by Amy Sumida
“It says here,” he said with his nasally voice, “that a Stetson Tucker, your boyfriend, stopped your dad’s attack.”
“That’s right.” I nodded.
He glanced at Stetson. “You Tucker?”
“Yes, sir.”
He locked his eyes on my hand in Jaidon’s. “I thought you were dating her,” he said to Stetson.
“I am.” My grip on Jaidon’s hand tightened.
He glanced at me. “Why are you holding this kid’s hand, then?”
I recoiled, a bit nonplussed. “I’m dating him, too.” I was proud of myself for meeting his eyes without a blush. Matt and Bishop stepped up, and they each put a hand on my shoulder. Alex reached over and took my free hand, bringing it up to his lips. He stared down the detective.
“You dating them, too.” The officer’s disgust dripping from his nasally voice.
I nodded.
Daniel spoke up, “What does this have to do with filing a complaint and requesting a restraining order?”
Officer Johnson jumped in, “Absolutely nothing.” She gave Detective Stiles a dirty glare. “Why don’t you tell me what happened?
I went over the phone call with her, again, and she filled out some forms for me to sign. Stetson had already handed over a flash drive with the recording of the call on it.
Before I could sign, Detective Stiles stopped me. “You know, once you do this, you can’t take it back?” He glared down at me like he would while scolding a disobedient child. “If you’re just doing this because your dad doesn’t like you dating so many people, you can’t decide later to say it wasn’t a big deal. This could ruin a man’s life.”
Alex went stiff in the seat next to me. “What the hell did you just say?”
Joshua put a hand on Alex’s shoulder to keep him in his seat. “Detective, you seem to think the two are connected. They’re not. Joey’s father beat her and has beaten her repeatedly over the last four years. You should have the photos from the other night in your file.”
“We do,” Officer Johnson said, glaring at the detective. “Go ahead and sign the forms, Joey. I’ll get them filed for you.”
Detective Stiles pushed up from his seat. “May I speak with you in the hall, officer?”
They went into the hallway, but it didn’t stop us from hearing what they said.
“You know that kid’s probably getting back at her dad who was disciplining her for being easy,” Stiles said angrily. I curled into myself at his announcement. Alex sprang to his feet and charged for the door. Matt held him back.
“I know nothing of the sort.” Johnson sounded upset. “You weren’t there. You didn’t see her or hear the things her dad said on the way to the station. It has nothing to do about who she is or isn’t dating. As a matter of fact, I’d be surprised if he even knew she was dating someone. Look at the file, Stiles. That wasn’t a little discipline. That was a beating. She could have died if the kid didn’t stop him.”
Joshua handed me the forms. “Just sign the papers, Joey. Then, we can get out of here.”
I signed with a shaking hand and stood. We all walked to the door. Joshua handed the papers to Officer Johnson and turned to Stiles. “Remember, it’s your job to protect everyone, Detective. Whether or not you agree with their life choices. You just re-traumatized a girl who’s been through more than any person should have to. You should be ashamed of yourself.”
Stiles snorted. “Like I need to take advice from a faggot.”
Joshua froze. “I’ll be speaking to your superior, Detective.” He turned to us. “Kids, why don’t you go ahead and leave? Find something fun to do to take your minds off this.” He gestured to Stiles.
We left the station. All of us experiencing various stages of fury.
“Fucking pig,” Alex muttered. “Who the hell does he think he is?”
Jaidon sighed. “I knew when we did this some people would have issues with it. I just didn’t think a cop would throw his issues in our faces instead of doing his job.”
Bishop kicked the tire of his car. “Screw that guy. Let’s do what Dad said.” He peered around for inspiration. There isn’t much to do at four in the afternoon in this town. He nodded toward a store on the corner. “Ice cream!” He grabbed my hand and pulled me toward the sidewalk. Peering back over my shoulders, it cheered me up a little to see the rest of the guys scramble to catch up to us.
I got a cookie dough waffle cone. Those can fix almost anything. Since it was in the lower forties outside, we huddled around a little table in the ice cream shop. Ice cream may not have been the wisest choice, but it was fun joking and laughing with everyone. Bishop kept sneaking bites of my cone and smacking my hand away from his cup of double chocolate, guarding it with a snicker.
Jaidon checked out a couple of places on his phone. It was too late to catch a movie, but the bowling alley was open. I’d never been bowling, and the guys decided it was time for me to broaden my horizons.
We headed back to our cars and noticed Daniel and Joshua were still in the station. “Should we go in?” I asked.
“No,” Jaidon said at the same time Matt said, “You don’t want to see Joshua on a tear.”
I slid into Bishop’s Lexus with Jaidon. Bishop yelled, “Race ya!” at the other guys and jumped into the driver’s seat.
Stetson and Alex ran for the Ram, but Matt stepped behind the Lexus and glared at Bishop through the back window. “You will not speed with Joey in the car.”
“But, I was just going to—” Bishop started.
“No.” Matt placed his hands on the trunk.
Bishop blew out a breath. “Fine, I’ll race you doing the speed limit. Now, get out of the way.”
Matt nodded and headed for the Ram.
“Spoil sport,” Bishop muttered as he started the car and made a show of carefully backing up and pulling into what little traffic there was.
I laughed.
We made it to the bowling alley first. I’m pretty sure Matt let Bishop win. We walked into the bowling alley, and I ran into the smell of wood polish and cheese fries. Matt stood in front of the counter and called out everyone’s shoe sizes to the girl working there. She gave me a dirty look when he smiled at me and asked my shoe size. She rang us up and leaned against the counter, making sure the guys got a good view down her shirt. I wanted to snatch all the hair out of her head. Before I could do anything, Matt pulled out his wallet, smiled at the girl, and paid.
I grabbed my shoes and stalked off toward the lane we’d been assigned. “Thank you,” I muttered snottily. I was in a mood. I know he wasn’t flirting, but I didn’t like the other girl throwing herself at him.
Matt caught up to me, laughing. “Are you jealous?” I refused to respond to him. “You are, aren’t you? Why? You know I only have eyes for you.” He picked me up and spun me in a circle. He put me down and gave me a long kiss. “There, now she knows I’m yours.”
I huffed out a chuckle and hugged him. “I’m sorry. I’m acting like an idiot.”
He put his fingers on my chin to lift my face up to him. “Nice to know I’m not the only one.”
The rest of the guys joined us, and we sat to put on our shoes. “I guess, I’m a little worried one of you will decide to find a girl of your own. It would break my heart.”
Jaidon stood and leaned into me, an arm on both sides of my chair. “Never going to happen.” He leaned in and kissed me.
Bishop stood. “I need food. Who wants cheese fries?” He pulled me to my feet and gestured toward the computer screen. “Put our names in, would ya?” He kissed my cheek. “What do you want to drink?”
I told him, and he took off for the little grill area.
In our first game, I scored a ninety-two. The guys all got in the two hundreds. Apparently, the dads used to take them bowling every weekend. But I still had fun. We laughed on the way to the counter to return the shoes. I left my phone, so I ran back to grab it. The rest of the guys turned in their shoes and went to pull Bishop out o
f the grill before he bought his fifth order of cheese fries. I walked up and put my shoes on the counter, the girl standing there gave me a confused glance.
“So, which one are you with?” Her voice was just this side of whiny, and she kept twirling her from-a-box red hair around her finger.
I smirked at her. “All of them.”
“No, I meant which one are you dating?”
I nodded. “I know.” I winked at her.
Her mouth dropped open. “Right on,” she whispered and held her fist out to me. I chuckled as I gave it a bump with mine.
Maybe today wasn’t a total loss after all.
Chapter Seven
Problems
The next few days went by quietly. The talk at school calmed down; at least, I didn’t notice as much of it. We fell into a routine. I rotated who I drove to and from school with. When I had a meeting after school, one of the guys would stay to drive me home. Matt fixed my car, but I didn’t really get a chance to use it. The guys preferred to drive me everywhere. Blissfully happy for the first time, I enjoyed the time I spent with each of them.
One afternoon, Bishop chased me into the kitchen from the mudroom when I noticed Joshua leaning into Daniel. He looked like he’d been crying.
“What’s wrong?” The words flew out of my mouth before I could stop them. The rest of the guys filed in behind me and went still at the sight before us.
Daniel shook his head. “Damn the small-mindedness of this town!”
Joshua visibly pulled himself together. “I got called into the office today. Some of the parents are worried about the example I’m setting for my students.”
“Huh?” Matt asked.
“It seems I’m trying to make it seem acceptable and appropriate for two men to live together in a committed relationship. I’m raising sons with my lover, and we’re allowing all of them to live in sin with the same girl under our roof.” Joshua’s shoulders dropped. “My suitability as a role-model and mentor have been called into question.” He stood up and stepped away from Daniel. “It was suggested I tone down my relationship with Daniel in public, and we find an acceptable place for Joey to live. By the end of this week.”
I gasped and stepped back into Bishop. He put his arms around me.
Stetson stepped forward. “You’re not going to take that.”
“Of course not,” Joshua scoffed. “I told them I’ve done nothing wrong. You are all over eighteen and consenting adults. I also, carefully and with small words, explained if they ever told me I needed to pretend not to be gay in public again, they’d hear from my lawyer and the ACLU would hear from me.”
Jaidon stepped up and gave Joshua a hug. “You rock, Dad.”
“I know.” Joshua glanced over at all of us. “Sorry you had to see me like this. I was frustrated and needed to let off some stress.”
Alex nodded. “No problem.”
“I think today calls for Italian. What do you think?” Food always made people feel better. I had a few dishes I could prepare so the guys can spend time with the dads. Besides, I was already planning on making my homemade ravioli soon, so I had all the ingredients in the house.
Bishop hooted.
The rest of the evening was quiet, and school the next day seemed to crawl by. I kept studying the teachers and other students, trying to guess if they were judging me or the guys. Or, if they were being cold to Joshua. In every class I had with one of my guys, I heard snickers when we held hands. Some girls bumped into me in the bathroom, telling me to “just pick one, already.”
There were a few upsides. A girl at lunch walked up to our table and told us we were her heroes. She was tall and thin with close cropped black hair and tasteful makeup. She said she’d wanted to come out to her parents for a year, but was too afraid of how they would take it. She smiled when she told us we proved you don’t choose who you love and watching us keep our dignity through all the crap at school gave her the courage to tell her parents.
“Why don’t you sit with us?” I asked and gestured to a seat next to Bishop.
She sat. “Thanks, I’m Brittney Cay.” She held out her hand for me, and we shook. “I just moved here. I think you’re in my Chemistry class,” she said as she picked up her square school pizza.
“Yeah, you sit a couple tables in front of me.” I smiled at her, and we chatted.
Mr. Keeler’s class was hard to sit through. I did notice some students acting uncomfortable around him, and I could tell it hurt him. He acted normal, but his eyes lacked their normal glow. My heart tore in two as I watched the treatment from the rest of the class I hung back after class to give him a hug. I was so mad I wanted to hit something. “Screw them, and the horse they rode in on.”
“I don’t think that’s how it goes, dear.” Joshua hugged me back. “But the thought is appreciated.” He smiled down at me, and for the first time today, it reached his eyes. “I’ll see you at home.”
Bishop walked me to Chemistry and nodded to Brittney when he spotted her. I kissed his cheek and walked over to Brittney to talk.
“Jesus, you really are a whore, aren’t you?” My whole being froze at the sound of David’s voice. “You’re not even trying to hide it.”
Spinning around to face him, I glared. “Hide what? The fact that I’m dating five amazing guys? Why should I hide it? I want to shout it from the rooftops.”
He shook his head. “You don’t get it, do you? They’re using you. I bet their laughing at you behind your back.”
I marched over to him and put my face in his space. “You listen to me, you ass wipe. I’m done with this shit. You don’t like me for some reason, fine. But you will leave me alone from now on, or there won’t be enough of you left for one of my guys to deal with. Got it?”
He paled and stepped back. “Whatever.” He slunk back to his seat and buried his face in his book.
Brittney threw her arm around me. “Seriously, totally my hero.”
Stetson kept me in the Art room after class ended. “So, we need to wait for the guys.”
“Okay, why?”
“You’ll see.” He leaned down to peck at my lips.
We waited out in the hallway for them to show up. When they turned the corner, they each held a rose. I turned to Stetson, and he smiled.
The guys surrounded me, and Jaidon stepped forward. “Joey, when I’m with you, I’m confident. I’m sure of myself, and I’m the man I want to be for you. I know a lot, I read, and I study, but I don’t know what I’d do without you. I love you. Will you go to formal with me?” I took his rose as I nodded, and my eyes teared up.
Matt stepped forward next. “Joey, I’m usually an idiot around you. Mostly because I’m afraid I’m going to screw things up. I love you so much, and I don’t know what I’d do without you. Will you go to formal with me?” He brushed his rose against my cheek. I took it and breathed in the rich fragrance.
Alex took my hand. “You’re the reason I spend every day trying to be better than my dad. You’re the music I hear in my head when I pick up an instrument, and you’re the feeling I get when I listen to Chopin. I love you. Will you go to formal with me?” Tears ran down my cheeks as I took the rose from him.
Bishop wrapped his arms around me and whispered into my ear. “I’m no good at this. At being serious, but I want you to know I love you. More than coffee.” I giggled through my tears. “I want to spend every day of my life eating sandwiches you make for me, and I want to hold your hand when we walk through the halls and tell everyone who hates it to suck it.” He stepped back. “Will you go to formal with me?” He put the rose behind my ear.
Stetson took me from Bishop. He held out the most perfect purple lily. “I’ve been with a lot of girls. I know that’s not something you want to talk about, but I want you to know I never felt the way I do with you, with any of them. I used them to try to fill the emptiness. You don’t fill it, nothing can do that. But, you make life worth living. I love you. Will you go to formal with me? With us?” I took the
lily and stared down into it.
“How am I supposed to say no to that?” I bawled. “I love you, you big goobers. Of course, I’ll go to formal with you.”
They gave me a big group hug in the hallway, and I laughed loud enough to make a teacher stick his head out of his room to tell us to break it up.
That weekend, I talked Joshua into taking me dress shopping. I needed a killer dress for formal, especially if I was going to look hot next to my guys in tuxes. It took us four shops and six hours, but I found the perfect dress. Strapless, sweetheart neckline, fitted to the waist, it flared out passed my hips with the perfect amount of poofiness. Crystals covered the bodice. The color gradually changed from ivory at the neckline to a beautiful sea-foam green at the hemline. The shop even sold the perfect sandals in a matching green with crystal buckles. It was perfect until we went to check out.
The cashier went to our school, obviously one of the crowd who thought I was sleeping my way through the guys. She was rude, obnoxious, and I was about three seconds from poking out her eyeballs with a pen. Joshua noticed this and offered to take care of the checkout while I stepped outside to get some air. I gladly took him up on his offer. I stepped outside and leaned against the corner of the building, tilting my head back and closing my eyes to focus on taking deep breaths.
That was my mistake.
Chapter Eight
Endings and Beginnings
My first clue something was wrong was the hand clamping around my mouth. The second was the smell, beer and Old Spice. My dad. As he dragged me into the ally, he slammed me against the side of the building, rattling me. Frantically reaching out to scratch at his face, his hand gripped down on my wrist like a vice. Twisting it behind my back, he twirled me face first into the wall, jerking my arm up so hard I felt it snap. I screamed bloody murder.
