Kennedy is King

by Cameron James

  The football coach and our PE teacher emerged from the car. The coach was smiling at Stephen as our teacher was tutting at me, shaking his head as he walked towards us.

  “Should stick to your sax son.” He said as he crouched in front of me. “It won’t be broken.” He said,

  “That your medical opinion sir?” I asked, Stephen laughed as the coach looked at me.

  “Nah, it won’t be broken.”

  ♕

  Chapter Seven

  “That, my love is a broken elbow.” The very pleasant Nurse man said as he tutted at my x-ray. He looked back at me as I sighed rubbing my forehead, then he turned to Stephen. “Very impressive first aid.” He said, Stephen grinned.

  “Got my badge in the Guides.” He said, the Nurse rose his eyebrow. “Shh don’t tell them I’m a boy.” He added, I laughed, it made my arm hurt but I didn’t stop.

  “Let’s set your arm. If this guys as hilarious as this all the time you need to be able to laugh without it hurting.” He smiled at Stephen as Stephen looked at the floor. “My sons an awful lot like you.” He said as he searched through his cupboards. Stephen seemed pleased, I almost had to look away.

  He didn’t cast my arm. He put it into a splint, pulling it tight then nodded to me.

  “If it hurts pain killers. Okay?” he said to me and Stephen. We both nodded. “Six weeks in splint, but after four you should start to try moving it.” he said, Stephen laughed it was filthy. “Let’s leave masturbating until after six weeks huh, we wouldn’t want it to hurt.” He said, I gasped as Stephen laughed.

  “My sax.” I said in a sigh, the Nurse rose his eyebrow at me.

  “Don’t worry, you’ll be playing your sax again soon.” He sighed, “be a nice break for you.” He added. “If the pain is unbearable come back and we’ll help, but you should be right as rain.”

  “Thank you.” I searched all around for his name.

  “Andy.” He said, I nodded, “Andy Zander.”

  “A name that really encompasses the entire alphabet.” Stephen said, I snorted when I laughed – it was disgusting, Nurse Andy laughed again.

  “He’s a keeper.” Nurse Andy said, I smiled as I looked down. Stephen laughed it sounded almost coy.

  Cassidy looked devastated when I finally returned to my room. Cody was, I’m pretty sure, laughing. Theo looked like he wanted to make me a cup of tea and nurse me.

  “What the fuck have you done?” Cassidy asked, breathless.

  “Broken elbow.” I said, “I’m fine.”

  “Your sax.” Cody said, I looked at him.

  “I guess I’m on sabbatical for a little while.” I shook my head, “Otis will be fine… I think.” I said, I could hear how unsure I was. Cody didn’t allow me to be unsure for long.

  “Otis will be fine.” He said simply, “Otis knows you’ll deliver.”

  “Even with one hand.” Theo said, I smiled at him as he approached me like a spooked animal. He stroked down my arm gently, the barest of touches. I almost smiled at him.

  “I’m okay, I promise.” I whispered, he didn’t believe me, obviously.

  “This is what you get for stupidly going on that bike ride.” Cody said, I glared at him because the traitor.

  “What?” Cassidy shrieked as Theo laughed.

  “You must be kidding?” Theo said, I didn’t let up my glare towards Cody, he blew a kiss back to me.

  “I’ll get you for this.” I threatened, Cody smiled as Cassidy crinkled his nose at me.

  “You endorsed the bike ride?” he asked,

  “I, wanted to get healthy.” I said, Cassidy’s laugh was a bark.

  “Liar.” He declared; I rolled my eyes deciding silence was the best way to get through this. “Father’s going to kill you.” Cassidy said, I looked at him, then I frowned.

  “Why? It’s six weeks, he won’t even know.”

  “He will.” Cassidy said simply, I shook my head about to tell him that he was not going to rat me out to our Father. He rose his hand shaking his head at me, declaring surrender before I even accused him of anything.

  “State dinner.” He said, “This Saturday.”

  “Fuck me.” I moaned; Cassidy agreed.

  “He’s going to kill you.”

  “Yeah. Yeah he is.” I sighed. “Shit.”

  A town car picked us up, this wasn’t uncommon, Father usually sent a town car to pick us up and take us home. We both knew we’d have dinner suits when we got back to our house, and we both knew what was expected of us, and we would withhold that standard. Mostly.

  Harrison was the only one in the house when we arrived. His digital assistance announcing our arrival, and him replying loudly from the kitchen. Cassidy went ahead of me.

  I walked in as they hugged, Harrison looking at me over Cassidy’s shoulder, a frown instantly gracing his face. I waved with my none broken arm.

  “What, the hell?” Harrison asked, I almost laughed as Cassidy walked around him, examining what he’d been snacking on. He took a handful of whatever it was.

  “I’m going to go shower.” Cassidy stated. “Where are the parents?” he asked as he began to leave the kitchen, Harrison shrugged.

  “Who even knows. I presume a car will come and fetch us when we have to go.” He said, Cassidy sighed, because Cassidy hated not knowing how much of a timeframe he had. I smiled fondly at him as he left the kitchen then looked back at Harrison as he went back to chopping.

  “Should you really be cooking topless, isn’t that a health hazard?” I asked, he looked at me smirking at me, it was wicked.

  “Jealous?”

  “No.” I scoffed,

  “How did you break your arm?”

  “Elbow.” I corrected, his eyebrow quirked, “I fell off a bike.” I murmured, he laughed.

  “A bike, K, you haven’t ridden a bike since you were nine.” He said, I laughed.

  “You don’t have to tell me that, my thighs are still burning.” I said, he laughed gleefully then held the cucumber sandwich to me. I took it, because State Dinners, usually meant miniscule portions that didn’t constitute real food, that, and bread absorbs impending alcohol whilst cucumber keeps you hydrated.

  Harrison knew what he was doing. Sometimes.

  “It was about a boy huh.” He said, the dickhead. “We both know there was a boy, it’ll be easier if you just spit it out.” he said, I sighed turning to look towards the corridor.

  I could hear the shower, we had a solid thirty minutes before Cassidy emerged, a further fifteen before he was somewhat dressed.

  “Stephen.” I said softly, when I turned back, Harrison was smiling at me. “He’s…” I sighed, “I…”

  “Who is he?” he helped, because he could tell I was struggling.

  “The goalkeeper.” I said, he laughed then clasped his hand over his mouth. “Don’t…”

  “I won’t breathe a word. Tell me more.”

  “I like him, a lot. Too much maybe, but I fucked up. Royally fucked up…”

  “As only the King can do.” He said softly, I quirked a smile.

  “I made a bad decision and I figured the only way I could make up for it was to go on their sponsored bike ride.” I said, he coughed because he was laughing like an ass.

  “Did it work?”

  “Yes.” I said quietly, he seemed pleased.

  “Get in K.” he said, I laughed. “Sponsored?”

  “For Preston.” I said, warily because that still hurt him, and rightly so. It might’ve been twelve years but the feelings were still there, the feelings were still very big.

  He tried to avoid all the fundraising, to the best of his ability anyway, because as much as he supported and appreciated what we were fundraising for, it was still Preston. His Preston. The first boy he ever loved.

  He still wore the pendant of the tree of life, every single day, he’d bought Preston it when they were fourteen and dating because Preston had a thing for trees.

  Preston hadn’t ever taken it off, even thou
gh they broke up when they were sixteen, officially anyway, their affair as Harrison refers to it as started at eighteen, but no one really knew about that, until it was too late.

  Preston wore it every day. Every day until the day he died.

  Harrison had found it, afterwards, in an envelope with his name on. He’d worn it ever since. His now husband, Dominic knew everything and was an angel of a man who Cassidy and I loved dearly – and sometimes envied because he never had to come to these stupid state dinners.

  “How much did you raise?” he asked,

  “Me personally?” I asked, he shrugged as he sat on the kitchen counter. I refrained from telling him that my Mum would have him for sitting on the countertop.

  “I only raised my radius.” I said, he laughed.

  “Broken elbow joke, nice.” He said, I smiled.

  “Stephen raised four and a half thousand.”

  “Himself?”

  “Himself.” I nodded, “he got a bit more for being a hero and staying with me when I fell.”

  “Your hero.” He cooed, I sighed dramatically like a damsel in distress. “Are you guys dating now?”

  “Who knows.” I said softly, “I don’t know how we could do it.” I said, and he heard the question I was asking which was how did you and Preston have an affair without anyone finding out? I just didn’t have the balls to say the words to him.

  “You do it for you, not for show.” He said softly, because he was answering my question, because he was amazing. “You see it all the time, right? You see boys making out in the corridor between lessons, or on the yard or whatever, that’s all for show, it’s to thrust in other people’s faces, ha, ha we’re in a relationship.

  But then there’s the boys who you speculate about. The boys who are suddenly walking a lot closer to each other, who hang around each other’s lockers now, and you think, huh that’s odd. They’re the ones who are trying to keep it secret but they’re excited it’s new, it’s exciting but presumably they’re still in their social class.” He rose an eyebrow at me, I sighed.

  “That could be a band member and a choir boy, or a choir boy and a theatre boy. They’re the same league as each other, so it’s not that weird that they’re with each other, but they’re closer than you’d expect.”

  “And then?” I asked,

  “And then there’s… the boys who shouldn’t even be talking to each other, say, the King and the Goalkeeper.” He rose his eyebrow at me. I did it back because brothers were the worse. “You’ll find hidden away places, you’ll know when your room is empty, or his room is. You’ll be together as much as you can, whenever you can. No one will suspect a thing.”

  “You didn’t give me any help then.”

  “Talk to each other.” He sighed, “it’s like… being with a boy who’s still in the closet. You are never to force him out, you never make him feel guilty about not being out. You won’t kiss him in front of people. You might not even hold his hand.

  You take things slow, you talk about it, frequently, because you want to know how you both feel every single step along the way.”

  “In this analogy?” I said slowly,

  “You’re in the closet.” He said, he smiled sadly at me, “he has nothing to lose. You have everything.”

  “Is it worth it?” I asked, he shrugged,

  “Is he worth it?” he asked, I looked down.

  “Yes.” I whispered then jumped as Cassidy reappeared, his hair wet, a robe wrapped around him,

  “Is that a satin robe?” Harrison asked, I laughed as Cassidy looked down himself.

  “He’s the Queen, of course it is.” I said, Cassidy laughed but it sounded forced and a bit Evil Step Mother.

  “Our suits are upstairs.” Cassidy said as he ignored Harrison and walked towards me. “Do you want me to help you get into your suit?” he asked, I went to shake my head,

  I was eighteen goddammit, I could put a suit on myself, and then, I remembered.

  “I have a broken elbow.”

  “You do my love.” Cassidy said, almost sympathetically.

  “Please.” I said then I sighed and rubbed my forehead. “Any chance we could work this so I don’t have to go?”

  “No.” Cassidy and Harrison said together. Brothers are the worse.

  Cassidy had dressed himself whilst I showered. Carefully. I don’t think I’d had such a careful shower, ever, but one twinge of my elbow when I tried to wash my hair and I thought it might be better in the long run just to remove the limb all together.

  Cassidy was stood his hand extended to me with two pain killers on it, as I went back into our room. I took them as he took my towel, holding it so it didn’t fall.

  “I heard the cry of pain from the shower.” He said softly, I moaned as I drank from a bottle of water. “You’re an idiot. You know.” He said, I nodded as I swallowed down the pain killers.

  He smiled once I’d finally swallowed them then threw my boxers at me, so I stepped into them because I could do that.

  Our dinner suits were nice, definitely nice. They were also pretty simplistic. The showing off came from their cut, how they were tailored, the material they were made out of, not how flashy they were.

  Mine, was a single-breasted dinner jacket, a black waist coat with a purple satin lining, crisp white shirt, black tie, and impeccably tailored slacks.

  All of it was as difficult to get on as each other, and Cassidy found it amusing, mostly. He had a soft touch when he helped my arm through my shirt, then he grinned as he buttoned it for me. He fixed my collar before passing me my pants, because I could manage them.

  Except for the overly complex fly that apparently was required on dress slacks, although it made me feel better that Cassidy also struggled.

  “God, I hope you don’t need to pee.” He murmured, I laughed.

  “You and me both.” I muttered, he looked up, smirking at me as I laughed. He tied my tie, perfectly, then stood behind me lifting my waistcoat up to my shoulders. Flattening it out, before walking around me again to fasten the buttons.

  “I bet this is what it feels like to have servants.” He said, then he gasped. “Am I your Ladies Maid?”

  “My first Ladies Maid.” I replied, he kissed my cheek then pulled my jacket on. He brushed off some imaginary lint, before picking up my splint. I sighed as he took the strap, tightening the splint until it sat, somewhat comfortably against my body.

  I sat on my bed once I was dressed, sighing as I watched Cassidy finish getting dressed. His slacks were much like mine just with more of a slim fit, his shirt as crisp and white.

  He didn’t have a waistcoat, he’d opted for suspenders, they were red and really suited him. He had a black bow tie, which I know would’ve been a brighter colour if Father wasn’t going to be there, and his suit jacket single breasted like mine.

  We both wore Oxford’s. He tied his own before kneeling in front of me to tie mine. I helped him stand.

  Harrison was waiting downstairs for us. His suit grey, a lovely charcoal grey. His jacket double breasted, his slacks slim. His shirt, was also white, his tie black.

  “Brogues.” Cassidy tutted as we reached the bottom of the stairs.

  “I know your opinions on brogues.” Harrison said, he sounded mildly butthurt. It made me laugh. We all turned at the same time as we heard a cars horn. “Ready?” he asked, I nodded as Cassidy did. I left the house after him. Harrison following.

  “What’s our game plan here?” Cassidy asked as I sat beside him, Harrison sat nearer the door.

  “What’s this even for?” I asked, Harrison sighed.

  “Dad’s been in his company for forty years, it’s a celebration.” He said, he didn’t sound impressed. “This is the first one of these you two can drink at. Don’t get drunk.” He, suggested?

  “Can I have leeway? I have a broken elbow… and ego.”

  “No.” Harrison gasped at me; I pulled my tongue at him as Cassidy sighed.

  “Can’t get drunk, that’s not
fair. Can I have sex?” he asked,

  “With, who?” Harrison asked, Cassidy shrugged as he bit his lip.

  “Whoever’s willing.” He said, I laughed as Harrison smirked at Cassidy.

  “Whatever, just don’t cause a scandal.”

  “Me?” Cassidy squeaked; the driver laughed. It made me laugh.

  “Look, one hour of no drinking.” Harrison stated, we both nodded. “One of us should be with your Mum all night.”

  “That, I have an issue with that.” Cassidy said nodding, “how do you expect me to pull a beautiful boy, when I’m babysitting my Mum?”

  “For like, an hour.” Harrison said. “If you being a kind and considerate son doesn’t do it for your fling, you need a new fling.” He said,

  “I want to fuck him, not marry him.” Cassidy said, I groaned.

  “I’ll look after Mum first.” I said as I rubbed my forehead. “She’ll at least save me from Father and coddle me a little.”

  “Good plan.” Cassidy said, I nodded to him as we pulled into the queue of town cars that were dropping off.

  “Let’s have each other’s back.” Harrison said. “State Dinners are like going in the water during Shark Week.”

  ♕

  Chapter Eight

  Father was unimpressed, the moment he saw the three of us. That much was clear. His eyes roamed Harrison, he seemed to be satisfied with what he saw. Cassidy too, to some extent but Cassidy would always look flamboyant even in a straight black suit, and then, he looked at me.

  “What have you done?” He snapped at me, all three of us stood up straighter.

  “He…” Cassidy said,

  “Well…” Harrison added,

  “I broke my elbow.” I said, he shook his head.

  “What?” Father said, I rose my splint.

  “Elbow. Broke.” I paused, “ow.” I said, Cassidy laughed behind his hand as Harrison sighed.

  “Couldn’t you just, not wear this…” he gestured towards my splint. “It doesn’t look good.” He said, I rose my eyebrow at him as Harrison scoffed.

  “You want him to injure himself further, to keep up appearances.” Harrison said, Father scoffed. We were all saved by our Mum.