We're Working On It (12 page)

“Thank you, Mr. Mathews. I think that’s plenty for me.”

Richard’s brows again lowered slightly.

After all plates had been served, Richard picked up the bread basket holding the garlic toast, but before handing it over to Kevin, he held it out in front of himself. He looked at Kevin.

“Kevin, if after I give you this, you say one more ‘Mr. Mathews’ or one more ‘sir’, I’m taking it back.”

Cory snickered.

Kevin’s eyes went wide.

“Call me Richard. You don’t have to be so formal around here. I appreciate your manners, but that’s a little too formal.”

Kevin nodded as Cory kept snickering.

Kevin looked at the lasagna in front of him. He loved lasagna. His mom made it all the time for him at home, but this smelled different than his mom’s. He knew his mom made the best lasagna. He filled his fork and took his first taste of Richard’s lasagna. His eyes grew wide as he chewed and tasted.

“Oh man! This isn’t real,” Kevin let out.

“What wrong? Something wrong with the Lasagna?” Cory asked.

“Oh no. It’s just that, well, this is better than my mom makes!”

Richard fluttered his eyebrows slightly.

‘Oh, shit, just like Kevin,’ Cory thought.

“I’m glad you like it. It’s Cory’s favorite too.”

“Mr...ah…Richard, this is simply the best.”

“Flattery will get you everywhere, Kevin,” Richard retorted. “So your mom makes pretty good food, huh?” Richard continued, looking at Kevin.

“Yeah, she’s a pretty good cook.”

Richard, playing into Cory’s desire to know more about Kevin, looked at Kevin. “Does your mom work or stay at home? It’s kinda hard to plan big dinners after a long day working.”

“She works. She’s an accountant. She works for the Selby brothers, you know, the ones down on Haggerty Road. She’s been with them ever since I can remember. But she’s taught me how to cook, so I get to help her when she comes home.”

Cory was impressed, again. He wished that he knew more about how to get around in the kitchen.

“How about your dad? What’s he do?” Richard continued.

Cory was elated. He was finding out more about Kevin, and didn’t even have to ask the questions.

“My dad’s a lawyer. He and another attorney have an office on the corner of Sumpter and Savage Roads. They were roommates at Wayne State, so they opened up shop together. They’ve been together since they got out of college.”

Richard thought for a moment. Sumpter and Savage went through his mind.

“Your last name isn’t Lingstrom, is it?” he had to ask.

“No. Not so fancy. It’s just plain Miller.”

“Okay, I thought I recognized where your dad’s office is, that’s all. I’ve actually been there many times.”

“Oh.” Kevin said. “Then you probably know my dad’s partner, Mark. I think his last name is Lingstrom.”

“That’s right. Mark’s partner is a Miller. Kyle Miller, I believe.”

“Yea, my dad wanted to keep ‘K’ in the name, so we’re both a couple of K’s.”

Kevin had loosened up and was now laughing with Richard.

“So you’re the boy who Kyle’s always talking about.”

“Ah, he lies like Kory. It’s a ‘K’ thing, you know?”

Kevin and Richard laughed together as Cory glared at Kevin.

“So you know my dad?” Kevin asked.

“Not really. Mark’s my attorney, but I’ve spoken with your dad many times. And from what I heard from Kyle, you must get along pretty well with your mom and dad. He seems pretty pleased with the way you’re turning out.”

“Yeah, my mom and I get along great. Dad works a lot and isn’t home as much, or when he is, he spends a lot of time in his office. I really love my parents though. They’ve given me a lot. I just wish dad knew me better. But I know that he loves me.”

“You’re a pretty good kid, Kevin. Go teach Cory not to swear so much.”

Cory threw Richard a dirty look that pigs in trough heaven would have retched at. But deep down, he knew that the evening had turned out better than he could have hoped. Richard and Kevin had hit it off. They didn’t say much, but the way they reacted to each other told Cory that Kevin had just joined the family.

“So, Kevin, anyone special in your life?” Richard asked trying to continue the conversation. He was wondering if Cory might be the one.

“Yeah, there was. I had a girlfriend last year. She was real sweet, but, well, she found someone else.”

“That must have hurt,” Richard said.

“Yeah, it did for a while. But I started talking to her about it, you know, trying to figure out what went wrong. I think that’s when we got to really know each other. I was just dating, because everyone else was dating, and she just happened to come along. We both seemed to understand that. We still talk to each other though.”

“Well, that sounds good. So you parted as friends then?”

“No. Oh, we talk to each other, and that’s cool, but she’s not a real friend. We’re more like acquaintances than friends. A friend to me is...” Kevin looked at Cory, “...kind of, special. It’s the kind of thing where the bond can’t be broken.”

“You’ve really thought about that, haven’t you, what a true friend means?” asked Richard. Kevin turned toward Richard.

“Yeah, I’ve thought about it a lot,” Kevin responded as he turned to look back at Cory. “Cory and I are working on it.”

When the table was cleared and the dishes put in the dishwasher, Cory and Kevin excused themselves and headed for Cory’s room.

Both boys lay on Cory’s bed, arms stretched and behind their heads. Kevin had kept laughing from the time Richard and he started kibitzing.

“Richard is so cool. He’s like the perfect parent,” Kevin started.

“Yeah, well, you two sure left me out tonight.”

“What do you mean?”

Kevin raised himself on one elbow, looking down at Cory lying next to him.

“I mean that you kept joking about me all night.” Cory answered.

“Oh, Cory, you don’t see it, do you?”

“See what? That I’m someone to laugh at?”

“No, not that at all. It was the way Richard was teasing you. He was treating you like his son, man. He really loves you, you know? I felt it in the room, all night.”

“I know he does. I guess I need to quit acting like a kid most of the time. I’m almost 16, you know?”

“Yeah, and I’m right behind you.”

Kevin relaxed and laid down next to Cory.

“He does love you, you know?” Kevin said, ending that topic. “Hey, you wanna watch a movie?”

“I don’t have a TV in my room you know, doofus?”

“Well, we can watch it on your new computer,” Kevin stated.

Kevin jumped from the bed and headed back downstairs followed by Cory. Both boys spend 20 minutes rummaging through Richard’s DVD collection before deciding on which movie to watch.

They watched a comedy with Shirley McLain, but Cory had slept through most of it, as it really didn’t interest him. The screen was too small to see well from the bed. The movie ended and the room filled with silence.

When the movie ended and the sound went dead, Cory awoke. He looked up and started to get out of bed, but seemed to be having difficulty rising. When he looked toward his stomach, he found Kevin’s arm across his chest. Kevin had rolled toward Cory when they were both asleep and had snuggled up next to him. Kevin was still asleep.

Cory watched Kevin as he breathed, his chest slightly expanding and then contracting in a smooth regular pattern. He looked so content. Cory knew that Kevin liked him and probably felt comfortable with touching him, but he also realized that Kevin was asleep and probably didn’t even know that he was lying on him. Cory wanted Kevin next to him, to stay with him, but knew that he had to go home.

Cory gently shook Kevin’s arm to wake him.

Kevin grunted.

“Come on Kevin. Wake up. We’ve slept through the movie. It’s time to go.”

Kevin rolled off of Cory, onto his back, putting both of his hands on his own chest, eyes still closed.

“Kevin,” Cory said to his sleeping friend as he again gently rocked his shoulder.

“What time is it?” Kevin whispered, still with closed eyes.

“It’s almost 11:00. Your mom and dad are going to be pissed.”

Kevin remained motionless and still didn’t open his eyes.

“No they won’t.”

“Why not? What time did you tell them you’d be home?”

“My mom said that I could sleep over here, if I wanted to.” Kevin whispered, not moving.

Cory jumped from the bed, the moving bed shaking Kevin into final consciousness. There was no way that Cory was going to put himself through the anguish of having Kevin sleep next to him, touching him, knowing that Kevin wasn’t like him. If something slipped, Cory knew that their friendship was over. He was NOT going to risk that.

“Get up Kevin, I don’t think Richard would want us to have a sleepover on a school night. He’s still downstairs waiting to take you home.”

“Alright, alright,” Kevin said swinging his legs over the side of the bed and forcing himself to sit up.

Eleven

The Birthday Party

Richard found his way to the kitchen Saturday morning, looking for a cup of coffee. Unfortunately, he had to make some first which was usually his first action of the morning. Cory had been with him for a month, and he was grappling with a conversation that he had to have with him. It was about Cory’s father. In a way it would be good news but it came out of a tragedy.

Once the coffee was steaming in the cup before him as he sat at the kitchen table, Richard began the process of waking up while trying to read the morning newspaper. The day appeared to be starting out kindly with the sunlight from the windows beginning to brighten up the kitchen. Just then Richard could hear footsteps coming down the stairs, and a moment later, a sleepy Cory walked into the kitchen rubbing his eyes in an effort to keep them open.

“Morning, Cory.”

Looking around but not being able to see clearly yet, Cory asked, “Got any more coffee?”

“Plenty left over on the counter. Get a cup and pour yourself some.”

Cory meandered over to the cupboard and retrieved a mug which he filled with coffee and then slid into the chair opposite Richard. Cory began sipping from the mug while his eyes tried to focus on the back of the newspaper that Richard was reading. Within moments, Richard put the newspaper down and looked at Cory. He knew that Cory was still sleepy and decided to get Cory’s mind going before he brought up the subject of his father.

“So, how has your first month of school been? Not too bad, I hope.”

Cory looked up smiling.

“Oh, it’s been good. Classes aren’t too hard and I’ve kept up pretty good so far. Yeah, it’s going good. Oh, and I’ve made three good friends, Matt, Kevin, who you’ve met, and Kelly. You haven’t met her yet. Kevin’s my best friend but you know that. Anyway, it’s been a great month.”

Cory’s smile broadened as his brain began to start working.

Just then the telephone rang, startling Cory into a little more consciousness. Richard stared at the phone for a moment wondering who was calling so early, but then remembered that he had been expecting the call sometime in the next few days. After sliding out of the chair and walking over to the telephone, Richard picked up the receiver.

“Hello.”

A slight pause

“Yes, of course”

After a long silence, Richard nodded his head and replaced the receiver. Richard looked at Cory. Cory was now awake.

“What’s wrong, Richard?” Cory asked.

Richard didn’t fumble with his words.

“A couple of weeks ago, Mark started asking some questions about you and your dad to people up in Plymouth, where your dad is still living. Well, it got back to your dad that someone was asking about him.”

Cory’s face went totally expressionless. Richard watched Cory’s reaction and then continued.

“It seems that your dad had started asking questions of where you were living now.”

“What do you mean?” Cory shouted. “He wants to know where I’m living?”

“When we found out that he wanted to know where you were, I asked Mark to have someone watch him a little closer. Mark hired a private detective to watch him. It turns out that your dad was only interested in extorting some money out of me. I guess he thought that he could cause a lot of heartaches and grief if he tried to get you back.”

“That bastard!” Cory whispered to himself.

“There’s no chance of that, you know?” Richard asked while looking directly at Cory.

“Oh man, I hope not.”

“No. You’re here legally, but he could still cause a lot of grief, if he wanted to try.”

“Why didn’t you tell me about this?”

“Because we didn’t know anything really. And besides, you were just getting used to your new home and school and started making some new friends. And like I said, I really didn’t know anything until just now.”

“Has he done anything yet?” Cory asked.

Richard continued to look at Cory without answering his question. But thinking about it for a moment, Richard realized that it was probably time to tell him the whole story. It was now too late for the extortion.

“Cory. Listen to me for a second. Mark told me the rest of what your dad’s been up to in that phone call just now. Your dad was out drinking with a couple of his friends two weeks ago. When they left the bar it was late and they were pretty well loaded by then. On their way to his truck, they ran into an older gay couple walking their dog. Well, your dad and his cronies thought they’d have some fun with them. They started giving them a hard time and wouldn’t let them pass, and as it went on, it got a little ugly.”

“What do you mean ugly? What’d they do?”

“When the two men tried to go around your dad and his friends, your dad picked up an iron bar and hit one of the men on the head.”

Richard looked at Cory whose face was in disbelief. Cory was silent. Richard looked down at the floor for a moment and then looked back up directly at Cory.

“The man died yesterday.”

Cory, hearing this, turned from Richard slowly as his eye mist began to form. Looking away from Richard, he said quietly to himself, ‘Oh fuck!’

“What happened to my dad?” he finally had to ask, still not looking at Richard.