Something Like Summer (33 page)

Tim’s counterattack came
the next morning. Ben had finished showering and just barely
managed to get his Calvins on when a rapping on his window made him
jump. He tried not to dwell on how long he’d had an audience.
Instead he got dressed and went outside. Tim hustled him into the
car, which was stocked with a dozen donuts and a couple of Cokes.
By the time the sugar rush kicked in, they were well on their way
to San Antonio.

“
It’s Saturday!” Tim
howled, rolling down the windows and sending Ben’s hair
flying.

Tim didn’t share the same
problem. His hair was much shorter these days, cropped close on the
sides and spiky on top. It suited him, as did the dark sunglasses.
Tim caught him staring and grinned when Ben didn’t look
away.

Their secret destination
turned out to be Six Flags Over Texas, a massive amusement park
filled with rollercoasters and other potentially deadly rides. Ben
had recently gone to Six Flags with Jace, but the park had been
closed for maintenance, so they had spent the day shopping instead.
And now he was about to carry on with that missed opportunity,
except with Tim. The idea made Ben uncomfortable, but the uneasy
sensation was lost on the first exhilarating ride.

Like all amusement parks,
Six Flags had long lines, so they spent most of their time waiting.
As they stood in line, talking and laughing, the years of distance
between them dissolved as if they had awakened in their junior year
of high school looking five years older.

By late afternoon, Ben
could feel sunburn on his neck and his stomach grumbled with a
serious hunger the park’s junk food couldn’t satisfy. All Ben had
to do was mention his appetite, and Tim offered to take them to
dinner. He had been paying for so much the last few days that Ben
was starting to feel he had a sugar daddy of his own.

A display of stuffed
animals caught Ben’s eye on the way out. One of them, a black
stuffed cat, would have looked familiar had it been a different
color.

“
Samson!”

Tim looked
confused.

“
Jace’s cat,” Ben
explained. “I totally forgot to feed him today. I haven’t been over
there since yesterday morning.”

“
We’ll swing by after we
eat,” Tim offered.

“
I kind of need to go
now,” Ben said apologetically. “Maybe we can get something to eat
on the road?”

“
Yeah, all
right.”

They navigated the
horizonless parking lot until they found the car, Ben worrying
about his oversight. How long could a cat go without food? His
concern was more than just that. Samson needed regular company,
something he had been neglecting the last couple of
days.

“
I hope he’s okay,” Ben
said as they pulled onto the highway. “Usually I stay over there
when Jace is out of town.”

“
So why haven’t you
been?”

Yeah, Ben, why haven’t you
stayed the night at Jace’s place lately? Once he put the question
to himself it was obvious. That first night he hadn’t liked the
idea of waiting for a call from Tim while at Jace’s apartment. And
last night, well, he supposed he liked the idea of Tim being able
to find him. And look how it had paid off. He had gotten a date out
of it.

Perhaps it had all gone a
bit too far. It was time to make Jace a part of regular
conversation. Tim might be hurt, but surely giving him false hope
would harm him more. “I’ll crash there tonight,” Ben said. “Gotta
make sure the apartment looks nice before Jace comes
home.”

“
When’s that?”

“
Tomorrow
night.”

“
So I have you to myself
until then. We can do dinner tonight. We’ll feed the cat and then
head out. My treat.”

“
You don’t need to pay for
everything,” Ben said. “I have money too, you know.”

“
I can afford it,” Tim
shrugged.

“
How?”

Tim’s brow furrowed, as if
this were a complicated question. Ben supposed it was, but he
needed an answer.

“
I inherited some money,”
Tim said. “A lot, actually.”

Ben’s stomach sank, his
fears backed by one more detail. “From who?”

“
No one you would know,”
Tim answered.

Ben didn’t press any
further, but he didn’t offer any other topic of conversation. His
short-lived vow of silence paid off.

“
His name was Eric. He was
a friend of mine. He died late last year.”

“
I’m sorry,” Ben said.
“Still,” he added after a moment, “it’s a bit unusual. Inheriting
money from a friend, I mean.”

“
Is it?”

“
Yeah. I mean, unless he
was your sugar daddy or something.” Ben gave an artificial laugh
that didn’t convince either of them.

“
I guess Allison has
filled you in on the rumors, then?” Tim’s jaw clenched. “I guess
there’s no point in telling you what you already know. Eric was
rich, old, and gay. What else could it have been,
right?”

“
I don’t know,” Ben
replied weakly, surprised at the sudden anger in Tim’s
voice.

“
Well, it’s all bullshit.
People think the whole world revolves around sex and money, but
they’re wrong. Eric was a good person and one of the best friends I
ever had. All he ever wanted was friendship.”

Ben didn’t know what to
say, but he was afraid he fit into the category of the
small-minded. Some rich old guy wanted Tim around for company and
nothing more? Had Eric been blind? Add money to the equation and
the whole thing stank.

“
I didn’t mean to
pry.”

“
Yeah, you did, but it’s
okay.” Tim’s posture relaxed a little. “I just get tired of what
people say. They don’t know me. They take a couple of facts and
warp them into something they can feel superior about.”

“
Yeah, that does suck. So
what’s the truth, then?”

“
He was like a father to
me. Like the way I always wish things had been with my real dad. He
knew everything about anything, was funny, and had the craziest
ideas. Talking to him was the greatest. That’s all we’d ever do. He
was already pretty sick when I met him, so he couldn’t get out
more. We’d just sit there and talk for hours. Hell, I practically
became his nurse. It was the best time of my life. Well,
second-best.”

Ben knew he shouldn’t ask,
but he wanted to be sure. “So there was never sex
involved?”

“
No! Christ! Can’t gay
people just be friends?”

“
Sorry,” Ben apologized.
“It’s just the money thing--”

“
Yeah, well, what else was
he supposed to do with it? He didn’t have any kids. Just a sister.
She got most of the money. I got a small part, which really was
still a tremendous amount. And the house, too. She didn’t want it,
anyway.”

Ben exhaled, trying to
imagine what he would do if he were suddenly wealthy. Tim seemed
lost in thought the rest of the drive home. Ben too had much to
think about. Neglecting Samson and then hearing about Tim’s strange
relationship with Eric had taken some of the fairytale shine off
their day. He found himself missing Jace and the simple life they
shared. If only he were coming home tonight.

The afternoon’s surrealism
only increased when he walked into Jace’s apartment with Tim. His
ex-boyfriend silently took in the apartment, examining the walls
and making his own judgments. Was he sizing up Jace and mentally
knocking him down? Did he feel intimidated or insecure? Did he
ever?

“
Should I make us
something to eat?” Ben asked after tending to Samson.

“
No, let’s go out. It’ll
be fun.”

“
Yeah, all right,” Ben
agreed, eager to get Tim away from the apartment.

“
Tell you what,” Tim said
once they were back in his car. “Why don’t we avoid the crowds?
We’ll go back to my place and I’ll cook for you.”

“
Eh, I don’t know.” Ben
saw the ruse to get him somewhere private.

“
It’ll be cool,” Tim said,
switching lanes. “You’ll like it there.”

“
Said the spider to the
fly,” Ben muttered.

* * * * *

Tim lived out in West Lake
Hills. The area was notoriously expensive or “rich bitch” as Ben’s
mother would say. Tim’s house was modern with rustic elements. The
main part of the home was a jumble of minimalistic cubes, but the
covered entrance was hewn from rough-cut wood and supported by
twisted iron columns. The window shutters were warped with age and
reinforced with crisscrossing wire, as if the architect had created
them with recycled chicken coops. Even more out of place was the
separate garage, as unremarkably middle class as possible. Maybe
that was the architect’s intention. One touch of normality to put
the rest of the building’s eccentricities into context. The result
felt like a tornado had swept up a cabin, a suburban home, and a
museum of modern art and dropped them jumbled together.

Tim parked his car in the
driveway and led the way to the door. The interior of the house
couldn’t have been more different than the cold exterior. Thick
colorful carpets were patterned across polished wooden floors.
Oversized couches and chairs in warm, earthy colors filled the
rooms they walked through. In the living room, practical
bookshelves built low into the wall doubled as benches and were set
in front of tall windows on either side of the fireplace. The
massive kitchen, their final destination, had all the trappings of
a professional restaurant, including two ranges and an indoor
grill. Ben sat at one of the bar stools at the kitchen’s island and
stared.

“
I gotta hit the john,”
Tim said, slipping off his sneakers. “There’s anything you could
ever want to drink in here. Feel free to poke around.”

“
Thanks,” Ben
said.

Wherever the bathroom was,
Ben worried Tim might need half an hour to navigate the sprawling
floor plan. Ben opened the refrigerator and grabbed a can of cola.
The noise it made when he popped it open sounded deafening in the
silence. Despite its cozy appearance, the house felt lonely, the
humming appliances too loud in the stillness. A home without a
family was a haunted place. Here it was easy to imagine why Eric
was desperate for company, how Tim’s proud speech and laughter
would chase away the emptiness. But it wasn’t Eric who was left
here alone.

“
It’s a huge house,” Tim
said, causing Ben to jump. “Too big for me. I plan on selling it
and finding a place in Allandale, so don’t go getting used to
it.”

Ben rolled his eyes at the
flirtation but smiled. “Allandale is a nice neighborhood, but I
don’t know if you’re enough of a hippie to fit in there. So Eric
lived here alone?”

“
Yeah, when I first met
him. It wasn’t long before he asked me to move in. Don’t give me
that look! I can see what you’re thinking.”

“
What would you think if
anyone told you the same story?” Ben said. “You have to admit that
it sounds fishy.”

“
Yeah, I guess so,” Tim
admitted. “You believe me though, right?”

“
Why not? The world’s a
crazy place.”

“
I would have,
though.”

“
What?”

“
Slept with Eric.” Tim
gave a nod. “If it would have made him happy, but he never even
hinted at that.”

“
Did you want
to?”

“
I don’t know.” Tim
started to pull ingredients out of the cupboards. “Sometimes you
can’t tell your friends from your lovers, you know what I mean? The
line gets kind of blurry. That’s how it was with me and Eric. Maybe
if he wasn’t on so many meds he would have wanted something more
physical. Maybe not.”

“
What was wrong with
him?”

“
Cancer. Multiple kinds,
multiple places.”

“
Geez.”

“
Yeah.” Tim paused,
staring blindly at the items in front of him. “He toughed it out
until the end. He never complained, never felt sorry for himself.
He had so much spirit. That’s why I can’t sell the place yet. I
feel like he’s still here.”

Ben watched him with
curiosity. The Tim he knew of old never would have expressed his
emotions so openly and without shame. If only he had been this way
five years ago.

“
Anyway,” Tim forced an
upbeat tone into his voice, “What did you have in mind for
dinner?”

Ben took stock of the
ingredients gathered on the counter. There was pasta, a can of
pineapples, a box of rice, a bag of flour and some brown
sugar.

“
You don’t know how to
cook, do you?”

“
No, I don’t,” Tim
laughed. “But I had to get you here somehow. We could do delivery.
Or we could get nostalgic and you could cook for me. I’ll even lay
myself out on the couch and pretend my ankle is jacked
up.”

“
Tim--” Ben’s warning
tones matched his expression.

“
Too far? Sorry. I just
wanted you to see my place, since it’s so connected to my past. You
being here really livens the place up. I wouldn’t mind you visiting
more often. Bring Jace along if you like. I’d love to meet
him.”