I am, but I don’t want to ask about his family in case it was a relative who ab—”
God, I hate that word.
“Hurt him.”

“Yeah, okay. That makes sense.”

“He said my name, Jake.” Michael tingled all over just thinking about it.

“He can talk?”

“He’s not supposed to until his throat heals but, yeah, he can. His voice is real deep. It doesn’t fit him.”

“Maybe it’s deep because of the damage.”

“Maybe. I think he has a photographic memory too. He drew three pictures of me, and the detail is incredible, especially for only seeing me naked once.”

“He’s seen you naked? Like 100 percent no clothes on?”

Uh-oh.
“Well, ah, yeah. I was in the shower in the gym yesterday, and, well, he kinda surprised me and, well, he kinda watched me shower for a few minutes, I guess.”

Jake just stared at him.

“Hey, look, he surprised the crap out of me, Jake. I turned around, and he was just there.” The memory made him feel both embarrassed and warm all over. Christy had said he
wanted him.
Him
.

“What did you do?”

“What do you mean, what did I do? I got dressed. It was just one of those really awkward but kinda weirdly cool moments.”

“Weirdly cool?”

“Yeah, weirdly cool. Didn’t Kelly ever see you naked?”

Jake laughed. “Yeah, man, she did.”

“Well, how did you feel the first time she saw you?”

Jake laughed again. “Okay, I get it. You’re right. It was weirdly cool.”

“You know what I think is strange?”

“What?”

“Mom didn’t ask Christy about his family, where he was from, nothing.”

Jake smiled. “You know your mom. No doubt, she had the 411 on Christy the minute you gave her his name.”

“That’s what I’m afraid of.”

“What are you worried about?”

“I’m not worried about her. The worst she’ll do is try to adopt him. I’m worried about Dad. Even though he’s cool with me being gay, he worries it will make my life difficult. If my boyfriend is complicated, he’ll worry even more.”

Jake shook his head. “Give your dad more credit. He takes care of people for a living. He knows where you get it from.”

“I’ve never taken care of anyone in my life.”

“Not true. You had a goldfish once.”

“Yeah, and I killed it in the first twenty-four hours I had it.”

“That’s only because you stirred the fishbowl with an eggbeater. You were six. You didn’t know any better.”

Michael smirked. “Thanks, Jake. You always know how to cheer me up.”

“Any time. Hey, here’s a question for you. Are you sure taking Christy to a party is a smart thing to do?”

“It’s only awkward if you know we’re gay. You’re going to be there with his cousin, and who’s to say that we’re not all just friends?”

“I guess you’re right.”

“What happened with Becca tonight?”

Jake hissed and shook his head. “Painful, bro. First, I find her flirting with a waiter, and then I see her get his number. Then I walk up behind her as she’s talking to her debs, and I hear her say ‘He’s an awful kisser, and I actually have to breed with him if we marry,’” Jake mimicked in Becca’s voice. “One of the debs says ‘So what, honey, it’s the money that counts’ and she says, ‘I’ll give up five years but not ten years of my life.’ Then another deb says ‘You have to hang in ten years or you won’t make any money on the divorce.’ I was so friggin’ furious, I walked out.”

Michael put an arm around Jake’s shoulders, secretly pleased and sad for Jake at the same time. “Harsh. I’m sorry. Glad you found out now, though.”

“No shit. See, that’s another problem with wealth. No one dates you for who you are as a person.”

“Aw, come on, Jake, I’ve always dated you for who you are. I love you, bro.”

Jake kissed the side of his head and laughed. “Yeah, you have. See you tomorrow. Congrats on your new boyfriend.”

Michael grinned. “Thanks, Jake.”

M
ICHAEL
’
S
parents had already gone to bed by the time he made it home. He looked at the two-day pile of homework in his bag. Technically, because he worked ahead in most of his classes, he was still ahead on everything but his English Lit reading. He sat at his desk, opened his laptop, and brought Google up on the screen. He typed
HELP+FRIEND+WITH
+ABUSE and hit enter and 340,000 search results appeared. He went through the first twenty or so. He found a lot of 800 emergency numbers and sites relating to emergency help, but nothing that told him anything about how to help an abused friend. He typed
HELP+ABUSED+FRIEND
and 149,000 search results appeared. He sifted through the first twenty and ended at a site for adult male survivors of sexual abuse. He scanned the site. No advice on how to help a friend. Frustrated, he typed,
HOW DO I HELP A SEXUALLY ABUSED FRIEND?
Back up to 340,000 sites with nothing relevant in the first twenty results. This was crap. He flopped down on his bed and began to read Rob’s literature.

F
RIDAY
dragged for Michael without Christy at his side, and lunch was without Jake because he was taking another test for Columbia. He grabbed a sandwich and an apple from the cafeteria and headed to Coach O’Malley’s office.

“Michael?”

“Hey, Coach, can I talk to you for a minute?”

Coach O’Malley gestured to a seat. “Everything okay?”

Michael dropped into a chair in front of the desk. “Jason Whitman is a problem.”

“Talk to me.”

“He had a fight with Lisa Abrams yesterday morning, and I talked to him at lunch yesterday. The guy has a serious hate on for gays and isn’t afraid to voice it. I don’t want the team penalized or the school embarrassed because he can’t keep his mouth shut or stay out of fights. He’s also been hassling Christy Castle. The last thing he should be doing is touching another guy in the locker room.”

“I know about the fight with Lisa. What did Castle say to you?”

“He says Jason grabs him, slaps his ass, crap like that, when they’re in the locker room. Other guys have seen it, but they’re too afraid of Jason to do anything about it.”

“I’ll keep an eye out.”

“Thanks, Coach.”

“We need Jason for the four hundred on Saturday.”

“I know, but he has to watch what he says. If he says something wrong on the field or in front of another coach or, worse yet, slaps some guy’s ass in the locker room, we’re going to eat it. I told him I’d kick his ass if he got the team in trouble or embarrassed the school.”

Coach O’Malley grinned. “I’ll talk to him. How are you doing?”

“It’s all good.”

“Jake told me where you were yesterday afternoon. Anything you want to tell me?”

“Like what?”

“What do you know about Christy?”

“Why?”

“He’s a unique young man, Michael.”

“What’s that mean?”

“He comes from a unique background.”

“Because he lives at Wellington?”

“That’s what I mean by unique.”

“What? Like he’s a head case?”

“Nothing like that. Only that if you’re going to befriend him, I would be sure to be a good friend to him. You’re a good guy, Michael, so I know I don’t have to worry, but I thought I’d mention it.”

“You worried about him?”

“I worry about all my students, but more so when it comes to those who have had a rough go of it.”

“Yeah, okay. He seems like a nice guy. Jake likes him too, so it’s all good.”

“Good. See you at practice today?”

“Yep. Thanks, Coach.”

C
HRISTY
hadn’t sent Michael a text message by the end of Michael’s seventh period class, and he was worried. To add insult to injury, Rob’s literature and last night’s Internet search had him preoccupied with mixed thoughts and concern for Christy all day. He called the hospital, but they wouldn’t give him any information. Boyfriends still didn’t count. He tried Rob and got voice mail. He sent a text message to Christy and called him when he didn’t get a response. All he reached was Christy’s mechanical voice mail.

He dressed for practice and headed out to the track and was elated when he saw Christy sitting high in the stands. He whooped on the air and ran up the bleachers.

“Hey, babe,” he said as he sat next to Christy. He desperately wanted to wrap Christy in his arms and hug him. “I was worried. What are you doing here? Thought you were supposed to be resting.”

He scribbled
#1 fan
.

Michael laughed. “Yeah, okay. How are you feeling? Everything okay?”

He nodded and mouthed, “Okay.”

“Sattler!” someone yelled from the field.

“Gotta go! See you in an hour!”

Christy smiled, his beautiful eyes glinting in the sunlight.

“God, I love those eyes.”

Michael ran the one-ten hurdles in 13.92 seconds. Keying off their captain’s enthusiasm, half the team set new personal bests as well.
Slackers, my ass, Jason.
It was a great practice, and Michael high-fived everyone as he walked through the locker room. He guided Christy to sit on the bench in front of his locker. “Be right back.” He headed for the showers.

“Fucking butt pirate!”

That got Michael’s attention. He rounded the end of the lockers to find Jason shoving Stephen Engel into the shower wall.

Michael’s ire rose, a furious leviathan within, and he lost his temper. “Back off, Whitman!” The locker room fell silent as Michael stood between Jason and Stephen and pushed at Jason’s chest. “Back the hell off, man! What’s going on?”

“Nothing!”

“Don’t tell me friggin’ nothing, Jason!”

Jason clenched his fists, rage plain on his face.

Michael glanced over his shoulder. “What’s going on, Stephen?”

“The guy keeps slapping my ass and shit, and I’m tired of it. I finally slapped him back.”

“Hey, fuck you! I didn’t touch you!” Jason tried to reach around Michael.

Michael smacked his hand away and pushed him back. “What’d I tell you, Jason? What the hell did I tell you yesterday? Do you
want
to be kicked off the team?”

“Hey, fuck you!” Jason hauled off and clocked Michael in the jaw just as Coach O’Malley rounded the corner to see what was going on. “Whitman!”

Stephen caught Michael before he fell, and Michael drew back to return the punch.

“Sattler!”

Michael froze, and Jason took advantage and punched him in the gut. Michael went down gasping.

“Whitman, in my office, now!” Coach O’Malley boomed as he kneeled next to Michael and turned him onto his side. “Take it easy, take it easy. Breathe.”

“Gotta… do… something… ’bout him,” Michael wheezed.

Coach looked up at Stephen. “What happened?”

“Whitman’s a freak in the showers, Coach. He keeps slapping my ass and shit like that, so I slapped him back. And I’m not the only one he’s messing with.”

Coach O’Malley shook his head in disgust. “You okay?”

“Yeah, fine, thanks to Michael.”

“Do you want to file a complaint?”

“No, Coach, I’m cool, but do something about Whitman. The guy’s got no damn boundaries.”

Michael tried to sit up and fell back. Jason had landed a good one, and he hadn’t been ready for it. Christy suddenly appeared next to him.

“Hey,” Michael gasped.

Christy leaned down and whispered, “Jason left.” It came out as a rough, guttural whisper, and Michael could only imagine the effort it took to speak the words. If he weren’t so damn angry with Jason, he would have smiled up at Christy. “Jason… bounced, Coach.”

“He better not have.”

Christy nodded.

“Damn it. You okay, Sattler?”

“Yeah. Call security, though…. I don’t know what else he’ll do.”

Stephen offered Michael a hand and helped him to his feet. In turn, Michael did the same for Christy. “Show’s over,” Michael announced, still breathless. Someone began to clap; then everyone slowly joined in. “Thanks. If Jason has given any of you crap, please let Coach know.” The crowd disbursed with a few cheers and jeers.

“Thanks, Michael. I’m sorry he got a couple in.”

“Don’t worry about it, Stephen. We’re on the same team, remember?”

“Both of ’em.” Stephen winked and walked away.

Michael looked down at Christy. “Did he just imply what I think he implied?”

Christy nodded with a knowing smile.

“Man, I gotta put some serious effort into that awareness thing.”

Christy started to laugh.

“Don’t,” Michael growled softly.

J
AKE
caught up with them as they exited the gym.

Surprised, Michael asked, “Hey, bro, what are you still doing here?”

“What do you mean, what am I doing here? Someone said Jason hit you! Ah, man, look at your face!”

“Do I look that bad?”

“Yeah! I mean, no! Holy crap! What happened?”

“I stopped Jason from hassling Stephen.”

Jake yelled to the heavens. “I so do
not
like that guy! He’s a friggin’ freak of nature!”

“Let it go, bro. I’m all right.”

“Where the hell is he? I’m going to kick his ass!”

“Coach told him to go to his office, and he bounced.”

“No way!”

“Way. Calm down. What are you still doing here?”

“I just finished the last exam. You sure you’re okay?”

“Yeah, fine. Chill. Where are you headed now?”

“My dad’s office. He wants me to talk to him about the exam.”

“Can’t you call him?”

“Not when it comes to Columbia. Where are you headed?”

Michael turned to Christy, who shrugged and mouthed, “Home?”

“I’m going to take Christy home. Call me after you see your dad?”

“Okay. Come on.” Jake set out for the parking lot.

“Come on where?”